1997 San Marino Grand Prix
Race 4 of 17 in the 1997 Formula One World Championship ←  Previous race Next race  →
Race details
Date	27 April 1997
Official name	XVII Gran Premio di San Marino
Location	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari , Imola , Emilia-Romagna , Italy
Course	Permanent Racing Facility
Course length	4.930 km (3.065 miles)
Distance	62 laps, 305.660 km (190.030 miles)
Weather	Cloudy, Dry, 17 °C
Pole position
Driver	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams - Renault
Time	1:23.303
Fastest lap
Driver	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams - Renault
Time	1:25.531 on lap 42
Podium
First	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams - Renault
Second	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Third	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari
Lap leaders

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 [ edit ]

Pre-race [ edit ]

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 [ edit ]

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 [ edit ]

Heinz-Harald Frentzen took his maiden Formula One win driving for Williams after he held off a late charge from Michael Schumacher. [1] 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 [ edit ]

Qualifying [ edit ]

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 Hakkinen	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	+5.424
107% time  : 1:29.134
Source: [1]

Race [ edit ]

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 Hakkinen	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
Ret	2	Pedro Diniz	Arrows - Yamaha	53	Gearbox	17
Ret	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams - Renault	40	Gearbox	1
Ret	10	David Coulthard	McLaren - Mercedes	38	Engine	10
Ret	22	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart - Ford	32	Engine	13
Ret	16	Johnny Herbert	Sauber - Petronas	18	Electrical	7
Ret	11	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan - Peugeot	17	Transmission	5
Ret	15	Shinji Nakano	Prost - Mugen-Honda	11	Collision	18
Ret	1	Damon Hill	Arrows - Yamaha	11	Collision	15
Ret	8	Gerhard Berger	Benetton - Renault	4	Spun off	11
Ret	23	Jan Magnussen	Stewart - Ford	2	Spun off	16
DNS	21	Jarno Trulli	Minardi - Hart	0	Gearbox	20
Source: [2] [3]

Championship standings after the race [ edit ]

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 10 Source: [4]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams - Renault 30 2 Ferrari 24 3 McLaren - Mercedes 20 4 Benetton - Renault 13 5 Jordan - Peugeot 7 Source: [4]

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

References [ edit ]

Race Details: "1997 San Marino GP" . Chicane F1 . Retrieved 2007-08-06 .