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.
Classification
Qualifying The biggest 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 an 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 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:18.095 2 3 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1:18.108 +0.013 3 22 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:18.388 +0.293 4 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Renault 1:18.464 +0.369 5 10 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:18.466 +0.371 6 12 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Peugeot 1:18.750 +0.655 7 11 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot 1:18.869 +0.774 8 7 Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 1:18.899 +0.804 9 9 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:18.916 +0.821 10 14 Olivier Panis Prost-Mugen-Honda 1:19.034 +0.939 11 8 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Renault 1:19.286 +1.191 12 6 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:19.503 +1.408 13 16 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 1:19.622 +1.527 14 18 Jos Verstappen Tyrrell-Ford 1:20.102 +2.007 15 1 Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha 1:20.129 +2.034 16 2 Pedro Diniz Arrows-Yamaha 1:20.175 +2.080 17 19 Mika Salo Tyrrell-Ford 1:20.336 +2.241 18 17 Gianni Morbidelli Sauber-Petronas 1:20.357 +2.262 19 15 Shinji Nakano Prost-Mugen-Honda 1:20.370 +2.275 20 21 Jarno Trulli Minardi-Hart 1:20.370 +2.275 21 23 Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 1:20.491 +2.396 22 20 Ukyo Katayama Minardi-Hart 1:21.034 +2.939107% time: 1:23.562Source:
Race 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 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 54 1:17:40.646 1 10 2 7 Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 54 +2.565 8 6 3 12 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Peugeot 54 +3.219 6 4 4 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Renault 54 +3.768 4 3 5 16 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 54 +4.716 13 2 6 15 Shinji Nakano Prost-Mugen-Honda 54 +36.701 19 1 7 10 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 54 +37.753 5 8 2 Pedro Diniz Arrows-Yamaha 53 +1 lap 16 9 1 Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha 53 +1 lap 15 10 17 Gianni Morbidelli Sauber-Petronas 53 +1 lap 18 11 14 Olivier Panis Prost-Mugen-Honda 51 Accident 10 19 Mika Salo Tyrrell-Ford 46 Engine 17 18 Jos Verstappen Tyrrell-Ford 42 Gearbox 14 8 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Renault 35 Transmission 11 22 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 33 Gearbox 3 21 Jarno Trulli Minardi-Hart 32 Engine 20 11 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot 14 Accident 7 20 Ukyo Katayama Minardi-Hart 5 Throttle 22 3 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1 Accident 2 9 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 0 Collision 9 6 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 0 Collision 12 23 Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 0 Accident 21
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher 37 2 Jacques Villeneuve 30 3 Olivier Panis 15 4 Eddie Irvine 14 5 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 13Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 51 2 Williams-Renault 43 3 Benetton-Renault 23 4 McLaren-Mercedes 21 5 Prost-Mugen-Honda 16Source: 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