The 1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix (formally the Grosser Preis von Luxemburg 1997) was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany on 28 September 1997. It was the fifteenth race of the 1997 Formula One World Championship. The 67-lap race was won by Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, driving a Williams-Renault. Frenchman Jean Alesi finished second in a Benetton-Renault, with Villeneuve's German teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen third.
Although Villeneuve went on to win the 1997 Drivers' Championship, this turned out to be his 11th and final Formula One victory; , it is also the last win for a Canadian driver. It was the last victory for the Williams team until the 2001 San Marino Grand Prix, the last victory for a Renault engine until Fernando Alonso won the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix, the last 1–2 finish between Renault-powered drivers until the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix, and the last race where all Renault-powered drivers stood on the podium together until the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix. It was also the last win for a non-European Formula One driver until Rubens Barrichello won the .
Qualifying report
Qualifying saw Mika Häkkinen take pole position in the McLaren-Mercedes - the first-ever for the Finnish driver, the first for McLaren since the 1993 Australian Grand Prix, and the first for Mercedes (as an engine supplier or constructor) since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix. Villeneuve was alongside on the front row, while his Williams teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen shared the second row with Giancarlo Fisichella in the Jordan. Michael Schumacher, leading Villeneuve in the Drivers' Championship by one point, was fifth in his Ferrari, sharing the third row with David Coulthard in the second McLaren. The top ten was completed by Gerhard Berger in the Benetton, Ralf Schumacher in the second Jordan, Rubens Barrichello in the Stewart, and Jean Alesi in the second Benetton.
Qualifying classification
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Constructor !! Time !! Gap
|-
! 1
| 9
| Mika Häkkinen
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 1:16.602
|
|-
! 2
| 3
| Jacques Villeneuve
| Williams-Renault
| 1:16.691
| +0.089
|-
! 3
| 4
| Heinz-Harald Frentzen
| Williams-Renault
| 1:16.741
| +0.139
|-
! 4
| 12
| Giancarlo Fisichella
| Jordan-Peugeot
| 1:17.289
| +0.687
|-
! 5
| 5
| Michael Schumacher
| Ferrari
| 1:17.385
| +0.783
|-
! 6
| 10
| David Coulthard
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 1:17.387
| +0.785
|-
! 7
| 8
| Gerhard Berger
| Benetton-Renault
| 1:17.587
| +0.985
|-
! 8
| 11
| Ralf Schumacher
| Jordan-Peugeot
| 1:17.595
| +0.993
|-
! 9
| 22
| Rubens Barrichello
| Stewart-Ford
| 1:17.614
| +1.012
|-
! 10
| 7
| Jean Alesi
| Benetton-Renault
| 1:17.620
| +1.018
|-
! 11
| 14
| Olivier Panis
| Prost-Mugen-Honda
| 1:17.650
| +1.048
|-
! 12
| 23
| Jan Magnussen
| Stewart-Ford
| 1:17.722
| +1.120
|-
! 13
| 1
| Damon Hill
| Arrows-Yamaha
| 1:17.795
| +1.193
|-
! 14
| 6
| Eddie Irvine
| Ferrari
| 1:17.855
| +1.253
|-
! 15
| 2
| Pedro Diniz
| Arrows-Yamaha
| 1:18.128
| +1.526
|-
! 16
| 16
| Johnny Herbert
| Sauber-Petronas
| 1:18.303
| +1.701
|-
! 17
| 15
| Shinji Nakano
| Prost-Mugen-Honda
| 1:18.699
| +2.097
|-
! 18
| 21
| Tarso Marques
| Minardi-Hart
| 1:19.347
| +2.745
|-
! 19
| 17
| Gianni Morbidelli
| Sauber-Petronas
| 1:19.490
| +2.888
|-
! 20
| 19
| Mika Salo
| Tyrrell-Ford
| 1:19.526
| +2.924
|-
! 21
| 18
| Jos Verstappen
| Tyrrell-Ford
| 1:19.531
| +2.929
|-
! 22
| 20
| Ukyo Katayama
| Minardi-Hart
| 1:20.615
| +4.013
|-
! colspan="6" |107% time: 1:21.964
|-
!colspan="6"| Source:
|}
Race report
At the start, Häkkinen led away while teammate Coulthard jumped from sixth to second, ahead of Villeneuve. Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher moved alongside Fisichella, while Ralf Schumacher made a fast start to be alongside both cars going into the first corner. However, Ralf squeezed his Jordan teammate Fisichella for room, leaving the Italian driver with nowhere to go. The resultant collision saw Ralf's car launch into the air, and come down on top of Michael's Ferrari. Also involved was the Minardi of Ukyo Katayama, who was unsighted by the dust and ploughed into Fisichella's car. Ralf, Fisichella and Katayama all retired immediately, while Michael continued for two laps before pulling into the pits with suspension damage.
With Frentzen dropping back after banging wheels with Villeneuve and knocking off his ignition switch, and Berger cutting the first corner to avoid the aforementioned collision,
|}
Championship standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! Driver
! Points
|-
| 1
| Jacques Villeneuve
|align="right"| 77
|-
| 2
| Michael Schumacher
|align="right"| 68
|-
| 3
| Heinz-Harald Frentzen
|align="right"| 35
|-
| 4
| Jean Alesi
|align="right"| 34
|-
| 5
| David Coulthard
|align="right"| 30
|-
!colspan=4|Source:
|}
;Constructors' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! Constructor
! Points
|-
| 1
| Williams-Renault
|align="right"| 112
|-
| 2
| Ferrari
|align="right"| 86
|-
| 3
| Benetton-Renault
|align="right"| 62
|-
| 4
| McLaren-Mercedes
|align="right"| 44
|-
| 5
| Jordan-Peugeot
|align="right"| 33
|-
!colspan=4|Source: