The Williams FW19 was the car with which the
Williams team competed in the
1997 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve ( born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian professional racing driver and amateur musician who won the 1997 Formula One World Championship with Williams. In addition to Formula One (F1) he has competed in various o ...
, in his second year with the team, and
Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Heinz-Harald Frentzen (born 18 May 1967) is a German former racing driver. He competed in multiple disciplines including Sportscars, Formula One and DTM. He had his most success in Formula One, entering over 150 Grands Prix and winning three.
...
, who moved from
Sauber
Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it un ...
to replace the dropped champion,
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill, (born 17 September 1960) is a British former professional racing driver from England and the 1996 Formula One World Champion. He is the son of Graham Hill, and, along with Nico Rosberg, one of two sons of a Formula ...
. Williams also employed test drivers
Jean-Christophe Boullion
Jean-Christophe "Jules" Boullion (born 27 December 1969) is a French professional racing driver who raced in Formula One for the Sauber team.
Career
Born in Saint-Brieuc, near Côtes d'Armor, Boullion started karting in 1982 and moved to c ...
and
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver.
He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech ...
.
To this date, the FW19 remains the last Williams car to win either championship. It was also the last
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
-powered Formula One car to win a world championship title until the
Renault R25
The Renault R25 was the Formula One car entered by Renault in the 2005 season. The chassis was designed by Bob Bell, James Allison, Tim Densham and Dino Toso with Pat Symonds overseeing the design and production of the car as executive direct ...
in .
Design
The car was a logical development of the extremely successful
FW18, which had comfortably won both titles in . It was also the last Williams chassis to receive input from designer
Adrian Newey
Adrian Martin Newey, (born 26 December 1958) is a British Formula One engineer. He is currently the chief technical officer of the Red Bull Racing F1 team.
Newey has worked in both Formula One and IndyCar racing as a race engineer, aerodynami ...
, who left the team to join
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
before the season began. His work was finished by
Geoff Willis. The FW19 was the last Williams to run a works
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
engine before the French marque's temporary withdrawal. It also benefited from design input from
Patrick Head
Sir Patrick Michael Head (born 5 June 1946) is a British motorsport executive who is the co-founder and former Engineering Director of the Williams Formula One team. For 27 years from Head was technical director at Williams Grand Prix Engineer ...
. The new car was designed to be lighter and stiffer than the FW18. The car was the last Williams to use the highly successful
naturally aspirated Renault RS9
V10 engine
A V10 engine is a ten-cylinder piston engine where two banks of five cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V10 engines are much less common than V8 and V12 engines. Several V10 diesel engines have been prod ...
along with the in-house Williams gearbox. The car used
Elf
An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...
fuel,
Castrol
Castrol is a British oil company that markets industrial and automotive lubricants, offering a wide range of oil, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications. The name ''Castrol'' was originally just the brand name for com ...
oil,
Penske
Penske Corporation, Inc. () is an American diversified transportation services company based in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan. Roger Penske is the chairman of the privately held company, and Rob Kurnick is the president.
Holding ...
shock absorbers and
AP Racing
Brembo S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of automotive brake systems, especially for high-performance cars and motorcycles. Its head office is in Curno, Bergamo, Italy.
History
Brembo was established in Paladina, Italy on January 11, 1961 ...
carbon
disc brake
A disc brake is a type of brake that uses the calipers to squeeze pairs of pads against a disc or a "rotor" to create friction. This action slows the rotation of a shaft, such as a vehicle axle, either to reduce its rotational speed or to hol ...
s.
Villeneuve later said that the FW19 was his favourite Formula One car, but that it was difficult to drive and get the maximum out of. He added that it felt like driving on ice for much of the time. Frentzen also found the car difficult to drive, and struggled setting it up to his liking all season.
1997 season
The car had the tough challenge of picking up the baton from
1996's FW18, which had walked away with both titles in the hands of
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill, (born 17 September 1960) is a British former professional racing driver from England and the 1996 Formula One World Champion. He is the son of Graham Hill, and, along with Nico Rosberg, one of two sons of a Formula ...
, now departed for
Arrows, and the retained Jacques Villeneuve.
