F1: Formula 1 1997 Season Review

The 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 51st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It commenced on 9 March and ended on 26 October after seventeen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Jacques Villeneuve and the Constructors' Championship was awarded to Williams-Renault.

The 1997 Formula One calendar featured two new events in the Luxembourg Grand Prix, as well as the Austrian Grand Prix, the latter of which returned to the calendar after a ten-year absence. The only race exiting the calendar was the Portuguese Grand Prix after 13 years raced at the Autódromo do Estoril.

Future race winners, Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli made their debut in this season.

The championship was decided under highly controversial circumstances as championship leader Michael Schumacher deliberately rammed Villeneuve whilst trying to defend his race lead in the final round of the championship at the European Grand Prix at Jerez, Spain. Schumacher came to a halt in the gravel trap and was deemed at fault for the accident by FIA – being punished by being stripped of his 2nd place in the championship. Villeneuve finished third in the race in spite of the contact. Schumacher still kept his five race wins. Villeneuve won seven races, but would never win a Formula One Grand Prix again before his 2006 retirement. 1997 also saw the retirement of Gerhard Berger after many years in the sport, as well as the first race win for Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Mika Häkkinen.

As of 2022, this is the last championship for a non-European driver, the last Constructors' and Drivers' championships for Williams. It was also the last championship for a Renault-powered driver, until Fernando Alonso's championship in 2005.

This also notably marked the last season with teams fielding V8-powered cars, until 2006.