Memories of the 600th Formula 1 Grand Prix
05/16/2022
This week is all about the number 600, so let's take a look back 25 years to the 48th Formula 1 season and the third round of the World Championship in Argentina on April 13, 1997, the 600th race in Grand Prix history since Silverstone 1950.
The battle for the title in 1997 was between Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve, with the Canadian coming out on top after an extremely dramatic finale in Jerez.
Villeneuve won his second race of the season in Buenos Aires, even though he was ill and the only one to make three pit stops "... to give him a rest from his stomach flu", as Williams' technical director Patrick Head put it.
Villeneuve, whose father's death marked the 40th anniversary these days (May 8, 1982), benefited from Schumacher's starting crash with Barrichello and Coulthard, the senseless collision between the two Jordan drivers, and the retirement of the sensational Olivier Panis in the Prost Mugen, who put the Canadian under a lot of pressure.
Despite gearbox problems, as Heinz-Harald Frentzen had already complained about in Brazil, the Canadian kept the Ferrari of Eddie Irvine, who finished with only two pit stops, at bay. The Irish-born driver with a British license finally gave up all attempts to attack after the Italian press had already called for his head. The six championship points for second place were much more important to him than risking a possible total retirement of the Scuderia.
Ralf Schumacher, Michael's brother, ended up as the best German after he boxed his team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella off the track on lap 25. He finished on the podium in only his third F1 race and had to apologize to the Italian under pressure from Eddie Jordan, who was seething with rage. Eddie: "Without this completely senseless collision, we would probably have won the race."
Argentina produced some very successful racing drivers. First and foremost, of course, Juan Manuel Fangio (24.6.1911 - 17.7.1995), the huge exceptional talent with five world championship titles (1951, 54, 55, 56 and 57) in the front-engine era. Then there was his rival José Froilan Gonzalez (5.10.1922 - 15.6.2013), who finished runner-up behind his compatriot in 1954 in a Ferrari. In 1981, Carlos Reutemann (12.4.1942 - 7.7.2021), another gaucho, even with Swiss roots, was runner-up in the world championship.
Gonzalez and Reutemann, still in good health at the time, took the opportunity to attend the 600th GP near Buenos Aires at the Autodromo Oscar Alfredo Galvez in person on April 13, 1997.
Williams won their 9th and so far last drivers' and constructors' title in 1997, since then they have been lagging behind the fastest drivers.
Frank Williams (16.4.1942 - 28.11.2021) also provided the car for runner-up and later governor of Santa Fé Carlos Reutemann, nicknamed "El Lole", in 1981.
