The 1997 Formula One season was the 48th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on 9 March and ended on 26 October after seventeen races.
Three new teams came into Formula One in 1997: Prost, who replaced Ligier; Stewart and Lola, the latter of which only entered the 1997 Australian Grand Prix after the team’s dismal performance in the Grand Prix which saw a lack of sponsorship for the next Grand Prix in Brazil. Footwork changed their name to “Arrows” and switched from the Hart engines used the previous year to Yamaha engines. Tyrrell changed their engines as well, swapping the Yamaha engines in preference to the Ford engines. Jordan-Peugeot signed up highly-rated British engineer, Dr. John Davis. He helped the team with its new windtunnel facility at Brackley, the tunnel itself was funded by Ferrari in exchange for Eddie Irvine who moved to Ferrari the previous year.
Williams: The Champion team dismissed the 1996 World Champion Damon Hill and employed Heinz-Harald Frentzen, the German whom the team had wanted to sign for several years.
Minardi ran Italian rising star Jarno Trulli alongside Ukyo Katayama for the 1997 season. The announcement filled the final seat in the 1997 Formula 1 World Championship. The decision was made after Minardi released promising Italian Giancarlo Fisichella from his contract so that he could join Jordan. Having signed Ukyo Katayama, and his Mild Seven sponsorship, for one seat, owner Giancarlo Minardi felt that his team needed a young Italian and Trulli was the obvious choice for Minardi.
Bridgestone entered into F1 and supplied tyres to five teams: Arrows, Prost, Minardi, Stewart and Lola.
The 1997 season began with betting. The current world champion Damon Hill swapped Williams for Arrows, while all anxiously waiting for the performance of the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher in the new season.
And until he was well. Totaled 78 points in the championship and secured second place. However, the FIA punished him for “reckless driving” due to an accident caused by it in the European Grand Prix. So Schumacher dropped to the last position. While Canadian Jacques Villeneuve’s Williams, saw his way clear to winning the first world title of his career.
| Grand Prix | Date | Winning Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| Australia | 09/03/1997 | David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 58 | 1:30’28.718 |
| Brazil | 30/03/1997 | Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | 72 | 1:36’06.990 |
| Argentina | 13/04/1997 | Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | 72 | 1:52’01.715 |
| San Marino | 27/04/1997 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Williams-Renault | 62 | 1:31’00.673 |
| Monaco | 11/05/1997 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 62 | 2:00’05.654 |
| Spain | 25/05/1997 | Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | 64 | 1:30’35.896 |
| Canada | 15/06/1997 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 54 | 1:17’40.646 |
| France | 29/06/1997 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 72 | 1:38’50.492 |
| Great Britain | 13/07/1997 | Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | 59 | 1:28’01.665 |
| Germany | 27/07/1997 | Gerhard Berger | Benetton-Renault | 45 | 1:20’59.046 |
| Hungary | 10/08/1997 | Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | 77 | 1:45’47.149 |
| Belgium | 24/08/1997 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 44 | 1:33’46.717 |
| Italy | 07/09/1997 | David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 53 | 1:17’04.609 |
| Austria | 21/09/1997 | Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | 71 | 1:27’35.999 |
| Luxembourg | 28/09/1997 | Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | 67 | 1:31’27.843 |
| Japan | 12/10/1997 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 53 | 1:29’48.446 |
| Europe | 26/10/1997 | Mika Hakkinen | McLaren-Mercedes | 69 | 1:38’57.771 |
Drivers Championship Standing
| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Jacques Villeneuve | 81 |
| SQ | Michael Schumacher | 78 * |
| 2 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | 42 |
| 3 | David Coulthard | 36 |
| 4 | Jean Alesi | 36 |
| 5 | Gerhard Berger | 27 |
| 6 | Mika Häkkinen | 27 |
| 7 | Eddie Irvine | 24 |
| 8 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 20 |
| 9 | Olivier Panis | 16 |
| 10 | Johnny Herbert | 15 |
* = disqualified
Constructor Championship Standing
| Pos. | Team | Points |
| 1 | Williams-Renault | 123 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 102 |
| 3 | Benetton-Renault | 67 |
| 4 | McLaren-Mercedes | 63 |
| 5 | Jordan-Peugeot | 33 |
| 6 | Prost-Mugen-Honda | 21 |
| 7 | Sauber-Petronas | 16 |
| 8 | Arrows-Yamaha | 9 |
| 9 | Stewart-Ford | 6 |
| 10 | Tyrrell-Ford | 2 |
