Senna survives (1997 - The Last Dance)

1997 Monaco GP

Ayrton Senna announces his retirement! The 4-time world champion has announced this will be his last season in Formula 1. Will he be able to match Fangio? Stay tuned.

Main driver changes for the 1997 season:

Williams: Damon Hill gets sacked after 3 underperfoming seasons (according to Frank Williams). He's replaced with...Eddie Irvine??!!!. Has Frank Williams gone mad? No, Frentzen decided to join Jordan, who offer him a number 1 role. Talks with Berger during the winter also fell through. Thus, Irvine was the only driver available. To make matters worse, Renault announces they leave for 1998 and Newey departs to McLaren. Schumacher has started talks with Ferrari...

1- Michael Schumacher

2- Eddie Irvine

Ferrari: Jacques Villeneuve joins after dominating american racing to partner up Senna, who retires at end of the season. Gerhard Berger retires after a poor 1996 season.

3- Ayrton Senna

4- Jacques Villeneuve

Benetton: In a downhill spiral, Briatore, Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne leave the team. Renault will cease supply for 1998. Their drivers are eyeing other seats...

5- Jean Alesi

6- Rubens Barrichello

McLaren-Mercedes: Great news at Woking! Adrian Newey's services have been secured and he will participate in next car's design. Ron Dennis opts for stability for this year and keeps both Coulthard and Hakkinen, despite negotations with Damon Hill.

7- Mika Hakkinen

8- David Coulthard

Jordan: Martin Brundle retires from F1 and Irvine makes a late departure for Williams. Eddie Jordan manages to secure HHF's services from Sauber, promising him no. 1 driver status. Damon Hill also signed on a 1-year deal hoping to get a top seat for next year.

9- Heinz-Harald Frentzen

10- Damon Hill

Other seats: Ralf Schumacher joins Ford-backed Stewart for his rookie season; Panis doesn't suffer injury mid-season so Trulli stays at Minardi; Fisichella to Sauber; Katayama to Arrows (with Yamaha's help) and Marques makes his debut for Minardi anyways.

Season highlights:

Coulthard gets a maiden win in Australia, followed by a surprise home victory for Barrichello in the Benetton, Schumacher wins in Argentina against a ferocious Villeneuve, Irvine spins in the last lap to finish 3rd in a Ferrari 1-2 at home, Senna makes his last dance in Monaco after announcing retirement followed by Ralf Schumacher (His brother DNFs in lap 16), Panis wins in Spain after avoiding traffic in mid-race, Senna wins in Canada despite a late SC made Irvine get close to 2nd in the faster Williams, Villeneuve spins in France on the last lap losing the podium to Schumacher and causing Jean Todt's rage on the paddock, Katayama loses key points for Arrows after a spin mid-race on a double DNF for Ferrari and a Schumacher win at Silverstone, Barrichello gets a second win in Hockenheim, Arrows gets first points in Hungary with Katayama and Schumacher wins, Senna wins in Spa but Schumacher recovers from 5th to 3rd, Coulthard wins in Monza confirming McLaren's improvement, Schumacher wins in Austria and Nurburgring (Luxemburg GP). Ayrton Senna wins his 5th championship after a controversial Japanese GP at Suzuka, in which Michael Schumacher attempted to repeat Adelaide 1994. Schumacher got disqualified and fined by the FIA, in what many describe a light sanction. Despite that, Ferrari announced Schumacher as a driver for 1998. This left Frank Williams furious, he decided to replace Schumacher for the European GP at Jerez blaming him for the championship loss. A 22 year-old Juan Pablo Montoya gets called up for a drive, with the prospect of 1998 full drive.

In Jerez, Senna takes a last F1 victory, followed by team-mate Villeneuve and ex-team mate Hakkinen. Montoya finishes 4th, impressing everyone and securing a drive for 1998 at Williams. Ferrari secures the constructors titles after Williams implodes after Suzuka.