1997 Hungarian Grand Prix

The 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Hungaroring on August 10, 1997. The race is notable for the defending world champion Damon Hill leading most of the race by over 35 seconds in an uncompetitive and unreliable Arrows-Yamaha until the car suffered a hydraulic failure and was passed on the final lap by Jacques Villeneuve who won the race with Hill finishing second.

Practice and qualifying
Hill, as defending world champion, until then had experienced a bad year in the back runner Arrows-Yamaha car and was 17th in overall championship standings. But arriving at Hungary he set the fifth fastest time on Friday practice after just a single flying lap, after sitting for 55 minutes in the garage while his mechanics tore the gearbox off the car, looking for an electronic sensor problem. Later Hill qualified in 3rd place behind Villeneuve with Michael Schumacher claiming pole position. Hill's teammate Pedro Diniz qualified in 18th position.

Race
Hill made a blistering start from his third position leaving behind Villeneuve and proceeded to close the gap to the race leader Michael Schumacher by lap 6. By then both drivers had pulled away from the rest of the field. On lap 11 Hill overtook Schumacher and was leading the race by over 35 seconds from second running Villeneuve. On lap 74 with 3 laps to go, a hydraulic pump failure developed and struck Hill's car in third gear with an intermittent throttle. Hill started losing time and was overtaken by Villeneuve part way through the final lap. Villeneuve won the race with Hill finishing second after losing his 35 second and Johnny Herbert took the 3rd place on the podium.

The problem, which denied the Arrows team, Bridgestone tyres and Yamaha engine their first ever win, proved to have been caused by the failure of a washer valued at 50 pence.

Highlights
Johnny Herbert scored his only podium of the season, while Shinji Nakano equalled his career-best finish of 6th. Gianni Morbidelli returned for Sauber in place of Norberto Fontana after missing three races through injury. Hill's second position also marked the best ever result for Yamaha engines in Formula One.

With Villeneuve's win, the Williams team achieved its milestone 100th Grand Prix victory.

Standings after Grand Prix

 * Drivers'  Championship standings


 * Constructors'  Championship standings


 * Note:  Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.