Belgian Grand Prix 1962

 Belgian Grand Prix 1962

Racing data
3rd of 9 races of the 1962 Automobile World Championship
Surname:	XXII Grote Prijs van Belgie
Date:	June 17, 1962
Place:	Spa , Belgium
Course:	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Length:	451.2 km in 32 laps of 14.1 km
Weather:	sunny, dry
Pole position
Driver:	Graham Hill	BRM
Time:	3: 57.0 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Jim Clark (Round 15)	Lotus Climax
Time:	3: 55.6 min
Podium
First:	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax
Second:	Graham Hill	BRM
Third:	Phil Hill	Ferrari

The 1962 Belgian Grand Prix took place on June 17, 1962 on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps near Spa and was the third race of the 1962 World Cup .

Reports

background

After Ferrari had dominated the 1961 automobile world championship , there were internal problems in 1962, which led to the loss of dominance and major personnel restructuring. This also affected various driver changes, at the Belgian Grand Prix Ferrari changed the driver pairing for the third time in a row. For Lorenzo Bandini , Giancarlo Baghetti drove again , who had already driven for Ferrari in the first race of the season. Phil Hill , Willy Mairesse and Ricardo Rodríguez were registered for the other three cars, but then also paused for a different number of races.

From the Belgian Grand Prix, Cooper and BRM used the new season car for both drivers. Tony Maggs drove the new Cooper T60 for the first time , after only his teammate Bruce McLaren had previously had the car. Two BRM P57 on Graham Hill and Richie Ginther were registered with BRM . Only Lotus continued to use a Lotus 25 for Jim Clark and a Lotus 24 for Trevor Taylor . Porsche suspended the race due to a strike at the Porsche factory. For this reason, Porsche driver Dan Gurney drove a Lotus for the Autosport Team Wolfgang Seidel for the only time in his career .

Many teams entered private vehicles for the race, most of them a Lotus 24. John Campbell-Jones made his debut in the automobile world championship and drove his only race of the season for Emeryson Cars on an Emeryson 1006 , which however was not competitive. Because of this, he used a Lotus 18 for training and racing. The Bowmaker Racing Team had reported a Lola Mk4 for John Surtees , Roy Salvadori paused for a race. Lucien Bianchi drove his first race of the season for the Equipe Nationale Belge and Jo Siffert for the Ecurie Filipinetti .

With Jack Brabham and Phil Hill, two former winners took part in the race, Ferrari had previously been successful four times with the constructors, Cooper once. Graham Hill and Phil Hill were tied in the drivers' standings, with McLaren one point behind in third. The constructors' championship was led by Cooper, who had one point more than BRM and Ferrari. A week before the race, there were two races that were not part of the automobile world championship. Surtees won the first International 2000 Guineas on Lola , Ireland the Crystal Palace Trophy on Lotus .

training

Graham Hill dominated training and secured the first pole position of his career. He was 1.8 seconds faster than runner-up McLaren. For BRM it was the second pole position in team history, after the team with Jo Bonnier had last started from first position at the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix . For Graham Hill and BRM it was the only pole position of the season.

Taylor qualified third ahead of Phil Hill. Thus, as in the previous races, several constructors were represented on the first starting positions. The best starting position for a driver with private cars was Innes Ireland's fifth position . He qualified ahead of the two Ferraris of Mairesse and Rodríguez. The first ten were completed by Gregory, Ginther, and Maggs. Surtees qualified his Lola in eleventh place, De Beaufort started the race with the only Porsche in the field from position 13. Clark reached twelfth place on the grid after technical problems that made the installation of a new engine necessary. Since he could not take part in Saturday training and the new engine was only delivered and installed afterwards, Clark used the public roads in the vicinity of the racetrack to test his car in connection with the new unit. Another incident occurred during Saturday training when the Ferrari mechanics did not properly fasten the engine cover on Baghetti's car and he lost it before the Eau Rouge , causing an accident but remaining uninjured.

All drivers qualified for the Grand Prix, including Campbell-Jones, although he was half a minute slower than Graham Hill with his outdated Lotus 18. However, he drove his fastest training time with an Emeryson, which failed due to a gearbox failure. Campbell-Jones then borrowed a Lotus 24 and took part in the race with this car.

run

Gurney did not start because he found that his car was not competitive and undrivable. Graham Hill won the starting duel against McLaren. Behind them, Taylor and Mairesse dueled on the first lap, Clark improved to fifth. Phil Hill and Ireland, however, lost several positions. Ireland retired a few laps later with suspension damage. At the top, a duel developed between Graham Hill and his two pursuers Taylor and Mairesse, in which the positions often changed. For both drivers, the 1962 Belgian Grand Prix was the only race they led in the World Automobile Championship. Graham Hill led the first lap, then was overtaken by Taylor before Mairesse took the lead on lap four. Clark was fourth for a short time, but dropped to fifth to save his engine. Clark kept a constant gap to the first four vehicles, but continuously increased the lead over the opponents. On lap six, Mairesse took the lead again. Taylor countered two rounds later. Meanwhile, Clark passed both McLaren and Graham Hill and then passed Taylor and Mairesse as well. From lap nine, Clark led the race while the duel between Taylor and Mairesse continued.

