Formula 1 Seasons Review

F1: Formula 1 2005 Season Review. Enjoy.

F1: Formula 1 2006 Season Review. Enjoy.

F1: Formula 1 2007 Season Review. Enjoy.

F1: Formula 1 2008 Season Review. Enjoy.

F1: Formula 1 2009 Season Review. Enjoy.

F1: Formula 1 2010 Season Review. Enjoy.

Formula 1 2001 Season Review. Enjoy.

Formula 1 2002 Season Review. Enjoy.

Formula 1 2003 Season Review. Enjoy.

Formula 1 2004 Season Review. Enjoy.

This is the official review of the 1998 F1 season, enjoy.

This is the official review of the 1999 F1 season, enjoy.

This is the official review of the 2000 F1 season, enjoy.

The 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 51st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It commenced on 9 March and ended on 26 October after seventeen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Jacques Villeneuve and the Constructors' Championship was awarded to Williams-Renault. The 1997 Formula One calendar featured two new events in the Luxembourg Grand Prix, as well as the Austrian Grand Prix, the latter of which returned to the calendar after a ten-year absence. The only race exiting the calendar was the Portuguese Grand Prix after 13 years raced at the Autódromo do Estoril. Future race winners, Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli made their debut in this season. The championship was decided under highly controversial circumstances as championship leader Michael Schumacher deliberately rammed Villeneuve whilst trying to defend his race lead in the final round of the championship at the European Grand Prix at Jerez, Spain. Schumacher came to a halt in the gravel trap and was deemed at fault for the accident by FIA – being punished by being stripped of his 2nd place in the championship. Villeneuve finished third in the race in spite of the contact. Schumacher still kept his five race wins. Villeneuve won seven races, but would never win a Formula One Grand Prix again before his 2006 retirement. 1997 also saw the retirement of Gerhard Berger after many years in the sport, as well as the first race win for Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Mika Häkkinen. As of 2022, this is the last championship for a non-European driver, the last Constructors' and Drivers' championships for Williams. It was also the last championship for a Renault-powered driver, until Fernando Alonso's championship in 2005. This also notably marked the last season with teams fielding V8-powered cars, until 2006.

The 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 50th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. The championship commenced on 10 March and ended on 13 October after sixteen races. Two World Championship titles were awarded, one for Drivers and one for Constructors. Damon Hill won the Drivers' Championship two years after being beaten by a point by Michael Schumacher, making him the first son of a World Champion (his father Graham having won the title in 1962 and 1968) to have won the title himself. Hill, who had finished runner-up for the past two seasons, was seriously threatened only by his teammate, newcomer Jacques Villeneuve, the 1995 IndyCar and Indianapolis 500 champion. Williams-Renault easily won the Constructors' title, as there was no other competitor strong enough to post a consistent challenge throughout the championship. This was also the beginning of the end of Williams's 1990s dominance, as it was announced that Hill and designer Adrian Newey would depart at the conclusion of the season, with engine manufacturer Renault also leaving after 1997. Two-time defending world champion Michael Schumacher had moved to Ferrari and despite numerous reliability problems, they had gradually developed into a front-running team by the end of the season. Defending Constructors' Champion Benetton began their decline towards the middle of the grid, having lost key personnel due to Schumacher's departure, and failed to win a race. Olivier Panis took the only victory of his career at the Monaco Grand Prix. This was the last championship for a British driver until Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

The 1995 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 49th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1995 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1995 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a seventeen-race series that commenced on 26 March and ended on 12 November. Michael Schumacher won his second consecutive Drivers' Championship, and Benetton won the Constructors' Championship, the first and only Constructors' title for the Benetton team. Schumacher won nine races en route to the championship, equalling the record set by Nigel Mansell in 1992. He also continued his rivalry with Williams-Renault driver Damon Hill, including collisions at the British and Italian Grands Prix. Both these races were won by Schumacher's Benetton teammate Johnny Herbert, taking his first two F1 victories. Hill's Williams teammate, David Coulthard, claimed his first victory in Portugal, while Ferrari's Jean Alesi achieved his only F1 victory in Canada. Just like Honda in 1988, Renault engines won all but one race in this season.

The 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 48th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1994 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 27 March and ended on 13 November. Michael Schumacher won his first Drivers' Championship driving for Benetton, while Williams-Renault won their third consecutive Constructors' Championship, the seventh in all for Williams. 1994 was one of the most tragic and controversial seasons in the sport's history. The San Marino Grand Prix saw the deaths of Austrian rookie Roland Ratzenberger and Brazilian three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna, while a number of other incidents throughout the season resulted in injuries to drivers, mechanics, spectators and a track marshal. The FIA subsequently made sweeping changes to the rules and regulations of F1 in an effort to improve safety. The 1993 champion Alain Prost did not attempt to defend his title, having retired from the sport. Forty-six drivers competed in the 1994 World Championship, including fourteen making their F1 debut, and numerous pay drivers. Mercedes-Benz returned to the sport for the first time since 1955, as an engine supplier to Swiss team Sauber. The season also saw the first win for Ferrari since 1990, whilst McLaren, following the departure of Senna, endured their first winless season since 1980. 1994 was also the final season for the original Team Lotus, one of the most successful constructors in Formula One history, as well as the last Formula One season for 1985 runner-up Michele Alboreto.

