The qualifying session for the Brazilian GP ...

Published on 29 March 1997 by Verstappen Info Page

The qualifying session for the Brazilian GP was without major events and predictable. Under a partly cloudy sky, and a temperature of 21.3 °C Villeneuve took the pole position again. Jos qualified 21st and Mika Salo 22nd 0,4 secs. behind Jos. Jos drove 4 runs in which he constantly improved on his previous time. He started with 1:19.594, then 1:19.211 and then his fastest time of 1:18.885. Jos made a spin in his final timed lap in his 4th run preventing him from improving his time. Mika Salo's car came to a halt only 5 minutes after the start of the session with an engine failure after his car misfired a couple of times. He continued the session in the T-car which was adapted for Jos this time.

A big surprise was Giancarlo Fisichella, who consistently drove fast times and each time in front of Ralf Schumacher. Other surprises were Panis (5th), Coulthard (12th), Frentzen (8th) en Hill (9th! in an Arrows?!). The session had somewhat of a thrilling end through a crash of Fisichella and a code red, after which only 1:54 mins. was left. In these last 2 minutes no spectacular changes took place.

For a complete overview of the qualifying session times you can take a look at our Brazilian Grand Prix page.

If you want to see the race in a really unique fashion then come to the Jos Verstappen kartcenter in Echt (Bandertlaan 9) in Limburg, the Netherlands. From 12.00 hrs. on you are welcome, food and beverages are served in a large (heated) tent. The race can be watched on a large videoscreen. The first race this was a huge succes and now more than 500 visitors are expected.