1997 Italian Grand Prix

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.

1997 Italian Grand Prix
Race 13 of 17 in the 1997 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Race details
Date	7 September 1997
Location	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza, Italy
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.770 km (3.585 miles)
Distance	53 laps, 305.810 km (190.022 miles)
Weather	Dry with temperatures reaching up to 29 °C (84 °F)[1]
Pole position
Driver	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault
Time	1:22.990
Fastest lap
Driver	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:24.808 on lap 49
Podium
First	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Second	Jean Alesi	Benetton-Renault
Third	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Renault
Lap leaders

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 was 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 was 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 and 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.^[2]

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	+4.687
107% time: 1:28.799
Source:[3]

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
Ret	1	Damon Hill	Arrows-Yamaha	46	Engine	14
Ret	11	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Peugeot	39	Collision	8
Ret	16	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	38	Collision	12
Ret	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell-Ford	33	Engine	19
Ret	23	Jan Magnussen	Stewart-Ford	31	Transmission	13
Ret	18	Jos Verstappen	Tyrrell-Ford	12	Gearbox	20
Ret	20	Ukyo Katayama	Minardi-Hart	8	Loose wheel	21
Ret	2	Pedro Diniz	Arrows-Yamaha	4	Suspension	17
Source:[4]

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 24 Source: [5]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 85 2 Williams-Renault 84 3 Benetton-Renault 53 4 McLaren-Mercedes 38 5 Jordan-Peugeot 28 Source: [5]

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