Williams dominated the 1996 Championship with Hill finally becoming World Champion, before being unceremoniously dropped from the team. Williams finally signed Frentzen to drive for their team, alongside Villeneuve who performed well in his debut year. Ferrari looked to build on a moderately successful building year in 1996, with a car that resembled a proper racing car. McLaren were looking to build on their progress with Mercedes engines and a new striking silver livery, whilst Benetton still had strong drivers and powerful Renault engines. Jordan also built a fantastic car, with a striking yellow livery and snake livery on the nose, but with two drivers neither of whom had a full race season under them. Hill moved to TWR Arrows, hoping to lift the team from the rear of the midfield. Jackie and Paul Stewart entered their new team with full Ford backing for the 1997 season as did Lola. Alain Prost also joined as a team principal, taking over the Ligier team. We also had a tyre war for the first time in several seasons, with Bridgestone producing tyres, but it would only be some midfield teams who would take the plunge to use them.
The Lola team were terribly slow in practice at the first Grand Prix, and without any real money, they were gone quicker than they arrived.
Williams produced the best car, but they struggled to dominate the Championship as they had done so many times in the 1990s, with Adrian Newey involved with the design for the last time before his move to McLaren. Frentzen struggled to be a top runner, and there were some races where it was almost as if they hadn't shown up.
Ferrari mounted a credible Championship challenge, throwing all their resources into Schumacher's side of the garage. The German produced some stunning drives, and the championship was not decided until the last race. Schumacher deliberately tried to take out Villeneuve as the Williams overtook the Ferrari, and Schumacher was thrown out of the Championship.
McLaren returned to the winners step this season, and could have had more had their increasingly competitive Mercedes engine let go in promising positions. Coulthard earned two victories, whilst Hakkinen was gifted his first victory at the final race of the year, with both Coulthard and Villeneuve letting the Finn by.
Berger made an emotional return after losing his father and having to sit out a few races with health issues, and dominated the German GP weekend. This would be the Austrian's final season before giving up his race seat to impressive compatriot, Alex Wurz, who himself earned a podium in only his third race.
The Jordan's also looked quick, particularly in Argentina and Germany, with a powerful top end engine in the Peugeot, and had it had more experienced drivers, perhaps they may have gotten some better results.
Prost were the best team to run the Bridgestone tyres, which looked particular good in the race and propelling their teams up the grid, with Panis challenging for the win in Spain, before an accident at Canada broke his legs. Some say he had an outside chance at the Championship, as he was sitting third in the Championship at the time.
Fellow Bridgestone runners, Stewart, struggled to reach the chequered flag most of the season, but in Monaco, Barrichello finished in second place, a truly impressive performance from tyres, team and driver in their first year together.
Bridgestone came closest to winning a race in Hungary, where Hill overtook Schumacher's Ferrari to be leading until he ran into reliability issues near the end of the race and Villeneuve swept in to take the victory. Hill had a fantastic weekend in an otherwise forgettable title-defence year.
Other than an podium finish in Hungary, Sauber's year was probably best remembered by the number of drivers in the second seat, with Larini starting the year, but for disagreements with Peter Sauber meant he left the team. Morbidelli replaced him, but injured himself in testing, so Fontana took the seat. Morbidelli healed up and returned for the race seat only to injure himself in testing again, and Fontana was recalled for the final few races.
Salo's Tyrrell did earn a points finish at Monaco, but there weren't many highlights. Indeed they are probably best remembered for introducing the X-wing to F1.
And there's not much to say about Minardi, they were mostly at the back of the grid, with their Bridgestones occasionally challenging the Tyrrells. They were, however, leagues ahead of the Lola team.
1997 Drivers World Champion: Jacques Villeneuve
1997 Constructors' World Champions: Williams
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Williams Renault
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Ferrari
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Benetton Renault
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McLaren Mercedes
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Jordan Peugeot
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Arrows Yamaha
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Prost Mugen-Honda
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Sauber Petronas
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Stewart Ford
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Tyrrell Ford
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Minardi Hart
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Lola Ford
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T97/30
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