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1997 Canadian Grand Prix

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1997 Canadian Grand Prix
Race 7 of 17 in the 1997 Formula One World Championship
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Race details
Date 15 June 1997
Official name XXXV Grand Prix Players du Canada
Location Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Course Temporary street circuit
Course length 4.421 km (2.747 miles)
Distance 54 laps, 238.734 km (148.342 miles)
Scheduled distance 69 laps, 305.049 km (189.549 miles)
Weather Clear and mild with temperatures approaching 22.7 °C (72.9 °F)
Wind speeds up to 4.1 km/h (2.5 mph)[1]
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:18.095
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:19.635 on lap 37
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Benetton-Renault
Third Jordan-Peugeot
Lap leaders
Barrichello on his way to third on the grid, but would retire in the race.

The 1997 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on 15 June 1997. The race was stopped early on lap 54 after a big crash involving Olivier Panis, who broke his legs and would be unable to start the next seven Grands Prix. Michael Schumacher won ahead of Jean Alesi in the Benetton and Giancarlo Fisichella in the Jordan. David Coulthard had been leading, but was delayed for over a lap by a clutch problem during his second pit stop, shortly before Panis's crash. On lap 2, local driver Jacques Villeneuve crashed into the wall on the exit of the final corner. This wall would later be known as the 'Wall of Champions', after three former World Champions, including Villeneuve, crashed into it separately in the 1999 race.

It also marked the debut of Alexander Wurz, driving for Benetton in place of his compatriot Gerhard Berger. Berger had been suffering from a sinus illness for some time and during his time off his father was killed in a light aircraft accident.[2]

Classification

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Qualifying

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The bigest surprise was Rubens Barrichello qualifying his Stewart on third spot, best position to the new team at that point. During the weekend the team tried a F-3000 rear wing to improve their downforce balance. The Brazilian was the best Bridgestone tyre supplied car qualifier; the second best was Frenchman Olivier Panis, only 10th.

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:18.095
2 3 Canada Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1:18.108 +0.013
3 22 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:18.388 +0.293
4 4 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Renault 1:18.464 +0.369
5 10 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:18.466 +0.371
6 12 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Peugeot 1:18.750 +0.655
7 11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot 1:18.869 +0.774
8 7 France Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 1:18.899 +0.804
9 9 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:18.916 +0.821
10 14 France Olivier Panis Prost-Mugen-Honda 1:19.034 +0.939
11 8 Austria Alexander Wurz Benetton-Renault 1:19.286 +1.191
12 6 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:19.503 +1.408
13 16 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 1:19.622 +1.527
14 18 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Tyrrell-Ford 1:20.102 +2.007
15 1 United Kingdom Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha 1:20.129 +2.034
16 2 Brazil Pedro Diniz Arrows-Yamaha 1:20.175 +2.080
17 19 Finland Mika Salo Tyrrell-Ford 1:20.336 +2.241
18 17 Italy Gianni Morbidelli Sauber-Petronas 1:20.357 +2.262
19 15 Japan Shinji Nakano Prost-Mugen-Honda 1:20.370 +2.275
20 21 Italy Jarno Trulli Minardi-Hart 1:20.370 +2.275
21 23 Denmark Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 1:20.491 +2.396
22 20 Japan Ukyo Katayama Minardi-Hart 1:21.034 +2.939
107% time: 1:23.562
Source:[3]

Race

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At the start, Eddie Irvine and Mika Häkkinen tangled at turn 2 and collected Jan Magnussen, with all three drivers immediately retiring. Rubens Barrichello made a bad start and dropped from third to seventh. On lap 2, local hero Jacques Villeneuve crashed out at the final chicane. Four laps later Ukyo Katayama retired and the Safety Car was deployed. The race resumed with both Tyrrell's drivers Jos Verstappen and Mika Salo passing Rubens Barrichello, running heavy on fuel on a one-stop strategy. When Ralf Schumacher retired, Jos Verstappen climbed to sixth place. The dream of the Dutchman to score his first point of the season faded away on lap 42; four laps later the same happened to his teammate.

At the front, Michael Schumacher established a gap around ten seconds to David Coulthard until his first stop. Then the McLaren driver took the lead until his only stop, dropping again to second, and coming back to the field around eight seconds behind the German. As the Ferrari driver needed a second stop to refueling, the lead would come back to Coulthard on lap 44. Schumacher exited the pit behind Olivier Panis and soon lapped the Frenchman, seventh at the time. However the German struggled on his new set of tyres and was unlapped by Panis, giving an even more comfortable lead to Coulthard.

Enjoying a reasonable gap to second spot and concerning about blistering on his left rear tyre, David Coulthard pitted for the second time, but his clutch failed and the car stalled on box. Thus, the lead came back to Michael Schumacher, at the same time that Olivier Panis crashed heavily on tyre barrier at turn 5, bringing out the Safety Car for the second time as well as the Medical Car.

The Frenchman was rapidly extracted from his Prost car and laid down with pain in his legs, leaving the track on an ambulance. Three laps later the race was red flagged and finished, giving Michael Schumacher the Championship lead, Giancarlo Fisichella his very first podium and Shinji Nakano his first Formula One career point.

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 54 1:17:40.646 1 10
2 7 France Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 54 +2.565 8 6
3 12 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Peugeot 54 +3.219 6 4
4 4 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Renault 54 +3.768 4 3
5 16 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 54 +4.716 13 2
6 15 Japan Shinji Nakano Prost-Mugen-Honda 54 +36.701 19 1
7 10 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 54 +37.753 5  
8 2 Brazil Pedro Diniz Arrows-Yamaha 53 +1 lap 16  
9 1 United Kingdom Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha 53 +1 lap 15  
10 17 Italy Gianni Morbidelli Sauber-Petronas 53 +1 lap 18  
11 14 France Olivier Panis Prost-Mugen-Honda 51 Accident 10  
Ret 19 Finland Mika Salo Tyrrell-Ford 46 Engine 17  
Ret 18 Netherlands Jos Verstappen Tyrrell-Ford 42 Gearbox 14  
Ret 8 Austria Alexander Wurz Benetton-Renault 35 Transmission 11  
Ret 22 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 33 Gearbox 3  
Ret 21 Italy Jarno Trulli Minardi-Hart 32 Engine 20  
Ret 11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot 14 Accident 7  
Ret 20 Japan Ukyo Katayama Minardi-Hart 5 Throttle 22  
Ret 3 Canada Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1 Accident 2  
Ret 9 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 0 Collision 9  
Ret 6 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Ferrari 0 Collision 12  
Ret 23 Denmark Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 0 Accident 21  
Source:[4]

Championship standings after the race

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First podium: Giancarlo Fisichella

First point: Shinji Nakano

As the consequence of Olivier Panis injuries, Italian Minardi driver Jarno Trulli was called to replace him at Prost Grand Prix, meanwhile Brazilian driver Tarso Marques, who had raced for Minardi in 1996, took Trulli seat at the Italian team.

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

References

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  1. ^ "Weather information for the "1997 Canadian Grand Prix"". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  2. ^ "McLaren's 50 Greatest Drivers". Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. Archived from the original on 15 January 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  3. ^ F1, STATS. "Canada 1997 - Qualifications • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 October 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "1997 Canadian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Canada 1997 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.


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1997 Spanish Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1997 season
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1997 French Grand Prix
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1996 Canadian Grand Prix
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1998 Canadian Grand Prix