Template:Infobox Grand Prix race report The 1997 French Grand Prix (formally the LXXXIII French Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit de Nevers, Magny-Cours, France on 29 June 1997. It was the eighth race of the 1997 Formula One World Championship.

The 72-lap race was won from pole position by Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher, with teammate Eddie Irvine finishing third, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen achieving second in a Williams-Renault. This was Schumacher's third win of the season and second in succession. As a result, Schumacher had a 14-point lead in the Drivers' Championship over Jacques Villeneuve, who finished fourth in the other Williams-Renault.

QualifyingEdit

Qualifying reportEdit

Michael Schumacher achieved his second pole position in a row, meanwhile Jacques Villeneuve managed to take his worst qualifying position in the season so far. Jarno Trulli took his best qualifying position ever on his first race for Prost, Alexander Wurz outqualified teammate Jean Alesi on his only second start for Benetton and Pedro Diniz outqualified teammate 1996 World Champion Damon Hill for the first time in the season. Norberto Fontana made his first appearance for Sauber, becoming the first Argentine driver to star a Formula One race since Oscar Larrauri in 1988 Australian Grand Prix. On last spot Tarso Marques came back to the grid for Minardi.

Qualifying classificationEdit

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 5 Template:Flagicon Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:14.548
2 4 Template:Flagicon Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Renault 1:14.749 +0.201
3 11 Template:Flagicon Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot 1:14.755 +0.207
4 3 Template:Flagicon Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1:14.800 +0.252
5 6 Template:Flagicon Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:14.860 +0.312
6 14 Template:Flagicon Jarno Trulli Prost-Mugen-Honda 1:14.957 +0.409
7 8 Template:Flagicon Alexander Wurz Benetton-Renault 1:14.986 +0.438
8 7 Template:Flagicon Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 1:15.228 +0.680
9 10 Template:Flagicon David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.270 +0.722
10 9 Template:Flagicon Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.339 +0.791
11 12 Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Peugeot 1:15.453 +0.905
12 15 Template:Flagicon Shinji Nakano Prost-Mugen-Honda 1:15.857 +1.309
13 22 Template:Flagicon Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:15.876 +1.328
14 16 Template:Flagicon Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 1:16.018 +1.470
15 23 Template:Flagicon Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 1:16.149 +1.601
16 2 Template:Flagicon Pedro Diniz Arrows-Yamaha 1:16.536 +1.988
17 1 Template:Flagicon Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha 1:16.729 +2.181
18 18 Template:Flagicon Jos Verstappen Tyrrell-Ford 1:16.941 +2.393
19 19 Template:Flagicon Mika Salo Tyrrell-Ford 1:17.256 +2.708
20 17 Template:Flagicon Norberto Fontana Sauber-Petronas 1:17.538 +2.990
21 20 Template:Flagicon Ukyo Katayama Minardi-Hart 1:17.563 +3.015
22 21 Template:Flagicon Tarso Marques Minardi-Hart 1:18.280 +3.732
107% time: 1:19.766
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RaceEdit

Race reportEdit

At the beginning of the race, Michael Schumacher started from the pole position, followed closely by Frentzen in a Williams car. Damon Hill experienced difficulty from the outset, as he lost his wing at the first corner due to going off the track. Both McLaren drivers jumped from the fifth row to 6th (David Coulthard) and 7th (Mika Häkkinen), passing the Benetton drivers and Jarno Trulli. On lap 5 Tarso Marques ended his comeback race at Minardi with an engine failure on the finishing line. A tough weekend continued at Arrows, as Diniz tangled with Jos Verstappen at the Adelaide Hairpin and lost his front wing, spending more than twenty seconds in the pits and dropping to the back of the field.

The race proceeded without significant incident until the latter stages when a nearby thunderstorm brought rain to the circuit. Some drivers opted to pit for wet tyres, while others remained on their dry tyres. Under these challenging conditions, multiple drivers, including Michael Schumacher, experienced spins. Despite his spin, Schumacher was able to maintain his lead.

Ultimately, Michael Schumacher finished ahead of Frentzen by a considerable margin. During the race's conclusion, an intense battle took place among Ralf Schumacher, David Coulthard, and Jean Alesi. Concurrently, Jacques Villeneuve was striving to overtake Eddie Irvine for the final spot on the podium.

Ralf Schumacher encountered a spin, which cost him sixth place. However, as noted in the race records, Michael Schumacher (having lapped his brother) permitted Ralf to pass him at the final corner. Commentator Murray Walker deemed this move unwise at the time. On the last lap, Alesi forced Coulthard off the track, resulting in Coulthard losing fifth place. Consequently, Ralf Schumacher secured the final point, as he had managed to unlap himself.

In the race's closing moments, Villeneuve caught up to Irvine. Attempting an ambitious maneuver at the final corner, Villeneuve spun off the track but managed to rejoin the race and fend off Alesi at the finish line.

Race classificationEdit

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Template:Flagicon Michael Schumacher Ferrari 72 1:38:50.492 1 10
2 4 Template:Flagicon Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Renault 72 +23.537 2 6
3 6 Template:Flagicon Eddie Irvine Ferrari 72 +1:14.801 5 4
4 3 Template:Flagicon Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 72 +1:21.784 4 3
5 7 Template:Flagicon Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 72 +1:22.735 8 2
6 11 Template:Flagicon Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot 72 +1:29.871 3 1
7 10 Template:Flagicon David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 71 Collision 9  
8 16 Template:Flagicon Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 71 +1 lap 14  
9 12 Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Peugeot 71 +1 lap 11  
10 14 Template:Flagicon Jarno Trulli Prost-Mugen-Honda 70 +2 laps 6  
11 20 Template:Flagicon Ukyo Katayama Minardi-Hart 70 +2 laps 21  
12 1 Template:Flagicon Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha 69 +3 laps 17  
Ret 19 Template:Flagicon Mika Salo Tyrrell-Ford 61 Electrical 19  
Ret 8 Template:Flagicon Alexander Wurz Benetton-Renault 60 Spun off 7  
Ret 2 Template:Flagicon Pedro Diniz Arrows-Yamaha 58 Spun off 16  
Ret 17 Template:Flagicon Norberto Fontana Sauber-Petronas 40 Spun off 20  
Ret 22 Template:Flagicon Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 36 Engine 13  
Ret 23 Template:Flagicon Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 33 Brakes 15  
Ret 9 Template:Flagicon Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 18 Engine 10  
Ret 18 Template:Flagicon Jos Verstappen Tyrrell-Ford 15 Spun off 18  
Ret 15 Template:Flagicon Shinji Nakano Prost-Mugen-Honda 7 Spun off 12  
Ret 21 Template:Flagicon Tarso Marques Minardi-Hart 5 Engine 22  
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Championship standings after the raceEdit

Template:Col-start Template:Col-2

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Template:Flagicon Michael Schumacher 47
2 Template:Flagicon Jacques Villeneuve 33
3 Template:Flagicon Heinz-Harald Frentzen 19
4 Template:Flagicon Eddie Irvine 18
5 Template:Flagicon Olivier Panis 15
Source:<ref name="champ">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

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Template:Col-2

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 Template:Flagicon Ferrari 65
2 Template:Flagicon Williams-Renault 52
3 Template:Flagicon Benetton-Renault 25
4 Template:Flagicon McLaren-Mercedes 21
5 Template:Flagicon Prost-Mugen-Honda 16
Source:<ref name="champ"/>

Template:Col-end

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

ReferencesEdit

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