1997 Monaco Grand Prix
| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 5 of 17 in the 1997 Formula One season | ||
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| Date | May 11, 1997 | |
| Official name | LV Grand Prix de Monaco | |
| Location | Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco | |
| Course | Temporary street circuit 3.36 km (2.08 mi) |
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| Distance | 62 laps, 207.08 km (128.96 mi) | |
| Scheduled Distance | 78 laps, 260.52 km (162.24 mi) | |
| Weather | Overcast, cold and rain | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver |  Heinz-Harald Frentzen |
Williams-Renault |
| Time | 1:18.216 | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver | Michael Schumacher |
Ferrari |
| Time | 1:53.315 on lap 26 | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Michael Schumacher |
Ferrari |
| Second |  Rubens Barrichello |
Stewart-Ford |
| Third |  Eddie Irvine |
Ferrari |
The 1997 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on May 11, 1997 at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
Qualifying saw Heinz-Harald Frentzen in his Williams-Renault in front of Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari; third was Jacques Villeneuve in the other Williams. Fourth was Giancarlo Fisichella in the Jordan-Peugeot, while the fifth place was taken by David Coulthard in the McLaren-Mercedes and the sixth by Ralf Schumacher in the second Jordan, showing the good setup the team had found on the circuit.
The warm-up session was dry, with Williams taking first and second places. But about 30 minutes to go before the start, rain began to fall; Williams decided to run both cars with dry tyres, thinking the weather would improve, while Michael Schumacher set the car for intermediate weather conditions. During the warm up lap, the weather worsened, and at the start, Schumacher was quickest. He led by 22 seconds on lap 5. Behind him the Jordans, which both had the car set for rain, took second and third spots, until they were both passed by Rubens Barrichello in the Stewart, who benefited from the Bridgestone wet tyres, which were better than Goodyear's under those conditions.
The start of the race was catastrophic for the Arrows team, as Pedro Diniz, who had opted to start the race on slick tyres, slid straight into the wall on the opening lap, while Diniz' team-mate Damon Hill was involved in a collision with Mika Häkkinen's McLaren on the second lap, eliminating both cars on the spot.
Both Willams drivers went out of the race after they had to pit to change their tyres. Frentzen hit a barrier at the chicane on lap 39, while Villeneuve hit a wall and had to retire on lap 17. Schumacher continued to build his lead until he had about 30 seconds advantage over Barrichello; then he backed off and began to maintain the gap. He made an error on lap 53 at the Sainte Devote corner, in which he went down the escape road and lost 10 seconds, but did not lose his lead. The race was stopped on lap 62 instead of the 78 scheduled because of the time limit of 2 hours, and Schumacher won with a 53 second margin over Barrichello. Eddie Irvine finished third after overtaking Olivier Panis, exacting some measure of revenge for Panis' brilliant overtaking manoeuvre that had seen him get past Irvine a year earlier.
[edit] Classification
[edit] Qualifying
[edit] Race
[edit] Notes
- Scheduled for 78 laps but stopped after two-hour mark.
- Mika Salo did not make a single pit-stop. He ran all 61 laps without stopping.
- First point finish and first podium for Stewart.
- Last points finish for Tyrrell.
- Last Formula One race for Nicola Larini.
- Only time in 1997 where both Stewarts finished the race.
[edit] Standings after Grand Prix
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
| Previous race: 1997 San Marino Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1997 season |
Next race: 1997 Spanish Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1996 Monaco Grand Prix |
Monaco Grand Prix | Next race: 1998 Monaco Grand Prix |
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