The 1993 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 47th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1993 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1993 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 14 March and ended on 7 November. Alain Prost won his fourth and final Drivers' Championship, and Williams-Renault won their second consecutive Constructors' Championship, the sixth in all for Williams. The 1993 season saw the return of the European Grand Prix to the calendar after eight years; the race, held at Donington Park, replaced the Pacific Grand Prix at the Autopolis circuit in Japan after a deal to hold a race there fell through. The Mexican Grand Prix left the calendar for the second time after seven years, due to safety concerns surrounding the very bumpy surface of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez; it would not return until 2015. 1993 marked the height of the use of electronics technology in Formula One, with perhaps the most advanced and sophisticated F1 cars ever built. The championship-winning Williams car, the FW15C, featured hydraulically and electronically-controlled active suspension, power steering, anti-lock brakes, fly-by-wire controls, traction control, a semi-automatic gearbox that could be switched over to fully-automatic, highly sophisticated onboard telemetry, pneumatic valve springs in the engine, and even a push-to-pass system that, at least in theory, made overtaking easier. Williams also tested a continuously variable transmission, while Benetton-Ford tested a four-wheel steering system late in the season. Nearly all cars in 1993 had an active suspension system, which kept the car's ride height consistent throughout a lap, making the aerodynamics of the car more efficient and effective. All these systems would be banned for 1994, except for the semi-automatic gearbox, on-board telemetry, pneumatic valve springs and power steering. In addition to winning his fourth Drivers' Championship, Prost achieved his 50th F1 victory at the British Grand Prix, becoming the first driver to reach this milestone. His fierce rival, Ayrton Senna, finished runner-up in the championship after winning five races for McLaren-Ford; these included his home race in Brazil, the European Grand Prix in wet conditions, and, for the fifth year in succession and sixth time in all, the Monaco Grand Prix. Prost's Williams teammate, Damon Hill, took his first F1 victory in Hungary; two further victories gave him third in the championship. As of 2022, this is the last championship for a French Formula One driver. At the end of the season, Prost retired from Grand Prix racing, bringing an end to an era in which he and Senna had largely dominated the sport, winning a combined 76 races between 1985 and 1993 and seven of the nine championships in that time. Senna would take Prost's place at Williams, only to lose his life three races into the 1994 season.

The 1992 Formula One World Championship was the 46th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1992 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1992 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 1 March and ended on 8 November. Nigel Mansell won the Drivers' Championship, and Williams-Renault won the Constructors' Championship. Mansell won the first five races of the season and went on to become the first driver in Formula One history to win nine World Championship races in a single season. He sealed the Drivers' Championship at the Hungarian Grand Prix in mid-August, with five races still to run, becoming the first Briton to win the championship since James Hunt in 1976. Reigning champion Ayrton Senna won three races for McLaren-Honda but could only manage fourth in the championship, with Mansell's Williams teammate Riccardo Patrese finishing second and young Michael Schumacher third for Benetton-Ford.

The 1991 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 45th season of FIA Formula One motor racing and the 42nd season of the Formula One World Championship. It featured the 1991 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1991 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 10 March and ended on 3 November. Ayrton Senna won his third and last Drivers' Championship, and McLaren-Honda won their fourth consecutive Constructors' Championship. Senna won seven of the sixteen races; his main challenger for the title was Nigel Mansell, who won five races in his first season back at Williams. Senna's fierce rival Alain Prost failed to win a race with Ferrari and was fired before the end of the season due to a dispute with the team. 1991 also saw the debuts of future world champions Michael Schumacher and Mika Häkkinen, as well as the retirement of three-time champion Nelson Piquet. As of 2022, this is the last World Championship season to be won by a Brazilian racing driver, a V12-engined car, or a car equipped with a manual gearbox. As of 2022, it is also the last constructors' title won by a Honda-powered car (although the supplier Red Bull Powertrains who won the constructors' championship in 2022 used a Honda-based engine design and had Honda technical assistance), and it was the last drivers' championship to be won by a Honda-powered driver until Max Verstappen's Championship win in 2021. Also, this was Pirelli's last season as the tyre supplier for the Formula One World Championship, until they returned the sport again in 2011, where they become the sole tyre supplier for the sport in that season.