1963 Formula One season
The 1963 Formula One season was the 17th season of
Jim Clark driving for Lotus won his first Drivers' Championship with three races to go.[1] He won seven races in the championship, a number that would not be beaten until 1988, when Ayrton Senna won eight, and a win percentage that nearly beat Alberto Ascari's record from 1952. Lotus also won the Manufacturers' Championship for the first time.[2]
Every pole position and race in the 1963 championship were won by British drivers, the first time that this was achieved by any single nation. (Italy is sometimes considered to have achieved this feat in 1952, but this only goes if the Indianapolis 500 is excluded from the statistic.)
Teams and drivers
The following
Team and driver changes
- Rob Walker's private team, while Dan Gurney signed with the relatively new team of double World Champion Jack Brabham. This left only the private Porsche driven by Carel Godin de Beaufort.
- 1961 champion Phil Hill and his teammate Giancarlo Baghetti left Scuderia Ferrari after 1962 to go to ATS. The new team was formed by ex-Ferrari employees, including chief engineers Carlo Chiti and Giotto Bizzarrini, after the "palace revolt" of 1961.
- John Surtees signed with Ferrari in 1963, leaving Reg Parnell to search for new drivers, which he found in veteran Maurice Trintignant and debutant Chris Amon.
Mid-season changes
- Ferrari hired Belgian Willy Mairesse and Italian Ludovico Scarfiotti to share the role of teammate to John Surtees. Mairesse suffered a heavy crash in the German Grand Prix and broke his arm. 1962 Ferrari driver Lorenzo Bandini was brought in to finish the season.
- Enna-Pergusa. He was thrown out of his car, which then caught fire. He escaped with fairly minor injuries but missed the Italian Grand Prix. Mike Spencesubstituted for him.
Calendar
Round | Grand Prix | Circuit | Date |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Monaco Grand Prix | Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo | 26 May |
2 | Belgian Grand Prix | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot | 9 June |
3 | Dutch Grand Prix | Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort | 23 June |
4 | French Grand Prix | Reims-Gueux, Gueux | 30 June |
5 | British Grand Prix | Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone | 20 July |
6 | German Grand Prix | Nürburgring, Nürburg | 4 August |
7 | Italian Grand Prix | Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza
|
8 September |
8 | United States Grand Prix | Watkins Glen International, New York | 6 October |
9 | Mexican Grand Prix | Magdalena Mixhuca, Mexico City
|
27 October |
10 | South African Grand Prix | East London
|
28 December |
Calendar changes
- The Dutch Grand Prix was organised a month later than in 1962, moving it back to be the third race in the championship.
- The French Grand Prix was moved back to Reims-Gueux. It would alternate to host the GP with Rouen-Les-Essarts until 1964.
- The British Grand Prix was moved from Aintree to Silverstone. Aintree had alternated with Silverstone since 1955, but 1962 was the last time that they hosted F1.
- The Magdalena Mixhuca circuit in Mexico City.
Championship report
Rounds 1 to 3
The
The
Moving north some 300 km (190 mi), Circuit Zandvoort hosted the Dutch Grand Prix. Clark started on pole, ahead of Hill and McLaren. The three arrived side-by-side at Tarzan corner, but the positions were unchanged. Brabham had started fourth but got up to second while his teammate Gurney drew everyone's attention with a heroic recovery drive after a bad start. Hill got back up to second, but his BRM was overheating. Gurney had climbed to fourth, but a strut underneath the car had come loose and a pit stop brought him back down the order. Hill's engine had enough on lap 58 and he was forced to pit, letting Surtees into second and Gurney up to third. The latter had been working wonders again, but Clark, meanwhile, was a lap ahead of everyone else. He won the race to make it a "grand slam", ahead of Gurney and Surtees, a late spin by the Ferrari driver gave Gurney a deserved place as 'best-of-the-rest'.[5]
In the Drivers' Championship, Jim Clark (Lotus) was leading with 18 points, ahead of Richie Ginther (BRM with 11 and Bruce McLaren (Cooper) and Dan Gurney (Brabham), both with 10. Lotus was leading the Manufacturers' Championship with 19 points, ahead of BRM with 14 and Cooper and Brabham with 10.
