Häkkinen again remained at McLaren for 1997 and Coulthard remained his teammate. Häkkinen's season got off to a good start: In the season-opening race in Australia, he drove up to the third position and later scored further consecutive finishes inside of the points scoring positions in the next three races. He suffered his first retirement of the season at the Monaco Grand Prix when he was involved in a collision with Benetton driver Jean Alesi. Häkkinen later took ninth position at the Spanish Grand Prix, but later suffered three consecutive retirements in the next three races—a collision with Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine in Canada and engine failures in France and Britain. At the latter race, he had seemed set for his first win, but his engine blew while he was holding off eventual winner Jacques Villeneuve.