The 1997 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Autodromo Nazionale di 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.
Report
Qualifying Fisichella set the early pace in qualifying. Alesi got pole position on his second set of tyres. Frentzen moved into second late in the session. The rest of the top six was Fisichella third, Villeneuve fourth, Häkkinen fifth and Coulthard sixth. The Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine qualified ninth and tenth respectively.
Race At the start Alesi led with Frentzen in second and Coulthard moving from sixth on the grid into third place. The top three stayed this way until lap 28 when Frentzen pitted. On lap 32 Alesi and Coulthard pitted together, when Coulthard moved ahead of Alesi courtesy of a faster pit-stop. This left Mika Häkkinen in the lead until he pitted a couple of laps later. Coulthard took the lead on lap 34 when Michael Schumacher pitted. The top three after Michael Schumacher pitted were Coulthard first, Alesi second and Frentzen third. Häkkinen was fourth until he got a puncture on lap 36. The top six after Häkkinen's puncture were Coulthard first, Alesi second, Frentzen third, Fisichella fourth, Villeneuve fifth and Michael Schumacher in sixth. The top six stayed in that order for the rest of the race, which was won by Coulthard by just under two seconds. This was the only race of the season where neither Jacques Villeneuve nor Michael Schumacher was on the podium.
Post-race David Coulthard dedicated his win in this race to Princess Diana, who had been killed in a road accident the week before.
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 +4.687107% time: 1:28.799 Source:
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 1 Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha 46 Engine 14 11 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot 39 Collision 8 16 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 38 Collision 12 19 Mika Salo Tyrrell-Ford 33 Engine 19 23 Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 31 Transmission 13 18 Jos Verstappen Tyrrell-Ford 12 Gearbox 20 20 Ukyo Katayama Minardi-Hart 8 Loose wheel 21 2 Pedro Diniz Arrows-Yamaha 4 Suspension 17
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 24Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 85 2 Williams-Renault 84 3 Benetton-Renault 53 4 McLaren-Mercedes 38 5 Jordan-Peugeot 28Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
External links