1997 F1 season: Schumacher’s clumsy move that handed Villeneuve the title

The 1997 Formula 1 World Championship was a memorable contest that saw Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher fight for the title all the way to the final race, and only when the former took the chequered flag was he confirmed as the winner.

The curious aspect is that the two protagonists rarely actually met on track, and indeed not once in 17 races did both men stand on the podium together. It was therefore something of a plot twist for the title to be decided by a controversial collision.

In his debut season with Williams in 1996 Villeneuve had pushed team-mate Damon Hill all the way to the final race, and with the Briton now gone he soon seized the initiative over the incoming Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Schumacher meanwhile was heading into his second year at a resurgent Ferrari, with Ross Brawn now on board.

Villeneuve and Schumacher shared most of the wins in ’97, with the championship lead changing several times. Heading to the penultimate race in Japan the Canadian had a nine-point advantage, but as has often happened in tight battles he was tripped by the FIA – a yellow flag offence in qualifying that saw him ultimately score no points. Schumacher won and thus led by 78 points to 77 heading to the last race, held at Jerez.

Bizarrely at the finale Villeneuve, Schumacher and Frentzen were credited with the same qualifying time, although handily for the title battle they would line up in that order based on who set the time first.

Crucially Schumacher beat Villeneuve away, and all he had to do thereafter was stay in front for the duration. His rival had other ideas, and after his final stop Jacques chose his moment to dive down the inside on a right-hand bend, catching the Ferrari driver unawares. It was an all-or-nothing moment, and at the last second Schumacher swerved to try to block the Williams. Three years earlier he had won the title after pulling a similarly clumsy defensive move on Hill in Adelaide, and once again he was pitched off the road and out of the race.

Unlike Hill, Villeneuve escaped damage and was able to continue. Having let the McLarens of Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard past – the result of an arrangement between Frank Williams and Ron Dennis – he crossed the line in third to log vital points.

Later that evening after a chance encounter the two title contenders found themselves serving drinks behind the bar of their Jerez hotel, and Villeneuve was not impressed by the chummy attitude of the man who had driven into him a few hours earlier. The FIA also took a dim view, and Schumacher was later stripped of his second place in the points – a somewhat meaningless punishment.

Champion in only his second season, Villeneuve would never win another F1 race. But on that October afternoon in Spain he took his chance in some style.