1997 Italian Grand Prix

  1997 Italian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 13 of 17 in the 1997 Formula One season
Date	7 September 1997
Location	Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.770 km (3.585 mi)
Distance	53 laps, 305.810 km (190.022 mi)
Weather	Dry with temperatures reaching up to 29 °C (84 °F)[1]
Pole position
Driver	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault
Time	1:22.990
Fastest lap
Driver	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:24.808 on lap 49
Podium
First	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Second	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault
Third	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Renault

The 1997 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza on 7 September 1997. It was the thirteenth round of the 1997 Formula One season. The 53-lap race was won by David Coulthard driving for McLaren after starting from sixth position on the grid. Jean Alesi finished second for Benetton after starting from pole position, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished third for Williams.

Alesi led the race until the halfway stage; however, Coulthard, who had jumped from sixth on the grid into third place coming out of the first corner, got ahead of the Frenchman courtesy of a faster pit-stop, and held on to win the race by less than two seconds, gaining some measure of revenge for an incident in the French Grand Prix earlier that season, in which Alesi recklessly pushed Coulthard off the track on the final lap to rob the Scot of his fifth place. The top five finishers and Mika Häkkinen ran in two separate processional orders throughout - Häkkinen dropped out of the points when he flat spotted his front tyres after his pitstop; before his pitstop he ran out of fuel just metres from the entrance of the pits, thus costing him a chance to come out in the lead because he was the last car among the top teams to come in after being out the longest.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	7	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	1:22.990
2	4	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Renault	1:23.042	+0.052
3	12	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Peugeot	1:23.066	+0.076
4	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	1:23.231	+0.241
5	9	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:23.340	+0.350
6	10	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:23.347	+0.357
7	8	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	1:23.443	+0.453
8	11	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Peugeot	1:23.603	+0.613
9	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:23.624	+0.634
10	6	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:23.891	+0.901
11	22	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	1:24.177	+1.187
12	16	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	1:24.242	+1.252
13	23	Jan Magnussen	Stewart-Ford	1:24.394	+1.404
14	1	Damon Hill	Arrows-Yamaha	1:24.482	+1.492
15	15	Shinji Nakano	Prost-Mugen-Honda	1:24.553	+1.563
16	14	Jarno Trulli	Prost-Mugen-Honda	1:24.567	+1.577
17	2	Pedro Diniz	Arrows-Yamaha	1:24.639	+1.649
18	17	Gianni Morbidelli	Sauber-Petronas	1:24.735	+1.745
19	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Ford	1:25.693	+2.703
20	18	Jos Verstappen	Tyrrell-Ford	1:25.845	+2.855
21	20	Ukyo Katayama	Minardi-Hart	1:26.655	+3.665
22	21	Tarso Marques	Minardi-Hart	1:27.677	+4.687
Source:[2]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	10	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	53	1:17:04.609	6	10
2	7	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault	53	+1.937	1	6
3	4	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Renault	53	+4.343	2	4
4	12	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Peugeot	53	+5.871	3	3
5	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	53	+6.416	4	2
6	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	53	+11.481	9	1
7	8	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-Renault	53	+12.471	7
8	6	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	53	+17.639	10
9	9	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+49.373	5
10	14	Jarno Trulli	Prost-Mugen-Honda	53	+1:02.706	16
11	15	Shinji Nakano	Prost-Mugen-Honda	53	+1:03.327	15
12	17	Gianni Morbidelli	Sauber-Petronas	52	+1 Lap	18
13	22	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	52	+1 Lap	11
14	21	Tarso Marques	Minardi-Hart	50	+3 Laps	22
Ret	1	Damon Hill	Arrows-Yamaha	46	Engine	14
Ret	11	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Peugeot	39	Collision	8
Ret	16	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	38	Collision	12
Ret	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Ford	33	Engine	19
Ret	23	Jan Magnussen	Stewart-Ford	31	Transmission	13
Ret	18	Jos Verstappen	Tyrrell-Ford	12	Gearbox	20
Ret	20	Ukyo Katayama	Minardi-Hart	8	Loose Wheel	21
Ret	2	Pedro Diniz	Arrows-Yamaha	4	Suspension	17
Source:[3]

Notes

• Lap leaders: Jean Alesi 31 (1-31), Mika Häkkinen 2 (32-33), Michael Schumacher 1 (34), David Coulthard 19 (35-53)
• Last pole position: Jean Alesi
• David Coulthard dedicated this race to Princess Diana.^[4]

Championship standings after the race

• Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Michael Schumacher 67 2 Jacques Villeneuve 57 3 Jean Alesi 28 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 27 5 David Coulthard 24

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 85 2 Williams-Renault 84 3 Benetton-Renault 53 4 McLaren-Mercedes 38 5 Jordan-Peugeot 28

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

References

1. "Italian Grand Prix Weather Information". Weather Underground. Retrieved 2014-09-09.
2. "Italy 1997 - Qualifications". StatsF1. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
3. "1997 Italian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
4. "Italian Grand Prix Review". atlasf1.autosport.com. 1997-09-10. Retrieved 2009-12-15.

External links