Race Rewind
As of March 1997

1997 Brazilian Grand Prix

🇧🇷 Brazil Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo, Brazil Round 2 of 17

Going Into This Race

WDC Leader
10 pts (+6 over P2)
WCC Leader
14 pts (+8 over P2)

Pre-Race Report

Previous race

David Coulthard won the season opener in Melbourne from fourth on the grid, with Michael Schumacher second and Mika Häkkinen third. Villeneuve took pole but collided with Johnny Herbert at Turn 1 on the opening lap. Damon Hill suffered throttle failure on the formation lap and did not take the start — the first time in Arrows history the team has carried the number 1 on their car.

Between-race developments

The Lola team arrived in Brazil without receiving payment from title sponsor MasterCard. Already several million dollars in debt, the team departed without completing a lap of the circuit and officially withdrew from the championship days later, leaving Rosset unable to race at his home Grand Prix. Both Lola drivers are now without a drive.

Practice

Villeneuve takes his fifth career pole with a 1:16.004 — over half a second ahead of Schumacher in second. Gerhard Berger and Mika Häkkinen complete the second row.

Adapted by AI summarisation from “1997 Brazilian Grand Prix” on Wikipedia . This adapted text is licensed under CC-BY-SA-4.0 . Modifications: summarised and spoiler-trimmed.

Drivers' Championship

Full standings →

Constructors' Championship

Full standings →
PosTeamPtsWins
1McLaren141
2Ferrari60
3Benetton30
4Prost20
5Sauber10