The Japanese Grand Prix was won by ...

Published on 12 October 1997 by Verstappen Info Page

The Japanese Grand Prix was won by Michael Schumacher. After a strong tactical race of the Ferrari team the German crossed the line first ahead of Heinz Harald Frentzen and Eddie Irvine. Jacques Villeneuve finished the race in 5th place after he lost a lot of time in the pits. Villeneuve stays in the lead of the World Championship by one point. Should the Canadian lose his points after his appeal of yesterday's qualification is heard, he is facing a one point deficit to Schumacher.
What was decided this weekend was the Constructors World Championship which went to Williams Renault. Even if Villeneuve would lose his point of today Williams is assured of the title.

Jos Verstappen had a tough day today as expected. Although he gave it all and drove flat out for most of the race he could only compete with his teammate Mika Salo. After the race Jos said he was not happy with the pitstop planning of the team. Inside the team there is a rule that whoever lies ahead has the first call on the pitstops. The team neglected this and called in Salo first.
Jos finished the race in 14th and last place. Mika Salo retired with seven laps to go.

In the warm up this morning Mika Hakkinen was the fastest man. He drove a time of 1m38.113s. Jos Verstappen set the 20th time and was 4.7s slower than the McLaren driver. Jos said there were some problems with the throttle in the warm-up but thought it was no problem for the race. Gianni Morbidelli did only one lap in the warm up. He suffered too much from pain in his hand after his heavy crash in yesterday's qualifying session. Therefore he will not start the race.

For a complete overview of all session times you can take a look at our season page.