Rounds 4 to 7
Championship leader
For the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Clark scored a fourth consecutive pole position, ahead of Gurney and Hill. Clark bogged down at the start, but he was back in front after just four laps. Brabham was the first of a group tightly fighting over second place. Gurney took over when Brabham's engine blew up. The race went on without incidents until Gurney's engine blew up on lap 60 and spread oil across the track. Hill went into second place before he starting running out of fuel, letting Surtees into second and coasting over the line in third place. Clark scored his fourth win in a row. [8]
Clark looked unstoppable going into the German Grand Prix, putting his Lotus on pole once again, ahead of Surtees and Bandini (BRM). Clark held the lead at the start and was expected to run away with it, but sixth-starting Richie Ginther overtook him and so did Surtees, later in the first lap. Surtees and Clark soon passed Ginther, but still, it was a Ferrari in front and not a Lotus. And that remained for a while, with Clark going faster through the corners, but his Climax engine cutting out a cylinder, slowing him down on the straights. Graham Hill retired with a failing gearbox. When Surtees set a new lap record, Clark eased off to at least ensure a second place. Surtees delivered Ferrari's first win in two years. Ginther finished third. There were multiple heavy crashes during the race: Surtees's teamamte Willy Mairesse came off worst with a broken arm.[9]
Clark was now 20 points ahead in the championship, and he would clinch the title if he won the
Jim Clark (Lotus) led the championship with 51 points, ahead of Richie Ginther (BRM, 24) and John Surtees (Ferrari, 22). On the basis of points, Ginther could still get level with Clark, but only the six best results in the season would count towards the championship, so on the minute chance tat he would win the last three races, a number of third and second place finishes would be discounted. It marked Clark's and Lotus's first titles, and it was the first time that a driver secured the title with three races to go. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Lotus stood on 51 points, ahead of BRM (28) and Ferrari (22).
Rounds 8 to 10
Even with the title in the pocket, Jim Clark was not easing off and fought for pole position for the United States Grand Prix, but it was 1962 champion Graham Hill that snatched it by a tenth of a second. His rivals in the hunt for second position in the championship, John Surtees and Richie Ginther, started on the second row. At the start, Clark's engine stalled, so Hill was unchallenged into the first corner. The Lotus was pushed to life and the freshly crowned champion started his race over a lap down. On lap 7, Surtees took the lead from Hill and Dan Gurney took third place from Ginther. Hill followed the Ferrari but had had enough of it by lap 30. He tried to overtake twice, but both times, Surtees repassed him on the straight. By lap 80, Hill was falling back with handling problems, but Surtees came into the pits with a failing engine. The BRMs of Hill and Ginther finished 1-2, ahead of Clark in third, whose engine was misfiring but had seen more than ten other drivers retiring.[11]
Clark was back on top for the
Going into the final race, the
The Drivers' Championship ended with Jim Clark (Lotus) on 54 points, winning his first title, ahead of BRM teammates Graham Hill and Richie Ginther, both scoring 29 points, but the Brit getting second place on countback. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Lotus gathered 54 points, winning their first title as well, ahead of BRM with 36 and Brabham with 28.
Results and standings
Grands Prix
World Drivers' Championship standings
Points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis at each round, with only the best six round results retained.
|
|
- Italics indicate fastest lap
- Bold indicates pole position
‡ No points awarded as Hill's car was pushed at the start line.[15]
International Cup for F1 Manufacturers standings
Points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis at each round with only the best six round results retained. Only the best placed car from each manufacturer at each round was eligible to score points.
Pos. | Manufacturer | MON |
BEL |
NED |
FRA |
GBR |
GER |
ITA |
USA |
MEX |
RSA |
Pts.[14] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lotus-Climax | (6) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | (2) | 1 | (3) | 1 | (1) | 54 (74) |
2 | BRM | 1 | (4) | (5) | 3‡ | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | (3) | 36 (45) |
3 | Brabham-Climax | Ret | 3 | 2 | 4 | Ret | 7 | (5) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 28 (30) |
4 | Ferrari | 4 | Ret | 3 | Ret | 2 | 1 | Ret | 5 | Ret | 5 | 26 |
5 | Cooper-Climax | 3 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 9 | (6) | 3 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 25 (26) |
6 | BRP-BRM | Ret | 4 | 9 | Ret | 4 | WD | WD | 6 | |||
7 | Porsche
|
6 | 9 | 10 | 4 | DNQ | 6 | 10 | 10 | 5 | ||
8 | Lotus-BRM | Ret | Ret | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 7 | DNS | 4 |
— | Lola-Climax | Ret | Ret | Ret | 7 | 7 | Ret | 10 | Ret | Ret | WD | 0 |
— | Stebro-Ford | 7 | 0 | |||||||||
— | Scirocco-BRM | WD | 8 | WD | Ret | Ret | Ret | DNQ | 0 | |||
— | ATS | WD | Ret | Ret | WD | WD | WD | 11 | Ret | Ret | 0 | |
— | Alfa Romeo
|
11 | 0 | |||||||||
— | Cooper-Maserati | DNQ | 12 | 0 | ||||||||
— | Lotus-Ford | 14 | 0 | |||||||||
— | Gilby-BRM | Ret | DNQ | DNQ | 0 | |||||||
— | Alfa Romeo
|
Ret | 0 | |||||||||
— | Lotus-Borgward | DNQ | 0 | |||||||||
— | De Tomaso-Ferrari | WD | WD | DNP | DNQ | 0 | ||||||
Pos. | Manufacturer | MON |
BEL |
NED |
FRA |
GBR |
GER |
ITA |
USA |
MEX |
RSA |
Pts. |
- Bold results counted to championship totals.
