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The 1997 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 26, 1997 at the Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Spain. It was the 17th and final race of the 1997 Formula One season. During the race the two contenders for the World Championship, Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher, collided and Schumacher was forced to retire. The blame for the incident was later placed on Schumacher by the sport's governing body, the FIA. Schumacher was summoned to a disciplinary hearing by the FIA and on November 11, 1997 it was announced that Schumacher would be disqualified from the 1997 World Championship. This meant that he lost his second place in the overall standings to Heinz-Harald Frentzen but would retain his race victories and other results and would not be fined or face any further punishment.
The race was won by Mika Häkkinen, his first Formula One race victory. His McLaren team-mate David Coulthard finished in second and Williams driver Jacques Villeneuve took third. This was enough to give Villeneuve the 1997 World Drivers Championship. Gerhard Berger, Eddie Irvine and Heinz-Harald Frentzen filled the remaining three points-paying positions.
