1997 German Grand Prix

Report

Background

Going into the race, the Drivers' Championship had developed into a battle between Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher and Williams driver Jacques Villeneuve. Schumacher led Villeneuve by four points, 47 to 43, although Villeneuve had won four races to Schumacher's three. Jean Alesi, driving for Benetton, was a distant third on 21 points. Similarly, the Constructors' Championship had become a battle between Ferrari and Williams, with the Italian team leading by three points, 65 to 62, and both well clear of Benetton in third on 35 points.

Following the British Grand Prix on 13 July, the teams conducted testing sessions at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza from July 14–17. Shinji Nakano (Prost) set the fastest time on the first day, while Giancarlo Fisichella (Jordan) topped the second day's running. Johnny Herbert (Sauber) was fastest on the third day and Ralf Schumacher (Jordan) set the fastest time on the final day of running.

There was one driver change heading into the race. Having been in one of the two Benetton cars since the seventh race of the season at Canada, Alexander Wurz stood down from his role as race driver and was replaced by Gerhard Berger. Berger was forced to miss the previous three rounds due to a reoccurring sinus problem, requiring two operations.

On 22 July, four days before the event's first free practice sessions took place, Benetton confirmed the team would sign Fisichella for 1998, while the organisers of the German Grand Prix signed a deal with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), to continue hosting the race until 2001.

Practice and qualifying

Four practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—two on Friday, and two on Saturday. The Friday morning and afternoon sessions each lasted an hour. The third and final practice sessions were held on Saturday morning and lasted 45 minutes. The two practice sessions were affected by occasionally damp and wet conditions, which made the track moderately slippery. Ralf Schumacher set the session's fastest time, with a lap of 1:46.196, one-tenth of a second quicker than Michael Schumacher.

Saturday's afternoon qualifying session lasted for an hour. Each driver was limited to twelve laps, with the grid order decided by the drivers' fastest laps. During this session, the 107% rule was in effect, which necessitated each driver set a time within 107% of the quickest lap to qualify for the race.

Race

The drivers took to the track at 09:30 CEST (UTC+1) for a 30-minute warm-up session.

Giancarlo Fisichella took his first ever front-row start, and was challenging Berger for the win until he punctured a tyre on the debris of Rubens Barrichello's blown engine. This same incident had helped him gain the lead, as the smoke from the engine delayed Berger prior to his pit stop. Fisichella only led for two laps before Berger repassed him. After Fisichella broke down due to damage from the flailing tyre (caused while he tried to drive back to the pits), Michael Schumacher gave him a lift back to the pits after the race.

Jacques Villeneuve had a disastrous race, spinning off while trying to overtake rookie Jarno Trulli, thus losing championship ground to Schumacher. The latter's team-mate Eddie Irvine and Villeneuve's team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen collided at the first corner, with David Coulthard also forced out by damage from the incident.

Berger's last win would also be the last for Benetton, just as Berger's first win had been the team's first. It was also Benetton's only win as an Italian-licensed team, making Benetton the only team to have won races under more than one nationality.

This was the last Grand Prix win for the Enstone-based Formula One team until the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix, and, , the last for an Austrian driver.

Classification

Qualifying

Race

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

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

References

Name_of_race = German Grand Prix | Year_of_race = 1997 | Previous_race_in_season = 1997 British Grand Prix | Next_race_in_season = 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix | Previous_year's_race = 1996 German Grand Prix | Next_year's_race = 1998 German Grand Prix

References

1. "F1 Points Tables - 1997". Crash Media Group.
2. "Formula One July 1997 Test-Times". Haymarket Publications.
3. (21 July 1997). "Last week at Monza". Inside F1, Inc..
4. (21 July 1997). "Berger back in business". Inside F1, Inc..
5. (21 July 1997). "Germany to host 2 Grands Prix through 2001". Haymarket Publications.
6. Domenjoz, Luc. (1997). "Formula 1 Yearbook - 1997-98". [[Parragon]].
7. (27 July 1997). "News 97 - German Grand Prix". Gale Force F1.
8. (26 July 1997). "Qualifying". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
9. "Grand Prix Results: German GP, 1997". Inside F1, Inc..
10. "Germany 1997 - Qualifications • STATS F1".
11. "1997 German Grand Prix". formula1.com.
12. "Germany 1997 - Championship • STATS F1".