Formula 1

About the season

Schumacher, leading by one point, collided with Villeneuve at the European Grand Prix finale in Jerez as Villeneuve attempted a pass; Schumacher retired on the spot while Villeneuve continued to finish third and clinch the title. The FIA subsequently disqualified Schumacher from the entire championship classification - an unprecedented penalty stripping him of his runner-up position - ruling the move deliberate but without malice; he remains the only driver ever excluded from a full championship's final standings. McLaren ended a 50-race winless streak at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix with David Coulthard's victory - the team's first win since 1993, and the first for a Mercedes-powered car since 1955 - signaling the power shift that would define 1998. Jacques Villeneuve won the 1997 Drivers' Championship with 81 points (Williams), 39 points ahead of the runner-up. Williams won the Constructors' Championship with 123 points, 21 points ahead of the runner-up. Across 17 completed races this season, there were 168 retirements. 6 different drivers won a race this season. Jacques Villeneuve took the most race wins, 7 in total. Coulthard won the season-opening race, the Australian Grand Prix. The Australian Grand Prix saw the most retirements of the season, with 13 drivers failing to finish. The closest finish of the season came at the Argentine Grand Prix, with a gap of just 0.979 seconds. The most dominant win of the season came at the Monaco Grand Prix, with a margin of 53.3 seconds. Verstappen made the biggest gain of the season at the Monaco Grand Prix, from grid position 22 to finishing 8 (up 14 places). The season's biggest upset win came from Coulthard at the Italian Grand Prix, starting from grid position 6. Häkkinen won the European Grand Prix, the final race of the season.