Jordan 197

The Jordan 197 was the car with which the Jordan Formula One team used to compete in the 1997 Formula One season. It was driven by Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella, who were both in their first season with the team. Ralf was a complete rookie to F1, and Fisichella had only a part-season with Minardi behind him. It was seen as a gamble on the part of Eddie Jordan to recruit two young, inexperienced drivers to replace Rubens Barrichello and Martin Brundle.

After a disappointing season in F1|1996, the team seemed revitalised for F1|1997. The car gave Jordan the chance to seriously challenge the "Big Four" teams of that time - Williams, Ferrari, Benetton and McLaren. After a couple of races to get going, Schumacher and Fisichella scored points at almost every race (apart from a barren spell at the end of the year) and took three podium finishes. Fisichella was particularly impressive, and there was a behind-the-scenes battle for his services in F1|1998 between Jordan and Benetton. The only downside to the season was the failure to score the team's elusive first win in F1.

The car was also notable for its distinctive bright yellow livery, as title sponsor Benson & Hedges chose to change the colour form gold. The cars also had a snake painted on either side of the nosecone, a forked tongue that extended back around the sides of the driver's cockpit, and numerous scale effects on other parts to the car. When Grands Prix were held in countries that did not allow tobacco advertising, the cars were labelled "Bitten & Hisses" or "Ssssschuey"/"Fisssssssi" instead of "Benson & Hedges".

The team eventually finished fifth in the Constructors' Championship, with 33 points - the highest number of points in the team's history thus far.

Complete Formula One results

() (results in bold indicate pole position)

References

*"AUTOCOURSE 1997-98", Henry, Alan (ed.), Hazleton Publishing Ltd. (1997) ISBN 978-1-874557-47-0