1997 Formula One World Championship

Jacques Villeneuve (pictured in 2002) won the championship in only his second year of F1 participation.

Villeneuve's teammate, Heinz-Harald Frentzen (pictured in 2006), was promoted to runner-up with 42 points following Michael Schumacher's disqualification from the standings at the end of the year.

David Coulthard (pictured in 1999), finished the season ranked third for McLaren.

The 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 51st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1997 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1997 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a seventeen-race series that commenced on 9 March and ended on 26 October.

The Drivers' Championship was won by Jacques Villeneuve under controversial circumstances: championship leader Michael Schumacher deliberately rammed him whilst trying to defend his race lead in the final race. Schumacher came to a halt in the gravel while Villeneuve finished third, giving him enough points to secure the drivers' championship. Schumacher was later deemed at fault for the accident by the FIA. He kept his five race wins, but was stripped of his 2nd place in the championship, promoting Villeneuve's Williams teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen to second in the championship.

The Constructors' Championship was awarded to Williams-Renault.

As of 2024, this is the last championship for a non-European driver, the last Constructors' and Drivers' championships for Williams, and the last championship won on Goodyear tyres. It was also the last championship for a Renault-powered driver, until Fernando Alonso's championship in 2005. Renault ended its official involvement in the sport at the end of the 1997 season, its engines having won six consecutive World Constructors' titles from 1992 to 1997 and won five of the six F1 drivers' titles over the same period. Renault would subsequently return to F1 in an official capacity once more 2001, although its engines would continue to be used from 1998 to 2000 being maintained and prepared by both Mecachrome and Supertec for that intervening three-season period.