Season 1997 · Round 16

Japanese Grand Prix

← R15 1997 Season R17 →
1997-10-12 · Suzuka Circuit · Japan · Japanese Grand Prix · 53Lap · 310.596km
5 Michael Schumacher
Ferrari 1:29:48.446
Team win 14pt P1 · P3 1-3
4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Williams +1.378
6 Eddie Irvine
Ferrari +26.384
Fastest Lap
—
DNF
7
Tarso Marques L46 Mika Salo L46 Olivier Panis L36 Shinji Nakano L22 Ukyo Katayama L8 Rubens Barrichello L6 Jan Magnussen L3
Tyre usage Race Control
Storylines · This Grand Prix & circuit
Most wins at this GP
Michael Schumacher active 6 wins
Pole-to-win rate 20/36 55.6%
Most SC/VSC · all-time P14
Closest finish · all-time P27
Most lead changes · all-time P1
Circuit Info
Suzuka Circuit Suzuka, Japan
53Lap 310.596km 36 races held (1987–) Lap record 1:30.965 · Andrea Kimi Antonelli (2025)
Track layout in detail →
Records Watch · Active drivers ranked at this Grand Prix
Wins
P1 Michael Schumacher 6 wins · GP #1
P5 Gerhard Berger 2 wins · → Sebastian Vettel -2
P5 Mika Häkkinen 2 wins · → Sebastian Vettel -2
Starts
P2 Michael Schumacher 19 starts · → Fernando Alonso -3
P2 Rubens Barrichello 19 starts · → Fernando Alonso -3
P7 David Coulthard 14 starts · → Kimi Räikkönen -3
Race Trace · position by lap
standing start SG 1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 Schumacher MSC Schumacher MSC Frentzen FRE Frentzen FRE Irvine IRV Irvine IRV Häkkinen HÄK Häkkinen HÄK Alesi ALE Alesi ALE Herbert HER Herbert HER Fisichella FIS Fisichella FIS Berger BER Berger BER Schumacher SCH Schumacher SCH Coulthard · stopped L52 · classified P10 Coulthard COU Coulthard COU Hill HIL Hill HIL Diniz DIN Diniz DIN Verstappen VER Verstappen VER Villeneuve VIL Villeneuve VIL Marques · retired L46 Marques MAR Marques MAR Salo · retired L46 Salo SAL Salo SAL Panis · retired L36 Panis PAN Panis PAN Nakano · retired L22 Nakano NAK Nakano NAK Katayama · retired L8 Katayama KAT Katayama KAT Barrichello · retired L6 Barrichello BAR Barrichello BAR Magnussen · retired L3 Magnussen MAG Magnussen MAG
SG Starting grid car stopped position at each lap (1996+)
PosDriverTeamGridLapTime / StatusPoints
1 5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 2 53 1:29:48.446 10
2 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams 6 53 +1.378 6
3 6 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 3 53 +26.384 4
4 9 Mika Häkkinen McLaren 4 53 +27.129 3
5 7 Jean Alesi Benetton 7 53 +40.403 2
6 16 Johnny Herbert Sauber 8 53 +41.630 1
7 12 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan 9 53 +56.825
8 8 Gerhard Berger Benetton 5 53 +1:00.429
9 11 Ralf Schumacher Jordan 13 53 +1:22.036
10 10 David Coulthard McLaren 11 52 Engine
11 1 Damon Hill Arrows 17 52 +1 Lap
12 2 Pedro Diniz Arrows 16 52 +1 Lap
13 18 Jos Verstappen Tyrrell 21 52 +1 Lap
D 3 Jacques Villeneuve Williams 1 53 Disqualified
R 21 Tarso Marques Minardi 20 46 Gearbox
R 19 Mika Salo Tyrrell 22 46 Engine
R 14 Olivier Panis Prost 10 36 Engine
R 15 Shinji Nakano Prost 15 22 Wheel bearing
R 20 Ukyo Katayama Minardi 19 8 Engine
R 22 Rubens Barrichello Stewart 12 6 Spun off
R 23 Jan Magnussen Stewart 14 3 Spun off
W 17 Gianni Morbidelli Sauber 0 0 Injury
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2003 onwards.
Starting grid
Official
1
3 Jacques Villeneuve
2
5 Michael Schumacher
3
6 Eddie Irvine
4
9 Mika Häkkinen
5
8 Gerhard Berger
6
4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen
7
7 Jean Alesi
8
16 Johnny Herbert
9
12 Giancarlo Fisichella
10
14 Olivier Panis
11
10 David Coulthard
12
22 Rubens Barrichello
13
11 Ralf Schumacher
14
23 Jan Magnussen
15
15 Shinji Nakano
16
2 Pedro Diniz
17
1 Damon Hill
19
20 Ukyo Katayama
20
21 Tarso Marques
21
18 Jos Verstappen
22
19 Mika Salo
PIT
17 Gianni Morbidelli pit lane start
Final grid as classified, including any pit lane starts. Source: Jolpica-F1. The arrow compares the grid slot with the qualifying classification; hover a drop to see the stewards document behind it.
No data for this session.
#DriverLap timeLap
1 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 1:38.942 L48
2 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 1:39.266 L40
3 5 Michael Schumacher 1:39.268 L48
4 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 1:39.335 L46
5 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 1:39.356 L47
6 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 1:39.375 L39
7 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 1:39.377 L35
8 7 Jean Alesi 1:39.381 L29
9 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 1:39.428 L49
10 5 Michael Schumacher 1:39.448 L49
Top 10 fastest race laps — #1 is the fastest lap of the race(FL).
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2012 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2023 onwards.
Most positions gained on track
14
Olivier Panis
+12
P10→P—
16
Johnny Herbert
+11
P8→P6
8
Gerhard Berger
+11
P5→P8
1
Damon Hill
+11
P17→P11
7
Jean Alesi
+10
P7→P5
11
Ralf Schumacher
+10
P13→P9
10
David Coulthard
+10
P11→P10
12
Giancarlo Fisichella
+9
P9→P7
Most positions lost
Gerhard Berger −14 Johnny Herbert −10 Damon Hill −10
Race · Sum of lap-by-lap positions gained on track — start lap and own pit laps excluded. Race lap data 1996+.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2023 onwards.
Not collected for this era — the source only covers 2019 onwards.
Record Basis · Calculation basis
Race order is the final classification(post-race penalties applied) · qualifying session data 2003+ · lap times 1996+ · pit stops 2012+ (pit-lane transit, not stationary time) · DNF = Finished(Finished·+N Laps) non-Finished statuses
Data sources: Jolpica-F1 (Ergast compatible API) · weather·Race Control OpenF1 (2023+) · Last fetched: 2026-09-05 14:15