The 1997 Japanese Grand Prix (officially known as the XXIII Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

motor race held on 12 October 1997 at the

Suzuka Circuit The , more famously known as the , is a long motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka, Mie, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Honda Mobilityland, a subsidiary of Honda, Honda Motor Co, Ltd. It has a capacity of 155,000. Int ...

, Suzuka. It was the 16th and penultimate race of the

1997 Formula One season The 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 51st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It commenced on 9 March and ended on 26 October after seventeen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Jacques Villeneuve and the Constr ...

. The 53-lap race was won by

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 ...

for the

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

team after starting from second position.

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. ...

finished second in a Williams, and

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 ...

third in the other Ferrari. Irvine led much of the race before moving over to assist Schumacher's championship battle by blocking Drivers' Championship leader

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 ot ...

. Villeneuve started on

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

in a Williams car. Before the race, it emerged that Villeneuve had been put to the back of the grid, for having ignored waved yellow flags on two consecutive laps during a practice session for the race. Williams appealed and Villeneuve started from the pole. He drove a conservative race to finish 5th, gaining two points. After the race, Williams withdrew their appeal, meaning he lost the two points he originally earned. Schumacher's win put him in front of Villeneuve in the championship on 78 points, with Villeneuve on 77 points. However, as a result of Frentzen finishing second, Williams clinched the Constructors' Championship as Ferrari could not pass their points total with only one race remaining. This race was the last for

Gianni Morbidelli Gianni Morbidelli (born 13 January 1968) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 70 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 11 March 1990. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of 8.5 championship points. He currently competes in the T ...

Report

Practice and qualifying

For each race in the

there were four practice sessions; two sessions on Friday and two sessions on Saturday morning. The practice sessions on Friday lasted an hour and the practice sessions on Saturday lasted 45 minutes. In the first practice session on Saturday morning, an incident occurred 30 minutes into the session.

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 ...

in a Tyrrell car pulled over to the side of the track with a fuel pick-up problem. The

track marshal Motorsport marshals are mainly volunteer workers responsible for the safety of motor racing competitors. They are stationed at various points of danger around race tracks to assist them in case of any collisions, accidents or track problems. Mar ...

s as a result waved yellow flags meaning that drivers should slow down at that part of the track. Despite the yellow flags, nine drivers, including

and

, never slowed down. Villeneuve in the process, set his fastest time of the session on that lap. Villeneuve set

with a time of 1:36.071, half a tenth faster than Schumacher, who was second in the Ferrari setting a time of 1:36.133. Schumacher's team-mate,

, qualified third, four-tenths behind Villeneuve.

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 ...

driver

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 For ...

rounded out the top four, only three thousands of a second behind Irvine. The Benetton drivers were fifth and seventh;

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 ...

ahead of

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, ...

in a Williams split the two in sixth, six-tenths behind Villeneuve.

Classification

Qualifying

Race

Championship standings after the race

Note, only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. ;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings

References

{{F1GP 90-99

Japanese Grand Prix The Japanese Grand Prix ( ja, 日本グランプリ, Nihon-guranpuri) is a motor racing event in the calendar of the Formula One, Formula One World Championship. Historically, Japan has been one of the last races of the season, and as such the ...

Japanese Grand Prix

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...