The season began in the way 1996 left off for Williams, with Villeneuve taking pole and Frentzen joining him on the front row for the opening race in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. Villeneuve was in trouble right from the start, however, and a bad start pulled him back into the field and he was taken out by
Johnny Herbert
John Paul "Johnny" Herbert (born 25 June 1964) is a British former racing driver and current television announcer for Sky Sports F1. He raced in Formula One from 1989 to 2000, for seven different teams, winning three races and placing 4th in ...
in the
Sauber
Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it un ...
. This left Frentzen in the lead, but he was jumped by
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...
's
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
in the second pitstops. He was still on for second place, however, but his brakes failed three laps from the end and it was a no score for Williams.
Villeneuve took pole again in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, with Frentzen down in a disappointing 8th. Villeneuve held the lead for the entire race apart from three laps during the second round of pitstops and held on to take his and Williams's first win of the season. Frentzen, however, had a far more exciting race, dropping to 13th at the start, being passed by Hill,
Ralf Schumacher
Ralf Schumacher (born 30 June 1975) is a German former racing driver. He is the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, and the pair are the only siblings to each win Formula One races.
Schumacher began kart ...
in the
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
,
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 T ...
's
Stewart, Coulthard and Herbert. He repassed Barrichello and Herbert in the early laps, but remained in 11th after the first stops. The second stops were better for him, and he passed Ralf Schumacher, Hill and Coulthard, emerging in 8th. He was passed late on by
Giancarlo Fisichella in the Jordan and demoted to 9th, so once again scored no points. This result left Villeneuve equal top of the championship with Coulthard and Williams equal second with
Benetton and behind McLaren.
An early
safety car was triggered in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
due to the collision between Coulthard and
Ferrari's Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...
. This was good for the Williams team, who had started 1–2, with Villeneuve on pole for the third consecutive time. It didn't last very long for Frentzen, though, as his clutch broke after only five laps, meaning he had still scored no points for the season. Villeneuve was able to hold on to the lead for the vast majority of the race, with only five laps during the pitstops led by the Ferrari of
Eddie Irvine
Edmund Irvine Jr. (; born 10 November 1965) is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One between 1993 and 2002, and finished runner-up in the 1999 World Drivers' Championship, driving for Scuderia Ferrari.
He b ...
. The Canadian's second win of the season left him and the team clear at the top of the championship table, despite Frentzen being yet to score.
The
Grove based team locked out the front row yet again in
San Marino
San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
, and Villeneuve retained his 100% pole position record for 1997. Frentzen was jumped by Michael Schumacher at the start, and the Williams cars ran 1st and 3rd until the first round of pitstops, when Villeneuve was already suffering from gearbox problems. Frentzen jumped his compatriot Schumacher and took the lead while Villeneuve dropped to 3rd with his problems. He finally retired on lap 41. Frentzen was under pressure from Schumacher to the very end, but held on to take his first ever F1 victory. Villeneuve held on to his championship lead, as did the team, and Frentzen moved up to equal third — he,
Gerhard Berger
Gerhard Berger (born 27 August 1959) is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver. He competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, twice finishing 3rd overall in the championship ( and ), both times driving for Ferrari. He won ten Grands Prix, ach ...
of Benetton,
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen (; born 28 September 1968), nicknamed "The Flying Finn", is a Finnish former racing driver. He won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1998 and 1999, both times driving for McLaren. Häkkinen is one of three Fo ...
of McLaren, Irvine and Coulthard all had 10 points.
Frentzen took his first career pole at the
Monaco Grand Prix, but Villeneuve was back in third with Michael Schumacher splitting them. The Ferrari man jumped Frentzen at the very wet start and the Jordans of Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher also got through. Villeneuve had an awful start and was down to 9th, behind Coulthard, Herbert, Barrichello and
Olivier Panis
Olivier Panis (; born 2 September 1966) is a French former racing driver. Panis raced in Formula One for ten seasons, earning his first and only win at the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix for the Ligier team.
He is the father of racing driver Auréli ...
's
Prost as well. Frentzen had a spin and Villeneuve had technical problems, and they were soon running 16th and 17th. As the rain continued to fall, they picked up places due to the accidents of Herbert and
Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli (; born 13 July 1974) is an Italian racing driver. He regularly competed in Formula One from 1997 to 2011, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault, Toyota, Lotus Racing and Team Lotus. His best result in the World Drivers' Cham ...
in the
Minardi, Berger having to stop for a new front wing and actually passing
Shinji Nakano
Shinji Nakano (中野 信治, born 1 April 1971) is a Japanese professional racing driver.
