1997 Formula One World Championship
[1] Schumacher came to a halt in the gravel while Villeneuve finished third, giving him enough points to secure the drivers' championship.
The biggest news at the beginning of the 1997 season was Damon Hill, 1996 champion, being dropped by Williams in favour of Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
This was the only time in Arrows' history that the team had the number 1 on their car after signing the reigning World Champion.
Arrows' former drivers Jos Verstappen and Ricardo Rosset joined the Tyrrell and Lola team, respectively.
Stewart also signed Jan Magnussen, who had filled in at McLaren for an unwell Mika Häkkinen in 1995 and had raced in the CART series in 1996.
Verstappen, moving from Arrows to Tyrrell, replaced Ukyo Katayama, who found a place at Minardi.
Alongside him, Italian rising star Jarno Trulli filled the final seat in the 1997 championship.
The Italian team Forti ceased to exist midway through 1996, and neither of their drivers, Luca Badoer and Andrea Montermini, were able to find a Formula One racing seat for 1997.
Schumacher's teammate Eddie Irvine went on to challenge Villeneuve for the lead and he made several attempts to pass, but failed and had to settle for second.
Villeneuve continued his run of consecutive pole positions in San Marino, but it was his German teammate Frentzen that won his first and only Grand Prix for Williams.
After Villeneuve retired with a gearbox failure, Frentzen was joined on the podium by the Ferraris of Schumacher and Irvine.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen managed to end Jacques Villeneuve's run of pole positions at the Monaco Grand Prix.
In Spain, Williams was back on top in qualifying: Villeneuve took his fifth pole and Frentzen joined him on the front row.
Villeneuve went on to win the race, with fellow French-speaking drivers, Olivier Panis and Jean Alesi, coming second and third respectively.
In a slight shift of power, Michael Schumacher took pole position and the race win in the next two Grands Prix.
Villeneuve earned his sixth pole position of the season in Britain, with teammate Frentzen partnering him on the front row.
Häkkinen, however, retired with a blown engine and Villeneuve went on to win the race, with Alesi in second and Alexander Wurz, filling in for Gerhard Berger, coming third.
The start of the race saw Hill overtake the Williams ahead of him, and on lap ten, the Brit overtook the leading Scuderia Ferrari.
On the final lap, Jacques Villeneuve took the lead, achieving a milestone 100th Grand Prix victory for Williams.
But when heavy rain fell with half an hour to go before the race start, his championship rival, Michael Schumacher, decided to run his spare car, which was set up for wet conditions.
At the Luxembourg Grand Prix, held at the Nürburgring in Germany, Mika Häkkinen managed to earn pole.
Häkkinen's teammate David Coulthard shot up the order and McLaren looked set for a 1–2 finish, until both cars broke down in quick succession.
Michael Schumacher won the race, ahead of Williams' Frentzen and Ferrari teammate Eddie Irvine.
The European Grand Prix at Jerez saw a noteworthy qualifying session in which three drivers (Villeneuve, Schumacher, and Frentzen) all set the same fastest time.
