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#5 First Grand Prix win in 1997
After acquiring the services of David Coulthard in 1996, McLaren decided to go with the same partnership in the 1997 season as well. Hakkinen started off the season brilliantly, by grabbing a 3rd place finish in the season opener in Australia.
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The Finn grabbed points in the successive races to come, but, suffered his first retirement in Monaco. He failed to finish the race in France, Canada and UK as well. However, he made a comeback in Germany and secured a 2nd place finish.
In the final Grand Prix of the season (European) in Spain, Hakkinen qualified 5th on the grid, with Jaques Villeneuve leading the race from pole position. This was the title decider between Schumacher and Villeneuve, who went into the race with a 1-point gap.
During the race, Schumacher crashed with Villeneuve and had to retire. Both the McLaren's were looking faster and they overtook the Canadian. Hakkinen won his first ever Grand Prix and Villeneuve finished 3rd, earning him his first world championship