His father, Tsuneharu, was also a racing driver. He competed in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship.
Racing career
Pre Formula One Career
Formu ...
's Prost on the racetrack. This left them in 11th and 12th with Frentzen still leading his teammate, but on lap 17 Villeneuve pulled into the pits with a problem, later identified as accident damage after a brush with the barrier, and retired. Frentzen picked up a place on the same lap due to
Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell ...
spinning his Benetton out of the race. The German passed
Ukyo Katayama
is a Japanese former racing driver and team manager, most notable for competing for six years in Formula One. He participated in 97 Grands Prix, debuting on 1 March 1992. He scored a total of five championship points, all of them for the Tyrre ...
in the other Minardi a lap later, and was in 9th. He was still in 9th on lap 40 when he ran wide at the seafront chicane and bounced across the kerbs, damaging his right front suspension. He then hit the wall on the other side of the track, which caused almost identical damage to the left front suspension. He was out of the race, and the Williams Monaco challenge was over. Michael Schumacher's victory left him top of the championship by four points from Villeneuve. Frentzen had been demoted to fourth due to Eddie Irvine's 3rd place, and Williams had been bumped down to 2nd by the Ferrari performance.
The Williams cars were back on the front row in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, with Villeneuve on pole again. Villeneuve held position at the start despite intense pressure from Coulthard and Michael Schumacher. Frentzen, however, dropped down to 6th as the McLaren and the Ferrari swept passed him along with Alesi and Häkkinen. Frentzen had run as high as third, but by the time the second pitstops were over he was down to 8th - Herbert and Panis had got passed him as well. At the end Villeneuve was able to hold onto the lead only because Olivier Panis, an unlikely challenger, was caught in the traffic of Eddie Irvine and
Jos Verstappen
Johannes Franciscus Verstappen (; born 4 March 1972) is a former (Formula One) racing driver. Verstappen was the German Formula Three champion and Masters of Formula Three winner in 1993.
In Formula 1, Verstappen raced for seven different t ...
's
Tyrrell. Frentzen was not much help to the Canadian, only moving up to 8th with a last lap move on Fisichella. This result allowed Villeneuve to move back to the lead of the championship, but meanwhile Frentzen was slipping, from 4th to 6th as Panis and Coulthard overtook him.
Round 7 of the Championship took place in Montreal, Canada, Villeneuve's home race. However, the event would mark a mid-season slump in fortunes for the team in both results and car performance. Villeneuve, having been beaten to pole position in the dying moments of qualifying by Michael Schumacher, crashed into the Wall of Champions on lap 2, thus enabling the German to record victory and retake the championship lead. Frentzen meanwhile, could only qualify and finish 4th after a lacklustre race that consisted of a poor start and 3 pit stops.
Williams would fall further behind in the title race at the French Grand Prix as Michael Schumacher recorded a dominant win from pole position, 23 seconds ahead of second placed Heinz Harald Frentzen. The Williams cars would start and finish 2nd and 4th, Villeneuve's qualifying pace hindered by having to use the spare car after crashing his race car in FP3. For Frentzen, the race was a straightforward run in P2, unable to keep pace with Schumacher but pulling clear of Eddie Irvine's 3rd place Ferrari. Villeneuve, having dropped behind Irvine at the start after passing Ralf Schumacher's Jordan off the line, made a late switch to wet tyres in the closing laps as a late thunderstorm hit the Nevers region. Rejoining 6th, Jacques would repass Ralf Schumacher and Coulthard into the Adelaide hairpin before mounting a last lap challenge on Irvine's podium place. Approaching the final Lycée corner, Villeneuve looked at diving down the Ferrari's inside before dipping his rear wheel on the inside grass and spinning across the track into the pit lane entry, wiping out the entry bollards as he did so. Villeneuve would straight-line the final corner in his attempts to rejoin the track to take 4th place, which earned him a summons from the stewards who let Jacques off with a warning. The result meant Villeneuve slipped 14 points behind Schumacher whilst Williams fell 13 points behind Ferrari in their respective championships - their largest deficits of the season.
