1997 Formula 1.5 Season

The 1997 Formula 1.5 season was the 48th running of the Formula 1.5 World Championship. Giancarlo Fisichella won his maiden title, scoring 73 points for Jordan who would would also claim the Constructors' Championship with 127 points.

## Entries

Reigning champion Barrichello's decision to jump from Jordan to the new Stewart team was the attention of the F1.5 crowd pre-season, while in the wider context of F1, the shock move was Damon Hill making his reappearance in F1.5 as World Champion. It was already known that 1996 would be his last year with Williams, but many wondered why he'd chosen the newly rechristened Arrows as his '97 home over somewhere like McLaren or even Ferrari. Whatever the reason, a high-profile name like Hill would undoubtedly bring more prestige to the F1.5 championship.

Sauber, whose best year in their F1.5 time had been 1995, sought a closer relationship with Ferrari to help bring them more success starting in '97. To this end, they became the exclusive customer of Petronas-branded engines straight from Maranello, while elsewhere in engines, Tyrrell, Arrows, and Minardi had a three-way swap involving supplies of Yamaha, Ford, and Hart engines.

### Mid-season changes

* The Lola team folded after the Australian Grand Prix, leaving Ricardo Rosset and Vincenzo Sospiri out of a drive. Rosset returned to F1.5 in 1998 with Tyrrell, while Sospiri saw out the 1997 season in IndyCar with Team Scandia.
* A series of disagreements with Peter Sauber saw Nicola Larini leave Sauber after the Monaco Grand Prix. He was replaced by Gianni Morbidelli, who had last raced in F1.5 with Footwork in 1995, and had spent 1996 testing for Jordan.
* During the Canadian Grand Prix, Prost's Olivier Panis crashed heavily and broke his leg. He was replaced by Minardi driver Jarno Trulli, who in turn was replaced by Tarso Marques, who had also made some appearances for the Minardi team the previous year. Panis missed seven races before returning at the Luxembourg Grand Prix, while Trulli would join him as a full-time Prost driver in 1998.
* Between the Canadian and French Grands Prix, Gianni Morbidelli had an accident in testing and broke his arm, meaning Sauber had to make their second substitution of the year. They brought in test driver Norberto Fontana, who completed the next three races before Morbidelli's return at the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix. Morbidelli suffered another testing accident following the Japanese Grand Prix, so Fontana competed again at the season-ending European Grand Prix.

## Calendar

### Calendar Changes

* The Austrian Grand Prix returned to the calendar after a nine-year absence.
* The Luxembourg Grand Prix was added to the world championship for the first time, after being held as a non-championship race from 1949 until 1952.
* The Portuguese Grand Prix was originally scheduled as the final round of the season, to be held at the Estoril circuit on 26 October. It was cancelled and replaced by the European Grand Prix after the owners of the Estoril circuit failed to make requested changes to it.

## Results & standings

### World Drivers' Championship standings

Points were awarded on a 10–6–4–3–2–1 basis for the first six positions in each race.