The Jordan 197 was strong right out of the box and was good enough to win on the right weekend if everyone did a good job. At the initial Jerez test the car wasn't quite ready, so Ralf Schumacher, who was a rookie for 1997, got some mileage in the '96 car.

Then he got in the 197 and, after the shakedown laps, on his first proper run he found it was a massive improvement in terms of performance and driveability. When he came in he had a huge smile on his face.