1997 Brazilian Grand Prix

  1997 Brazilian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 2 of 17 in the 1997 Formula One season
Date	March 30, 1997
Official name	XXVI Grande Prêmio do Brasil
Location	Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, São Paulo, Brazil
Course	Permanent Racing Facility 4.292 km (2.667 mi)
Distance	72 laps, 309.024 km (192.019 mi)
Weather	Overcast, Dry
Pole position
Driver	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault
Time	1:16.004
Fastest lap
Driver	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault
Time	1:18.397 on lap 28
Podium
First	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault
Second	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault
Third	Olivier Panis	Prost-Mugen-Honda

The 1997 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Autódromo José Carlos Pace near Interlagos, Brazil on March 30, 1997. It was the second race of the 1997 Formula One Season.

Summary

Pre-Race

Between the Australian and Brazilian grands prix, Mastercard withdrew their sponsorship from the Lola team. This meant that sponsorless cars were shipped to Brazil. However, they were forced to stay in the garage for the weekend as there was no longer any money for the team. After the race the team officially resigned from the championship.

Qualifying

Jacques Villeneuve took his second consecutive, and his career fifth, pole position after a 1:16.004, over half a second faster than Michael Schumacher in second. Gerhard Berger and Mika Häkkinen completed the second row.

Race

The race was red-flagged after several incidents at the original start. As in Australia, Jacques Villeneuve went off the track at the first corner. Behind this, an incident involved several drivers including Damon Hill, Eddie Irvine, Giancarlo Fisichella and Jan Magnussen. Irvine took some blame for the incident. Additionally, Rubens Barrichello's car failed on the line, and the track blockage was what ultimately caused the red flag. Barrichello took the restart in the spare Stewart, causing Magnussen to miss the race.

The race was restarted with all 72 laps still remaining. Villeneuve had a clean start, as did the rest of the field. At the end of the first lap Villeneuve passed Michael Schumacher to retake the lead. Later before the first pit stops Berger would also pass Schumacher down the pit straight into the first corner. Damon Hill was once again affected by reliability issues, his engine failing with four laps remaining. He was running in fourth place at one point, but had slipped down the field before retiring in the pits, the engine aflame. The winner of the previous race, David Coulthard, was off the pace and finished in 10th place.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	1:16.004
2	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:16.594	+0.590
3	8	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	1:16.644	+0.640
4	9	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:16.692	+0.688
5	14	Olivier Panis	Prost-Mugen-Honda	1:16.576	+0.752
6	7	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	1:16.757	+0.753
7	12	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Peugeot	1:16.912	+0.908
8	4	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Renault	1:16.971	+0.967
9	1	Damon Hill	Arrows-Yamaha	1:17.090	+1.086
10	11	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Peugeot	1:17.175	+1.171
11	22	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	1:17.259	+1.255
12	10	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:17.262	+1.258
13	16	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	1:17.409	+1.405
14	6	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:17.527	+1.523
15	15	Shinji Nakano	Prost-Mugen-Honda	1:17.999	+1.995
16	2	Pedro Diniz	Arrows-Yamaha	1:18.095	+2.091
17	21	Jarno Trulli	Minardi-Hart	1:18.336	+2.332
18	20	Ukyo Katayama	Minardi-Hart	1:18.557	+2.553
19	17	Nicola Larini	Sauber-Petronas	1:18.644	+2.640
20	23	DEN Jan Magnussen	Stewart-Ford	1:18.773	+2.769
21	18	Jos Verstappen	Tyrrell-Ford	1:18.885	+2.881
22	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Ford	1:19.274	+3.270

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	72	1:36:06.990	1	10
2	8	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	72	+4.190	3	6
3	14	Olivier Panis	Prost-Mugen-Honda	72	+15.870	5	4
4	9	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	72	+33.033	4	3
5	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	72	+33.731	2	2
6	7	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	72	+34.020	6	1
7	16	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	72	+50.912	13
8	12	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Peugeot	72	+1:00.639	7
9	4	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Renault	72	+1:15.402	8
10	10	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	71	+1 Lap	12
11	17	Nicola Larini	Sauber-Petronas	71	+1 Lap	19
12	14	Jarno Trulli	Minardi-Hart	71	+1 Lap	17
13	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Ford	71	+1 Lap	22
14	15	Shinji Nakano	Prost-Mugen-Honda	71	+1 Lap	15
15	18	Jos Verstappen	Tyrrell-Ford	70	+2 Laps	21
16	6	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	70	+2 Laps	14
17	1	Damon Hill	Arrows-Yamaha	68	Engine	9
18	20	Ukyo Katayama	Minardi-Hart	67	+5 Laps	18
Ret	11	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Peugeot	52	Electrical	10
Ret	22	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	16	Suspension	11
Ret	2	Pedro Diniz	Arrows-Yamaha	15	Suspension	16
Ret	23	DEN Jan Magnussen	Stewart-Ford	0	Accident	20

Notes

Race Note

• Race stopped after first lap accident and restarted for total original distance.
• Jan Magnussen did not take the race restart.
• Both Lola cars withdrew for financial reasons and took no further part in the season

Milestones: Eddie Irvine 50th Race entry; Damon Hill 75th Race entry; Rothmans Williams-Renault 100th Race entry and 25th Win.

Standings after Grand Prix

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	David Coulthard	10
2	Jacques Villeneuve	10
3	Gerhard Berger	9
4	Michael Schumacher	8
5	Mika Häkkinen	7

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	McLaren-Mercedes	17
2	Benetton-Renault	10
3	Williams-Renault	10
4	Ferrari	8
5	Prost-Mugen-Honda	6

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