‡ No points awarded as Hill's car was pushed at the start line.[15]
Non-championship races
Other Formula One races, which did not count towards the World Championship, were also held in 1963.
Race name | Circuit | Date | Winning driver | Constructor | Report |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
IV Lombank Trophy | Snetterton
|
30 March | Graham Hill | BRM | Report |
XXIII Pau Grand Prix | Pau | 15 April | Jim Clark | Climax
|
Report |
XI Glover Trophy | Goodwood | 15 April | Innes Ireland | Lotus-BRM | Report |
IV Gran Premio Citta di Imola | Imola
|
21 April | Jim Clark | Climax
|
Report |
XIV Gran Premio di Siracusa | Syracuse | 25 April | Jo Siffert | Lotus-BRM | Report |
XIX BARC Aintree 200 | Aintree | 27 April | Graham Hill | BRM | Report |
XVI BRDC International Trophy | Silverstone | 11 May | Jim Clark | Climax
|
Report |
XV Gran Premio di Roma | Vallelunga | 19 May | Bob Anderson
|
Climax
|
Report |
III Solituderennen | Solitudering
|
28 July | Jack Brabham | Climax
|
Report |
XII Kanonloppet | Karlskoga | 11 August | Jim Clark | Climax
|
Report |
III Mediterranean Grand Prix | Enna Pergusa | 18 August | John Surtees | Ferrari | Report |
I Austrian Grand Prix | Zeltweg
|
1 September | Jack Brabham | Climax
|
Report |
International Gold Cup
|
Oulton Park | 21 September | Jim Clark | Climax
|
Report |
Rand Grand Prix | Kyalami | 14 December | John Surtees | Ferrari | Report |
Notes and references
- ^ "1963 Driver Standings". Formula1.com. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ "1963 Constructor Standings". Formula1.com. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ Denis Jenkinson (26 May 1963). "1963 Monaco Grand Prix race report: BRM beats the street". Motorsport Magazine. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ Denis Jenkinson (9 June 1963). "1963 Belgian Grand Prix race report: Clark vanquishes field in Spa spray". Motorsport Magazine. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ Denis Jenkinson (23 June 1963). "1963 Dutch Grand Prix race report: Clark at the double". Motorsport Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ Denis Jenkinson (30 June 1963). "1963 French Grand Prix race report: Clark completes his hat-trick". Motorsport Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ "1963 French Grand Prix - RACE RESULT". Formula1.com. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ Denis Jenkinson (20 July 1963). "1963 British Grand Prix race report - Clark (Lotus-Climax) uncatchable". Motorsport Magazine. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ Denis Jenkinson (4 August 1963). "1963 German Grand Prix race report: Surtees rules at the 'Ring". Motorsport Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- ^ Denis Jenkinson (8 September 1963). "1963 Italian Grand Prix race report: Clark and Lotus rule supreme". Motorsport Magazine. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- ^ Michael Tee (6 October 1963). "1963 United States Grand Prix race report: Hill on top of the Glen as Surtees suffers again". Motorsport Magazine. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- ^ Michael Tee (27 October 1963). "1963 Mexican Grand Prix race report: Clark leaves them standing". Motorsport Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- ^ Michael Tee (28 December 1963). "1963 South African Grand Prix race report: Clark's finish fantastic". Motorsport Magazine. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- ^ a b c Only the best 6 results counted towards the championship. Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
- ^ a b "1963 FIA World Championship". Formula One Administration Ltd. Archived from the original on 15 May 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2010.