Villeneuve struck back in the battle of Britain, clinching victory at Silverstone whilst Schumacher would retire with a wheel bearing issue, closing the Germans lead to 4 points. The Williams Renaults locked out the front row of the grid with Jacques ahead of Frentzen after the pair displaced Mika Hakkinen's McLaren in the dying moments of qualifying. However, Frentzen would stall on the parade lap and subsequently be forced to line up last, a hurdle he never recovered from after being punted off by Jos Verstappen's Tyrrell on the opening lap at Becketts. Meanwhile, Villeneuve led away from 1st and together with Schumacher pulled away from the chasing pack in the first stint. Unfortunately, a 33-second pit stop after a wheel nut delay on the left rear tyre dropped the Canadian to 7th place whilst giving Schumacher the lead. Villeneuve would later pass Coulthard and the 1 stopping Benettons on his 2 stop strategy which, combined with Irvine's retirement promoted him to 3rd place. This became 2nd after Schumacher's demise from the lead. In the closing laps, Villeneuve rapidly closed on Hakkinen's McLaren before the Finns Mercedes engine blew out of Club corner on lap 53 of 59, thus handing Williams F1 their 100th Formula 1 victory at the same venue as their first win at Silverstone in 1979.
Fortunes would plummet again at the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, with Williams enduring their most uncompetitive race of the season with Frentzen and Villeneuve qualifying 5th and 9th prior to both recording driver error race retirements. Frentzen would suffer broken left front suspension after contact with Irvine's Ferrari on the first lap. Villeneuve initially benefitted from this collision and Coulthard's lap 1 excursion to run in 6th place. However, on lap 34 Villeneuve spun off from 5th place under breaking for the Jim Clark chicane, beaching his Williams in the gravel. Schumacher and Ferrari's 6 points for 2nd place stretched their drivers and Constructors championship leads to 10 and 9 points respectively.
The title pendulum would swing back to the blue corner of Williams Renault at August's Hungarian Grand Prix, with Villeneuve's 5th win of the season and second consecutive in Budapest. Jacques would qualify on the front row whilst Heinz Harald started 6th after electing to run Goodyear's harder compound tyre. Villeneuve initially made a poor start on the circuits dirty side and dropped to 5th behind Schumacher, Hill, Irvine and Hakkinen, with Frentzen behind in 6th. Villeneuve would move past Irvine for 4th with a daring move around the outside into turn 2 before being promoted to 3rd following Hakkinen's retirement. The French Canadian would then pass title rival Schumacher into turn 1 to run 2nd with Frentzen 3rd following the Ferrari's first of 3 pit stops. With the majority of the Goodyear runners struggling with blistered tyres, Jacques would make a 2 stop strategy work, however he was unable to keep up with the scintillating pace of Damon Hill's Bridgestone shod Arrows Yamaha. The Reigning champion was also 2 stopping, and after he made his first stop, the 1 stopping Frentzen took the lead, setting the race's fastest lap. Frentzen's hard tyre gamble looked like reaping the rewards of a second win, until on lap 29 his fuel valve detached which resulted in a fuel leak. On lap 74, with three laps left, the hydraulic pump failed on Hill's car, causing it to become stuck in third gear, giving him an intermittent throttle. As a result, Hill started losing time and was overtaken by Villeneuve part-way through the final lap. Villeneuve won the race with Hill finishing second, and Johnny Herbert took third place on the podium. With Schumacher only 4th, Villeneuve closed to within 3 points in the title race.
The Belgian Grand Prix witnessed a pre-race heavy rain shower that engulfed Spa Francorchamps and with it flooded away Villeneuve's aspirations of winning in the Ardennes Forest. Jacques had taken a dominant pole position in dry conditions and having been fastest in the morning warm up, looked set to dominate the Belgian Grand Prix. However, heavy rain initiated a safety car start for the first time in Formula 1, with the opening 3 laps under a full course yellow. When the safety car came in Villeneuve led the 4th lap on his wet tyres ahead of Alesi's Benetton and the intermediate tyred Schumacher. On lap 5, Schumacher passed Jacques for the lead into Rivage, before opening up a 5.8 second lead which grew to 16.9 seconds by the end of the following lap. With Villeneuve having been on the wrong wet tyre, Jacques then compounded one mistake by making two more. He would outbreak himself into the Bus Stop chicane and had to elect to take to the pit lane entry, by which point the team used the opportunity to switch to intermediates after a delay getting the tyres ready. However, the track was rapidly drying which saw other runners take to the slicks, an action that recalled Villeneuve back in on lap 12 to fit dries as he dropped to 16th. Meanwhile, Frentzen, who started 7th, had fallen back in the opening laps before pitting for slicks, an approach that saw him jump ahead of Jacques. Frentzen would run 4th for much of the race before taking 3rd post race after Hakkinen's disqualification. Villeneuve meanwhile rocketed up the order in dry conditions, setting the race's fastest lap by a full second before taking a damage limitation 5th after Hakkinen's exclusion.
Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix saw the Williams cars line up 2nd and 4th with Frentzen ahead. The power circuit, with similar characteristics to Hockenheim, did not suit the cars as well, a fact illustrated by their finishing positions of 3rd and 5th, again Frentzen ahead. With Schumacher finishing 6th, Jacques closed to within 10 points of the German, while Williams moved to within 1 point of Ferrari. Also notable was Jacques Villeneuve's second warning of the season during Friday practice for failing to slow down adequately for yellow flags, the same offence he committed as that at the San Marino Grand Prix.
With form having been erratic between the Canadian and Italian race meetings, a late season resurgence which ultimately steered the team back on the path to title glory began at the Austrian Grand Prix. Another late showing in qualifying saw Villeneuve snatch pole position on his final run, with Frentzen lined up 4th. The pair fell back to 4th and 6th at the start, which became 3rd and 5th at the end of lap 1 when Hakkinen's Mercedes engine blew again. Villeneuve then passed Rubens Barrichello's Stewart Ford for second place before overcutting Jarno Trulli's Prost to regain the lead at just over half distance. Frentzen was running 3rd when Michael Schumacher passed him under waved yellow flags, resulting in a 10-second stop-go penalty for the championship leader, which gave Frentzen 3rd whilst Schumacher fell to 7th, passing Hill's Arrows on the final lap to take 6th. Villeneuve's victory promoted the Canadian to 67 points, one shy of Schumacher's 68 with 3 rounds to go. Meanwhile, Williams overtook Ferrari in the Constructors championship to move onto 98 points, 12 clear of the Scuderia.
The Luxembourg Grand Prix saw Villeneuve and Williams victorious and both seemingly on the brink of capturing the World title, with Villeneuve sealing his 7th win of the campaign and Frentzen following into 3rd place whilst title rivals Ferrari failed to score a single point. The Williams cars qualified 2nd and 3rd with Jacques ahead, however the pair would touch in the run down to the first corner, with Villeneuve dropping to 3rd behind the two McLaren's whilst Frentzen, in the confusion, accidentally knocked his ignition switch which briefly cut out his Renault engine. As a result, Frentzen dropped back into the midfield. Both drivers were aided in their recovery drives by the two McLaren's almost simultaneously blowing up their Mercedes engines on laps 42 and 43. Villeneuve thus inherited the lead and stroked his car home to record his 11th and final Formula 1 victory at the same venue as his first in early 1996.
A tumultuous yet victorious Japanese Grand Prix
weekend provided a microcosm for the team's 1997 season, where crushing lows were still subsided by ultimate success. Jacques Villeneuve would arrive in Japan with a 9-point advantage in the championship but leave with a 1-point deficit, whilst Williams Renault needed just 6 points to clinch the Constructors championship, a result they duly delivered upon courtesy of Frentzen's 2nd-place finish.
For Jacques Villeneuve, the penultimate race meeting of the year turned sour from the moment he was penalised for failing to slow down for waved yellow flags as a result of Verstappen's stationary Tyrrell out of spoon curve during Saturday morning practice. It was the French Canadian's third such offence during the season after San Marino and Italy, which consequently resulted in Villeneuve being excluded from the Japanese Grand Prix. The team appealed the decision and Jacques was duly able to continue his participation, racing under appeal from pole position. Frentzen qualified the second Williams into 6th spot. As the lights went out, Villeneuve defensively moved straight across Schumacher to keep the lead into turn 1 and then proceeded to back the pack up in the hope that other drivers could take points away from Schumacher, seeing as though any points Jacques scored would likely be taken away. Eddie Irvine would pass Hakkinen and Schumacher on lap 3 round the outside at turn 6 before passing Villeneuve for 1st into the final chicane on the same lap.
