1997 Australian Grand Prix
The 1997 Australian Grand Prix (formally the Qantas Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on 9 March 1997. It was the first race of the 1997 Formula One World Championship, and the second Australian Grand Prix to be held in Melbourne.
| 1997 Australian Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 1 of 17 in the 1997 Formula One World Championship
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| Race details | |||||
| Date | 9 March 1997 | ||||
| Official name | Qantas Australian Grand Prix | ||||
| Location | Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Albert Park, Melbourne | ||||
| Course | Temporary street circuit | ||||
| Course length | 5.302 km (3.295 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 58 laps, 307.516 km (191.110 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Partly Cloudy, Dry | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Williams-Renault | ||||
| Time | 1:29.369 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Williams-Renault | |||
| Time | 1:30.585 on lap 36 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
| Second | Ferrari | ||||
| Third | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
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Lap leaders | |||||
The 58-lap race was won by Briton David Coulthard, driving a McLaren-Mercedes, after he started from fourth position. It was Coulthard's second F1 victory, and the first for the McLaren team since the 1993 Australian Grand Prix. German Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari, with Coulthard's Finnish teammate Mika Häkkinen third. Canadian Jacques Villeneuve took pole position in his Williams-Renault but retired after a first-lap collision, while reigning World Champion Damon Hill, in his first race for the Arrows team, suffered a throttle failure on the formation lap and did not start.
This race marked the debuts of Ralf Schumacher, Jarno Trulli and Shinji Nakano; the entry of Bridgestone as a tyre supplier to compete with Goodyear; and the only appearance of the MasterCard Lola team, whose cars were over 11 seconds off Villeneuve's pole time and thus did not qualify.