Formula One Features — January 1997

The FIA World Motor Sport Council met in Monaco on 6th December last year and voted in the most radical and far reaching Formula 1 performance regulations seen for a long time.

The Danka Arrows Yamaha team unveiled its 1997 car at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham, England, on January 9. The Arrows-Yamaha A18 will be driven by World Champion Damon Hill and by Brazilian Pedro Diniz.

Equipe Ligier Gauloises Blondes unveiled its Ligier-Mugen Honda JS45 at the Cafe de Paris, in Monte Carlo's Casino Square on January 22. The car will be driven this year by Olivier Panis and Shinji Nakano. It will once again be powered by Mugen Honda V10 engines and will run on Bridgestone tyres.

The Mild Seven Benetton Renault team unveiled its 1997 car in a rather chaotic fashion in London's chic - but rather too small - Planet Hollywood nightclub on January 23. The Benetton-Renault B197 will be driven by Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi and tested by Austrian rising star Alexander Wurz.

The Minardi Team ran its new Minardi-Hart M197 at Mugello, near Florence, on February 1 in preparation for the team's official launch at the Autodromo Nazionale at Monza on February 4. The M197 will be raced this year by Japan's Ukyo Katayama and by Italian rising star Jarno Trulli.

The Tyrrell Racing Organisation - which is beginning its 30th season in Formula 1 racing - unveiled its 1997 challenger at the Capital Radio Cafe in London's West End on January 20. The Tyrrell-Ford 025 will be raced this year by Mika Salo and Jos Verstappen with young Japanese rising star Toranosuke Takagi acting as test driver.

The Rothmans Williams Renault team unveiled its 1997 car at its old factory in Didcot, Oxfordshire, on January 31. The Williams-Renault FW19 will be raced this year by Canadian Jacques Villeneuve and the team's new signing German Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

The West McLaren Mercedes Benz team had a "sneak preview" of its new 1997 car at its factory in Woking early on the morning of January 14. The prototype McLaren-Mercedes MP4-12 was unveiled in an orange and black livery - the color used on the old McLaren CanAm cars of the 1960s - but will be raced in a silver color-scheme this year. Silver is, of course, the traditional racing livery of Mercedes-Benz, but it is also the color used by the Germany West cigarette brand - the team's new title sponsor - for its West Lights packaging. The team wanted to get as much testing achieved as possible and so the McLaren sponsorship package will be revealed separately at a major launch in London's Alexandra Palace exhibition centre on February 14. The team says it is expecting to have 4000 people present for the event.

The Benson & Hedges Total Jordan Peugeot team unveiled its Jordan-Peugeot 197 at London's Hilton Hotel on January 30.