The 1997 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Italy on 27 April 1997. It was the fourth race of the 1997 Formula One season. The 62-lap race was won by Williams driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen after he started from second position. Michael Schumacher finished second for the Ferrari team with his teammate Eddie Irvine third.
Summary
Pre-race In the early practice sessions the Ferrari and Benetton teams dominated, with a large majority of the field experiencing some sort of problem with their car, or going off. One of the drivers was David Coulthard, who had a major off in the Saturday morning session, destroying the car. However, the Williams soon regained the top spot in the later sessions.
Qualifying Jacques Villeneuve made it four pole positions in a row after once again taking pole. His teammate joined him on the front row, followed by Michael Schumacher, another strong performance by Olivier Panis, and in fifth Michael's younger brother Ralf.
Race
Heinz-Harald Frentzen took his maiden Formula One win driving for Williams after he held off a late charge from Michael Schumacher. Jacques Villeneuve retired from third place with a gearbox failure.
Gerhard Berger started his 200th grand prix, however it ended in disappointment when he spun off early on.
Classification
Qualifying
Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 3 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1:23.303 2 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Renault 1:23.646 +0.343 3 5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:23.955 +0.652 4 14 Olivier Panis Prost-Mugen-Honda 1:24.075 +0.772 5 11 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot 1:24.081 +0.778 6 12 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Peugeot 1:24.596 +1.293 7 16 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 1:24.723 +1.420 8 9 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:24.812 +1.509 9 6 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:24.862 +1.558 10 10 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.077 +1.774 11 8 Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 1:25.371 +2.068 12 17 Nicola Larini Sauber-Petronas 1:25.554 +2.241 13 22 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:25.579 +2.276 14 7 Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 1:25.729 +2.426 15 1 Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha 1:25.743 +2.440 16 23 Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 1:26.192 +2.889 17 2 Pedro Diniz Arrows-Yamaha 1:26.253 +2.950 18 15 Shinji Nakano Prost-Mugen-Honda 1:26.712 +3.409 19 19 Mika Salo Tyrrell-Ford 1:26.852 +3.549 20 21 Jarno Trulli Minardi-Hart 1:26.960 +3.657 21 18 Jos Verstappen Tyrrell-Ford 1:27.428 +4.125 22 20 Ukyo Katayama Minardi-Hart 1:28.727 +5.424107% time : 1:29.134
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Renault 62 1:31:00.673 2 10 2 5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 62 +1.237 3 6 3 6 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 62 +1:18.343 9 4 4 12 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Peugeot 62 +1:23.388 6 3 5 7 Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 61 +1 lap 14 2 6 9 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 61 +1 lap 8 1 7 17 Nicola Larini Sauber-Petronas 61 +1 lap 12 8 14 Olivier Panis Prost-Mugen-Honda 61 +1 lap 4 9 19 Mika Salo Tyrrell-Ford 60 +2 laps 19 10 18 Jos Verstappen Tyrrell-Ford 60 +2 laps 21 11 20 Ukyo Katayama Minardi-Hart 59 +3 laps 22 2 Pedro Diniz Arrows-Yamaha 53 Gearbox 17 3 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 40 Gearbox 1 10 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 38 Engine 10 22 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 32 Engine 13 16 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 18 Electrical 7 11 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot 17 Transmission 5 15 Shinji Nakano Prost-Mugen-Honda 11 Collision 18 1 Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha 11 Collision 15 8 Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 4 Spun off 11 23 Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 2 Spun off 16 21 Jarno Trulli Minardi-Hart 0 Gearbox 20
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jacques Villeneuve 20 2 Michael Schumacher 14 3 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 10 4 David Coulthard 10 5 Eddie Irvine 10Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Renault 30 2 Ferrari 24 3 McLaren-Mercedes 20 4 Benetton-Renault 13 5 Jordan-Peugeot 7Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
Race Details: