1997 European Grand Prix

Championship standings

Schumacher leads Villeneuve by one point — 78 to 77 — going into the final race. Frentzen is third on 41 points, Alesi fourth on 36, and Coulthard fifth on 30. Williams have already clinched the Constructors’ Championship.

Previous race

Schumacher won Japan, with Frentzen second and Irvine third — Irvine having led much of the race before moving over to help Schumacher’s championship bid. Villeneuve took pole but started from the back after being found to have ignored yellow flags during practice. Williams appealed and he started from pole; he finished fifth. After the race, Williams dropped their appeal, stripping Villeneuve of the two points he earned. Williams clinched the Constructors’ Championship when Frentzen finished second, as Ferrari could not close the gap with one race remaining.

Championship permutations

Villeneuve must finish in the top six and ahead of Schumacher to become World Drivers’ Champion. Schumacher wins the title if he finishes ahead of Villeneuve, or if Villeneuve fails to score any points.

Between-race developments

Teams conducted testing in the weeks since Japan. Williams, Benetton, Sauber, Jordan, and McLaren tested at Silverstone, with Williams, Sauber, and Jordan running 1998-specification cars. Arrows ran wet-weather tyre development at Magny-Cours, with the circuit flooded to simulate rain. Prost tested at Catalunya with both the Bridgestone tyres and their 1998 car. Ferrari remained at Suzuka to test an electronic differential used by Irvine at the previous race.

Gianni Morbidelli suffered another testing accident following Japan, so Norberto Fontana returns for Sauber at this race.

Entrants

Gerhard Berger, who has raced in Formula One since 1984 and won ten Grands Prix, starts his final race this weekend. Ukyo Katayama also retires after this round.

Track changes

The race was originally scheduled as the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril. It was moved to the Circuito de Jerez when Estoril’s management had financial difficulties. Engine supplier Renault specifically requested their final Formula One race not be held in Japan, prompting the addition of Jerez to the calendar after Suzuka.

Practice

In the first two practice sessions, Prost’s returning Panis set the fastest time — 1:22.735 — with Damon Hill second, Villeneuve third, and Barrichello fourth. In the final two sessions, Coulthard topped the times with a 1:20.738, Häkkinen second, Villeneuve third.

In qualifying, the three fastest drivers all set an identical time of 1:21.072 — the first time this had occurred in World Championship history. Villeneuve set the time first, fourteen minutes into the session. Schumacher matched it fourteen minutes later. Frentzen equalled it with nine minutes remaining. Under the regulations, grid positions go to the first driver to set the time: Villeneuve takes pole, Schumacher second, Frentzen third. Hill was on course for pole but had to abort his lap due to yellow flags for Katayama’s Minardi incident, and qualifies fourth with a 1:21.130.

Weather

The race starts in dry and sunny conditions.