Belgian Grand Prix 1997

 Belgian Grand Prix 1997

Racing data
12th of 17 races in the 1997 Formula 1 World Championship
Surname:	LV Belgian Grand Prix
Date:	August 24, 1997
Place:	spa
Course:	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Length:	306.592 km in 44 laps of 6.968 km
Weather:	Wet with a drying route
Spectator:	~ 80,000
Pole position
Driver:	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault
Time:	1: 49.450 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault
Time:	1.52; 692 min (lap 43)
Podium
First:	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari
Second:	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Peugeot
Third:	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Renault

The Belgian Grand Prix in 1997 (officially LV Belgian Grand Prix ) took place on 24 August at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa place and was the twelfth race of the Formula 1 World Championship in 1997 . Michael Schumacher took first place ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella and Heinz-Harald Frentzen .

report

training

Friday training

The session took place in the rain.

Gerhard Berger was able to get the best time of this session with 2: 06.802. Right behind was his team-mate Jean Alesi , Rubens Barrichello , Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher . Ukyo Katayama caused a surprise with tenth place. Jacques Villeneuve only reached 17th place with a time of 2: 11.706, which was around five seconds slower than the Austrian's fastest time.

All drivers were within seven and a half seconds.

Saturday training

Villeneuve was able to show in dry conditions and set the fastest lap ahead of Alesi with 1: 50.407. Behind them are Heinz-Harald Frentzen , Giancarlo Fisichella , Gerhard Berger , Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher . Katayama was able to position his Minardi in 13th place.

Mika Häkkinen and Eddie Irvine had massive problems and could only do a few laps. Both were more than 16 seconds behind Villeneuve.

All drivers, excluding Häkkinen and Irvine, were within six seconds.

Qualifying

Villeneuve was able to improve his best time of the day before by one second and again took pole position ahead of Alesi. Schumacher was eight tenths behind. Katayama, who performed well in both previous sessions, had to find himself around four seconds behind Villeneuve in 20th place this time.

All drivers were within five seconds.

Warm-up

This session took place under dry conditions; only after the end did it start to rain surprisingly for everyone, which further influenced the race.

For the third time Villeneuve was able to set the fastest time, followed by Ralf Schumacher , Johnny Herbert , Jean Alesi , Damon Hill and Gerhard Berger . Michael Schumacher was around two seconds behind his pursuer in the drivers' world championship, Katayama surprisingly placed ahead of Schumacher.

All drivers were within four seconds.

run

Due to the surprising rainfall, the decision was made to start behind the safety car. The rain started half an hour before the race and lasted around 20 minutes, after which the track began to dry up.

Only Jacques Villeneuve , Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jean Alesi started from the front rows with rain tires, while the other drivers relied on intermediates. During the warm-up lap, Ralf Schumacher spun around the Stavelot curve , which forced him to start out of the pit lane.

For three laps you drove behind the safety car, on lap four the race was released. Villeneuve was able to maintain his lead ahead of Alesi and Michael Schumacher. But after one lap, Schumacher began to rush Alesi. In the first corner, the La Source hairpin, on lap five, he managed a daring overtaking maneuver against Alesi. He was already able to overtake the leading Villeneuve in the Rivage curve. Schumacher began to break away rapidly; At the end of the lap he was almost six seconds behind Villeneuve, and at the end of the sixth lap he was 17 seconds.

Schumacher was able to consistently extend his lead, and so from lap twelve he was leading a full minute before the runner-up. Villeneuve, on the other hand, was dropped back to 16th place due to two unscheduled pit stops.

The track began to dry up and on lap 14 Schumacher got the dry tires. The German was able to defend his lead right through to the finish and won clearly, while his worst competitor only achieved sixth place. Today the race is described as one of Michael Schumacher's best races.

After the race, Mika Häkkinen , who finished third, was disqualified. The reason was an illegal fuel that was discovered in the Finn's McLaren. As a result, Villeneuve was able to move up to fifth place.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Danka Arrows Yamaha	1	Damon Hill	Arrows A18	Yamaha 3.0 V10	B.
	2	Pedro Diniz
Rothmans Williams Renault	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams FW19	Renault 3.0 V10	G
	4th	Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	5	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari F310B	Ferrari 3.0 V10	G
	6th	Eddie Irvine
Mild Seven Benetton Renault	7th	Jean Alesi	Benetton B197	Renault 3.0 V10	G
	8th	Gerhard Berger
West McLaren Mercedes	9	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren MP4 / 12	Mercedes-Benz 3.0 V10	G
	10	David Coulthard
B&H Total Jordan Peugeot	11	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan 197	Peugeot 3.0 V10	G
	12	Giancarlo Fisichella
Cheers Gauloises Peugeot	14th	Jarno Trulli	Cheers JS45	Mugen-Honda 3.0 V10	B.
	15th	Shinji Nakano
Red Bull Sauber Petronas	16	Johnny Herbert	Clean C16	Petronas 3.0 V10	G
	17th	Gianni Morbidelli
Tyrrell	18th	Jos Verstappen	Tyrrell 025	Ford ED5 3.0 V8	G
	19th	Mika Salo
Minardi team	20th	Ukyō Katayama	Minardi M197	Hard 3.0 V8	B.
	21st	Tarso Marques
Stewart Ford	22nd	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart SF01	Ford Zetec-R 3.0 V10	B.
	23	Jan Magnussen