Following Irvine's pit stop, Villeneuve would make his first stop on lap 20 from the lead, rejoining briefly in 3rd before Schumacher shot straight up the inside of the Williams into turn 1 after the French Canadian's rumbustious attempts to block the German. With Frentzen pitting and rejoining 4th, Eddie Irvine regained 1st place then dramatically slowed to allow Schumacher into the lead on lap 25 at the esses, before blocking Villeneuve off. Villeneuve would make his second stop from 3rd place but remained stationary for 13.4 seconds following a refuelling rig issue, relegating him to 5th behind Frentzen and Hakkinen. With both Ferraris stopping for their last stop, Frentzen took the lead and with clear air closed the net gap to Irvine, rejoining ahead of the Irishman into turn 1 on lap 38. Frentzen would close in on Schumacher and set the fastest lap of the race to finish 1.3 seconds adrift; his 6 points confirming Williams Renault as 1997 Constructors Champions. Villeneuve would finish 5th but lose the 2 points after the team withdrew their appeal. Consequently, he left Japan 1 crucial point behind Michael Schumacher with 1 race to go.
The title showdown for 1997's season finale would take place at the European Grand Prix at Jerez in Spain. Michael Schumacher entered the title decider on 78 points, with Jacques Villeneuve on 77. The qualifying hour would produce an unprecedented first for Formula 1, with championship rivals Villeneuve and Schumacher followed as well by Frentzen all ensuring that the top 3 set the exact same time to the nearest thousandth of a second, each lapping the Jerez circuit in 1:21.072. Crucially, Villeneuve would secure his 10th Pole position of the season courtesy of recording the time first, doing so on his first run in the Qualifying hour. Michael Schumacher would match the time just over 20 minutes later, before Frentzen equaled the pair in the final 5 minutes of the session.
For Jacques, it all paled into insignificance when the 5 red lights went out as too much wheelspin dropped him to 3rd behind Michael Schumacher and Frentzen after letting his teammate by into turn 1. With Schumacher slowly eking out a lead, the Williams Renaults switched positions on lap 8 with Villeneuve picking up both 2nd place and the chase to catch his title rival. Villeneuve would make the first of two stops on lap 23 from the lead, a lap after Schumacher came in, with their status quo remaining after Frentzen and the two McLaren's came in shortly after. The pair continued to race away at the front as they approached their second stops, with Villeneuve having closed a one time 5 second lead down to 2 seconds.
Following their final stops on laps 42 and 43, Villeneuve rapidly closed further to move to within 0.3 seconds of Schumacher on lap 47. Approaching the Dry Sac turn 6 hairpin on lap 48, Villeneuve pulled out under braking to launch down the inside of Michael Schumacher to retake the lead, the two controversially colliding after Schumacher, who initially refrained from turning right to avoid Jacques, then steered right into the Williams as the lead changed hands. The ensuing collision saw the Ferrari bounce off the side-pod of the Williams and into the gravel, beached. The knock, which left Villeneuve's battery hold damaged, meant that the battery was now only connected through its own electrical cables. Suspecting potential damage, Villeneuve would round off the final 21 laps at a reduced pace, passing the win to the McLaren of Mika Hakkinen as he and David Coulthard went by on the final lap after Jacques willingly moved aside. Crossing the line in 3rd place, the 4 points crowned Jacques Villeneuve the 1997 FIA Formula 1 World Champion. Heinz Harald Frentzen meanwhile came home 6th.
Rothmans Williams Renault ultimately retained their Constructors title with 123 points. Villeneuve's winning total was confirmed with 81 points, whilst Frentzen would be promoted to 2nd place in the Drivers Championship after Michael Schumacher was disqualified from his runner-up position as punishment for his perceived foul play against Villeneuve in the
season finale at Jerez
In total, of the season's 17 Grand Prix the Williams Renault FW19 would record 8 victories, 11 pole positions, 9 fastest laps, 15 podiums and 5 front row lockouts.
Williams used 'Rothmans' logos, except at the French, British and German Grands Prix.
Complete Formula One results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
References
*''
AUTOCOURSE
''Autocourse'' is a series of annuals covering motor racing, and Formula One in particular. The annuals cover a long period of the sport's history, from 1951 to the present day, and, as such, are highly collectible.
History
The first edition o ...
1997-98'',
Henry, Alan (ed.), Hazleton Publishing Ltd. (1997)
External links
{{F1 cars 1997
Williams Formula One cars
1997 Formula One season cars
Formula One championship-winning cars