Häkkinen again remained at McLaren for 1997 and Coulthard remained his teammate.
Häkkinen's season got off to a good start: In the season opening race in Australia, he drove up to the third position and later scored further consecutive finishes inside of the points scoring positions in the next three races.
He suffered his first retirement of the season at the Monaco Grand Prix when he was involved in a collision with Benetton driver Jean Alesi.
Häkkinen later took ninth position at the Spanish Grand Prix, but later suffered three consecutive retirements in the next three races—a collision with Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine in Canada and engine failures in France and Britain.
At the latter race, he had seemed set for his first win, but his engine blew while he was holding off eventual winner Jacques Villeneuve.

Häkkinen secured another podium finish with second place in Germany and later retired from an hydraulic problem in Hungary.
He later secured third place in the Belgian Grand Prix but was later disqualified when it was discovered that his car used an illegal type of fuel during the event.
He secured a ninth-place finish in Italy and later suffered from consecutive retirements in the next two races—engine failures in the Austrian Grand Prix and the Luxembourg Grand Prix while leading both races.
Häkkinen ended the season with a fourth position in the penultimate round in Japan and raced to  his first Formula One victory at the season closing European Grand Prix.
Häkkinen ended the season sixth in the Drivers' Championship, with 27 points.
Häkkinen again remained at McLaren for 1997 and Coulthard remained his teammate. Häkkinen's season got off to a good start: In the season opening race in Australia, he drove up to the third position and later scored further consecutive finishes inside of the points scoring positions in the next three races. He suffered his first retirement of the season at the Monaco Grand Prix when he was involved in a collision with Benetton driver Jean Alesi. Häkkinen later took ninth position at the Spanish Grand Prix, but later suffered three consecutive retirements in the next three races—a collision with Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine in Canada and engine failures in France and Britain. At the latter race, he had seemed set for his first win, but his engine blew while he was holding off eventual winner Jacques Villeneuve.
Häkkinen secured another podium finish with second place in Germany and later retired from an hydraulic problem in Hungary. He later secured third place in the Belgian Grand Prix but was later disqualified when it was discovered that his car used an illegal type of fuel during the event. He secured a ninth-place finish in Italy and later suffered from consecutive retirements in the next two races—engine failures in the Austrian Grand Prix and the Luxembourg Grand Prix while leading both races. Häkkinen ended the season with a fourth position in the penultimate round in Japan and raced to  his first Formula One victory at the season closing European Grand Prix. Häkkinen ended the season sixth in the Drivers' Championship, with 27 points.
Mika Häkkinen