classification

Qualifying

Item	driver	constructor	time	begin
01	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	1: 49.450	01
02	Jean Alesi	Benetton Renault	1: 49.759	02
03	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	1: 50.293	03
04th	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Peugeot	1: 50.470	04th
05	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 50.503	05
06th	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Peugeot	1: 50.520	06th
07th	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Renault	1: 50.656	07th
08th	Pedro Diniz	Arrows-Yamaha	1: 50.853	08th
09	Damon Hill	Arrows-Yamaha	1: 50.970	09
10	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 51.410	10
11	Johnny Herbert	Clean Petronas	1: 51.725	11
12	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	1: 51.916	12
13	Gianni Morbidelli	Clean Petronas	1: 52.094	13
14th	Jarno Trulli	Cheers to Mugen Honda	1: 52.274	14th
15th	Gerhard Berger	Benetton Renault	1: 52.391	15th
16	Shinji Nakano	Cheers to Mugen Honda	1: 52.749	16
17th	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1: 52.793	17th
18th	Jan Magnussen	Stewart-Ford	1: 52.886	18th
19th	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Ford	1: 52.897	19th
20th	Ukyo Katayama	Minardi-Hart	1: 53.544	20th
21st	Jos Verstappen	Tyrrell-Ford	1: 53.725	21st
22nd	Tarso Marques	Minardi-Hart	1: 54.505	22nd
107 percent time : 1: 57.112 min (based on the best time of 1: 49.450 min)

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	44	2	1: 33: 46.717	03	1: 55.340
02	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Peugeot	44	2	+ 26.753	04th	1: 54.688
03	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Renault	44	2	+ 32.147	07th	1: 53.874
04th	Johnny Herbert	Clean Petronas	44	2	+ 39.025	11	1: 53.615
05	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	44	3	+ 42.103	01	1: 52.692
06th	Gerhard Berger	Benetton Renault	44	3	+1: 03.741	15th	1: 53.649
07th	Pedro Diniz	Arrows-Yamaha	44	2	+1: 25.931	08th	1: 53.652
08th	Jean Alesi	Benetton Renault	44	4th	+1: 42.008	02	1: 55.348
09	Gianni Morbidelli	Clean Petronas	44	2	+1: 42.582	13	1: 54.818
10	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	43	2	DNF	17th	1: 55.290
11	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Ford	43	2	+ 1 lap	19th	1: 56.919
12	Jan Magnussen	Stewart-Ford	43	2	+ 1 lap	18th	1: 55.726
13	Damon Hill	Arrows-Yamaha	42	3	DNF	09	1: 54.074
14th	Ukyo Katayama	Minardi-Hart	42	2	DNF	20th	1: 55.413
15th	Jarno Trulli	Cheers to Mugen Honda	42	2	+ 2 rounds	14th	1: 55,152
-	Jos Verstappen	Tyrrell-Ford	25th	1	DNF	21st	1: 59.409
-	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Peugeot	21st	1	DNF	06th	1: 57.784
-	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	19th	1	DNF	10	1: 59.169
-	Tarso Marques	Minardi-Hart	18th	-	DNF	22nd	2: 02.763
-	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	08th	-	DNF	12	2: 16.804
-	Shinji Nakano	Cheers to Mugen Honda	05	-	DNF	16	2: 19.161
DSQ	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	44	2	DSQ (+ 30.856)	05	1: 54.175

World Cup stands after the race

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Michael sSchumacher Ferrari 66 02  Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 55 03  Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Renault 23 04th  Jean Alesi Benetton Renault 22nd 05  Gerhard Berger Benetton Renault 21st 06th  Eddie Irvine Ferrari 18th 07th  Olivier Panis Cheers to Mugen Honda 15th 08th  David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 14th 08th  Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes 14th 08th  Johnny Herbert Clean Petronas 14th 08th  Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Peugeot 14th 12  Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot 11 13  Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha 7th 14th  Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 6th

Item driver constructor Points 15th  Alexander Wurz Benetton Renault 4th 16  Jarno Trulli Cheers to Mugen Honda 3 17th  Mika Salo Tyrrell-Ford 2 17th  Shinji Nakano Cheers to Mugen Honda 2 19th  Nicola Larini Clean Petronas 1 -  Pedro Diniz Arrows-Yamaha 0 -  Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 0 -  Ukyō Katayama Minardi-Hart 0 -  Jos Verstappen Tyrrell-Ford 0 -  Gianni Morbidelli Clean Petronas 0 -  Norberto Fontana Clean Petronas 0 -  Tarso Marques Minardi-Hart 0 -  Vincenzo Sospiri Lola Ford 0 -  Ricardo Rosset Lola Ford 0

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  Ferrari 84 02  Williams-Renault 78 03  Benetton Renault 47 04th  McLaren-Mercedes 28 05  Jordan-Peugeot 25th 06th  Cheers to Mugen Honda 20th

Item constructor Points 07th  Clean Petronas 15th 08th  Arrows-Yamaha 7th 09  Stewart-Ford 6th 10  Tyrrell-Ford 2 -  Minardi-Hart 0 -  Lola Ford 0

Individual evidence

1. ↑ motorsportarchiv.de Overview Belgium 1997 ( Memento from September 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ Motorsportarchiv.de Friday training Belgium 1997 ( Memento from March 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ motorsport-magazin.com Friday training Belgium 1997
4. ↑ motorsport-magazin.com Saturday training Belgium 1997
5. ↑ motorsport-magazin.com Qualifying Belgium 1997
6. ↑ motorsport-magazin.com Warm-Up Belgium 1997
7. ^ Motorsportarchiv.de Race Belgium 1997 ( Memento from March 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
8. ^ Motorsport-magazin.com Race Belgium 1997