1997 Hungarian Grand Prix

The 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix (formally the XIII Marlboro Magyar Nagydij) was a Formula One motor race held at Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary on 10 August 1997. The race, contested over 77 laps, was the eleventh race of the 1997 Formula One season and was won by Jacques Villeneuve, driving a Williams-Renault, with Damon Hill second in an Arrows-Yamaha and Johnny Herbert third in a Sauber-Petronas.

1997 Hungarian Grand Prix
Race 11 of 17 in the 1997 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date August 10, 1997
Official name XIII Marlboro Magyar Nagydij
Location Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 3.968 km (2.466 mi)
Distance 77 laps, 305.536 km (189,851 mi)
Weather Sunny, Dry Track, 27°C
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:14.672
Fastest lap
Driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Renault
Time 1:18.372 on lap 25
Podium
First Williams-Renault
Second Arrows-Yamaha
Third Sauber-Petronas

Defending World Champion Hill, who had been having a poor year in the uncompetitive and unreliable Arrows, had led comfortably for most of the race, after qualifying third behind championship challengers Michael Schumacher and Villeneuve. However, a hydraulic failure resulted in Villeneuve passing him on the final lap. It was to be the closest the Arrows team ever came to a Grand Prix victory.

The win was Villeneuve's fifth of the season and moved him to within three points of Schumacher in the Drivers' Championship, the Ferrari driver having only managed fourth in the race. Shinji Nakano scored his last world championship points at this race.

Report

Background

Heading into the eleventh round of the season, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher was leading the Drivers' Championship with 53 points; ahead of Williams driver Jacques Villeneuve on 43 points, and the two Benetton drivers, Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger, on 22 and 20 points respectively. The Constructors' Championship was closer at the front, with Ferrari on 71 points leading Williams on 62 points.

Practice and qualifying

Hill, as defending world champion, until then had experienced a bad year in the back runner Arrows-Yamaha car and was 17th in overall championship standings. But arriving at Hungary, he set the fifth fastest time on Friday practice after just a single flying lap, after sitting for 55 minutes in the garage while his mechanics tore the gearbox off the car, looking for an electronic sensor problem. Later, Hill qualified in 3rd place behind Villeneuve, with Schumacher claiming pole position. Hill's teammate Pedro Diniz qualified in 19th position.[1]

Damon Hill led most of the race in the Arrows Yamaha

Race

Hill made a strong start from his third position, overtaking Villeneuve, and he then caught race leader Schumacher on lap 6. By then, both drivers had pulled away from the rest of the field. On lap 11, Hill overtook Schumacher, and would eventually be leading the race by over 35 seconds from Villeneuve. On lap 74, with three laps left, the hydraulic pump failed on Hill's car, causing it to become stuck in third gear and have 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 the third place on the podium.[2]

After the race, the problem, which denied Arrows, Bridgestone, and Yamaha their first ever victories (in the case of Arrows and Yamaha, their only ever victories), was diagnosed as a throttle linkage failure, caused by a broken washer worth 50 pence.[3]

Highlights

Johnny Herbert scored his only podium of the season, while Shinji Nakano equalled his career-best finish of 6th. Gianni Morbidelli returned for Sauber in place of Norberto Fontana after missing three races through injury. Hill's second position also marked the best ever result for Yamaha engines in Formula One.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeDifference
1 5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:14.672
2 3 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1:14.859 + 0.187
3 1 Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha 1:15.044 + 0.372
4 9 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.140 + 0.468
5 6 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:15.424 + 0.752
6 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Renault 1:15.520 + 0.848
7 8 Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 1:15.699 + 1.027
8 10 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.705 + 1.033
9 7 Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 1:15.905 + 1.233
10 16 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 1:16.138 + 1.466
11 22 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:16.138 + 1.466
12 14 Jarno Trulli Prost-Mugen-Honda 1:16.297 + 1.625
13 12 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Peugeot 1:16.300 + 1.628
14 11 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot 1:16.686 + 2.014
15 17 Gianni Morbidelli Sauber-Petronas 1:16.766 + 2.094
16 15 Shinji Nakano Prost-Mugen-Honda 1:16.784 + 2.112
17 23 Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 1:16.858 + 2.186
18 18 Jos Verstappen Tyrrell-Ford 1:17.095 + 2.423
19 2 Pedro Diniz Arrows-Yamaha 1:17.118 + 2.446
20 20 Ukyo Katayama Minardi-Hart 1:17.232 + 2.560
21 19 Mika Salo Tyrrell-Ford 1:17.482 + 2.810
22 21 Tarso Marques Minardi-Hart 1:18.020 + 3.348
107% time: 1:19.899
Source:[4]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 3 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 77 1:45:47.149 2 10
2 1 Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha 77 +9.079 3 6
3 16 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 77 +20.445 10 4
4 5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 77 +30.501 1 3
5 11 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot 77 +30.715 14 2
6 15 Shinji Nakano Prost-Mugen-Honda 77 +41.512 16 1
7 14 Jarno Trulli Prost-Mugen-Honda 77 +1:15.552 12  
8 8 Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 77 +1:16.409 7  
9 6 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 76 Spun off 5  
10 20 Ukyo Katayama Minardi-Hart 76 +1 Lap 20  
11 7 Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 76 +1 Lap 9  
12 21 Tarso Marques Minardi-Hart 75 +2 Laps 22  
13 19 Mika Salo Tyrrell-Ford 75 +2 Laps 21  
Ret 10 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 65 Electrical 8  
Ret 18 Jos Verstappen Tyrrell-Ford 61 Gearbox 18  
Ret 2 Pedro Diniz Arrows-Yamaha 53 Electrical 19  
Ret 12 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Peugeot 42 Spun off 13  
Ret 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Renault 29 Fuel leak 6  
Ret 22 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 29 Engine 11  
Ret 9 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 12 Hydraulics 4  
Ret 17 Gianni Morbidelli Sauber-Petronas 7 Engine 15  
Ret 23 Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 5 Accident 17  
Source:[5]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

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

References

  1. "Grand Prix Results: Hungarian GP, 1997". grandprix.com. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  2. Medland, Chris (2012-08-20). "The Broken Arrow". ESPN. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  3. Hungarian GP factfile, ITV F1, 2008-07-30, archived from the original on 2008-08-06, retrieved 2015-11-19
  4. F1, STATS. "Hungary 1997 - Qualifications • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  5. "1997 Hungarian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  6. "Hungary 1997 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
Previous race:
1997 German Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1997 season
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1997 Belgian Grand Prix
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1996 Hungarian Grand Prix
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1998 Hungarian Grand Prix
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