1997 Spanish Grand Prix
| Racing data | ||
|---|---|---|
| 6th of 17 races in the 1997 Formula 1 World Championship | ||
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| Surname: | Gran Premio de España | |
| Date: | May 25, 1997 | |
| Place: | Montmeló | |
| Course: | Circuit de Catalunya | |
| Length: | 302.592 km in 64 laps of 4.728 km
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| Planned: | 307.32 km in 65 laps of 4.728 km | |
| Weather: | dry, windy | |
| Spectator: | ~ 64,000 | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver: |
 Jacques Villeneuve
|
 Williams-Renault
|
| Time: | 1: 16.525 min | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver: |
 Giancarlo Fisichella
|
 Jordan-Peugeot
|
| Time: | 1: 22.242 min (lap 20) | |
| Podium | ||
| First: |
Jacques Villeneuve
|
Williams-Renault
|
| Second: |
 Olivier Panis
|
Cheers to Mugen Honda
|
| Third: |
Jean Alesi
|
Benetton Renault
|
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Leadership laps
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The 1997 Spanish Grand Prix (officially Gran Premio de España ) took place on May 25th at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló and was the sixth race of the 1997 Formula 1 World Championship . Jacques Villeneuve took first place ahead of Olivier Panis and Jean Alesi .
report
background
At Sauber , the Italian Nicola Larini was replaced by his compatriot Gianni Morbidelli . The reason for the dismissal was disagreement between Larini and Peter Sauber . It was the Italian's last Formula 1 race.
During this race weekend the Bridgestone tires were far superior to the Goodyear tires. One reason could have been the week-long strike by Goodyear employees.
training
Friday training
Heinz-Harald Frentzen was able to set the fastest time with 1: 17.457 in front of his team mate Jacques Villeneuve . The Williams were the only ones who could set a time below 1:18. All drivers were within four seconds.
Qualifying
While other teams were able to set a time below 1:18 this time, Williams went one better and were able to secure the front row with 1: 16.525 (Villeneuve) and 1: 16.791 (Frentzen). One second behind Villeneuve, David Coulthard followed . All drivers were within four and a half seconds.
run
The first start was canceled because Ralf Schumacher's engine went out. This started a new introductory lap and reduced the number of laps to 64.
At the second start, Ralf Schumacher had to start from the back of the field, everyone could get away without any problems. Michael Schumacher had the best start from seventh place and was able to advance to second place on the first lap and fight for the lead with Villeneuve. But Schumacher couldn't hold out for long and began to slow down, after lap twelve the gap between the leading Canadian and the German was 20 seconds, and behind him a chain of faster drivers began to form. Schumacher lost around four seconds on Villeneuve.
Olivier Panis was able to make up many positions thanks to his Bridgestone tires and was in second place after the teams' pit stops. The reason was that the first pit stop for the Goodyear tires started on lap 14, while the teams using Bridgestone did not have to pit until lap 28.
Panis quickly caught up with the leader, but Eddie Irvine prevented Panis from winning: Panis was one lap ahead of Irvine, but the Northern Irishman did not receive any blue flags and therefore did not let the faster Panis pass. When Irvine Panis was lapped seven laps later, the chances of victory were lost. Irvine later received a stop-and-go penalty for it.
Panis was able to reduce the gap to six seconds, but Villeneuve finished the race as the winner. It was also Goodyear's 350th victory. Behind the Canadian, Panis and Jean Alesi completed the podium. A novelty, it is one of the rarest results where the first three drivers all spoke French. It will also have been Pani's last podium in his Formula 1 career.
Registration list
classification
Qualifying
run
| Item | driver | constructor | Round | Stops | time | begin | Fastest lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Jacques Villeneuve
|
Williams-Renault
|
64 | 2 | 1: 30: 35.896 | 1 | 1: 22.534 |
| 2 |
Olivier Panis
|
Cheers to Mugen Honda
|
64 | 2 | + 5.804 | 12 | 1: 22.422 |
| 3 |
Jean Alesi
|
Benetton Renault
|
64 | 2 | + 12,534 | 4th | 1: 23.096 |
| 4th |
 Michael sSchumacher
|
Ferrari
|
64 | 3 | + 17.979 | 7th | 1: 22.295 |
| 5 |
Johnny Herbert
|
 Clean Petronas
|
64 | 2 | + 27.986 | 10 | 1: 23.178 |
| 6th |
David Coulthard
|
McLaren-Mercedes
|
64 | 3 | + 29.744 | 3 | 1: 22.340 |
| 7th |
 Mika Hakkinen
|
McLaren-Mercedes
|
64 | 3 | + 48.785 | 5 | 1: 23.241 |
| 8th |
Heinz-Harald Frentzen
|
Williams-Renault
|
64 | 3 | +1: 04.139 | 2 | 1: 22.841 |
| 9 |
Giancarlo Fisichella
|
Jordan-Peugeot
|
64 | 3 | +1: 04.767 | 8th | 1: 22.242 |
| 10 |
 Gerhard Berger
|
Benetton Renault
|
64 | 3 | +1: 05.670 | 6th | 1: 23.106 |
| 11 |
 Jos Verstappen
|
Tyrrell-Ford
|
63 | 2 | + 1 lap | 19th | 1: 24.517 |
| 12 |
Eddie Irvine
|
Ferrari
|
63 | 4th | + 1 lap | 11 | 1: 22.839 |
| 13 |
 Jan Magnussen
|
Stewart-Ford
|
63 | 2 | + 1 lap | 22nd | 1: 25,300 |
| 14th |
Gianni Morbidelli
|
Clean Petronas
|
62 | 3 | + 2 rounds | 13 | 1: 24.647 |
| 15th |
Jarno Trulli
|
Minardi-Hart
|
62 | 2 | + 2 rounds | 18th | 1: 24.213 |
| - |
 Pedro Diniz
|
Arrows-Yamaha
|
53 | 2 | DNF | 21st | 1: 23.716 |
| - |
Ralf Schumacher
|
Jordan-Peugeot
|
50 | 3 | DNF | 9 | 1: 22.784 |
| - |
Rubens Barrichello
|
Stewart-Ford
|
37 | 1 | DNF | 17th | 1: 23.564 |
| - |
Mika Salo
|
Tyrrell-Ford
|
35 | 1 | DNF | 14th | 1: 24.775 |
| - |
 Shinji Nakano
|
Cheers to Mugen Honda
|
34 | 1 | DNF | 16 | 1: 23.516 |
| - |
Damon Hill
|
Arrows-Yamaha
|
17th | - | DNF | 15th | 1: 23.761 |
| - |
Ukyo Katayama
|
Minardi-Hart
|
11 | - | DNF | 20th | 1: 26.273 |
World Cup stands after the race
Driver ranking
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Constructors' championship
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Individual evidence
- ↑ a b motorsportarchiv.de Overview Spain 1997 ( Memento from March 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Heinz Prüller: Grand Prix Story 1997 , Orac, p. 88ff.
- ↑ motorsportarchiv.de Friday training Spain 1997 ( Memento from March 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