After Ireland was eliminated on lap eight, other drivers parked their cars due to technical problems. Gregory retired on lap 13 and McLaren finished on lap 19. Two transmission failures also occurred on Maggs and Ginther vehicles. For both of them, the Grand Prix ended on lap 22. Three laps later there was a serious accident between Taylor and Mairesse. After the two drivers had overtaken each other several times in the previous laps, Mairesse attacked his opponent and hit him on the bike. Both vehicles spun off the track due to the collision. Taylor's Lotus was hit again by the Ferrari shortly before a telegraph pole and collided with the obstacle at a more favorable angle and not sideways. The Mairesse Ferrari, on the other hand, overturned and then burned out completely. Taylor survived the accident unharmed and freed himself from his Lotus. Then he helped some viewers to free Mairesse from the burning vehicle. Mairesse survived the accident with minor burns that forced him to take a three-month break from racing. Surtees, having seen Taylor get out, slowly drove past the Lotus box to let Lotus team members understand that their driver was unharmed.

Clark dominated the race, drove the fastest race lap and at the finish was more than 40 seconds ahead of the competition. This was his first win at a Grand Prix of the automobile world championship and marked the beginning of a series of victories in the following years, through which he broke the record of most racing victories by Juan Manuel Fangio in 1968 . This was also the first win for the Lotus 25, the first monocoque car. Clark won the Belgian Grand Prix for the next three years. He himself didn't like the route because like many other drivers it was too dangerous for him. This opinion was reinforced by the two fatal accidents at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1960 , two years earlier.

Graham Hill was runner-up ahead of Phil Hill, who finished third for the last time in his career. Despite being the only driver to have made three podiums in the first three races of the season, his reputation at Ferrari declined and the team boss complained about Phil Hill's performance after the race at Enzo Ferrari . Later in the season, Phil Hill left the team and failed to match previous successes.

Rodríguez finished fourth in the race, finishing just a tenth of a second behind Phil Hill. He was 20 years and 123 days old at the time and became the youngest driver to score points in the automobile world championship. That record was only broken decades later by Jenson Button , then 20 years and 67 days old, who finished sixth in the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix . Rodríguez was also the first Mexican driver to score points in the World Automobile Championship. Surtees scored further points for Lola with fifth place, Brabham finished sixth and scored the first time with his own team. De Beaufort was seventh ahead of Trintignant, Bianchi and Siffert. Campbell-Jones was classified in eleventh place, 16 laps behind.

Graham Hill extended his lead over Phil Hill in the drivers' championship, Clark was new third with nine points. Cooper did not achieve any points at the Belgian Grand Prix and thus lost three places in the constructors' championship. BRM was the new leader with 16 points ahead of Lotus with 15 and Ferrari with 14.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Owen Racing Organization	01	Graham Hill	BRM P57	BRM 1.5 V8	D.
	02	Richie Ginther
Emeryson Cars	04th	John Campbell-Jones	Lotus 18	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
			Emeryson 1006
Bowmaker Racing Team	05	John Surtees	Lola Mk4	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
Ecurie Maarsbergen	07th	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche 718	Porsche 1.5 B4	D.
Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	09	Phil Hill	Ferrari 156	Ferrari 1.5 V6	D.
	10	Willy Mairesse
	11	Giancarlo Baghetti
	12	Ricardo Rodríguez
Brabham Racing Organization	15th	Jack Brabham	Lotus 24	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
Team Lotus	16	Jim Clark	Lotus 25	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
			Lotus 24
	17th	Trevor Taylor	Lotus 24
Rob Walker Racing Team	18th	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus 24	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
Equipe Nationale Belge	19th	Lucien Bianchi	Lotus 18/21	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
UDT Laystall Racing Team	20th	Innes Ireland	Lotus 24	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
		Masts Gregory
	21st	Innes Ireland	Lotus 24	BRM 1.5 V8
		Masts Gregory
Ecurie Filipinetti	22nd	Jo Siffert	Lotus 21	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
Autosport Team Wolfgang Seidel	23	Dan Gurney	Lotus 24	BRM 1.5 V8	D.
Cooper Car Company	25th	Bruce McLaren	Cooper T60	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
	26th	Tony Maggs

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} John Campbell-Jones drove the Lotus 18 with the number 4 in practice sessions and in the race. The number 4 Emeryson was only used in training.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Jim Clark drove the Lotus 25 with the number 16 in practice sessions and in the race.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Both drivers were registered for both cars. Innes Ireland drove the number 20 Lotus 24 with the Climax engine in practice sessions and in the race. Masten Gregory drove the Lotus 24 with the number 21 and the BRM engine in practice sessions and in the race.

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Graham Hill	BRM	3: 57.0	214.18 km / h	01
02	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	3: 58.8	212.56 km / h	02
03	Trevor Taylor	Lotus Climax	3: 59.3	212.12 km / h	03
04th	Phil Hill	Ferrari	3: 59.6	211.85 km / h	04th
05	Innes Ireland	Lotus Climax	3: 59.8	211.68 km / h	05
06th	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	3: 59.8	211.68 km / h	06th
07th	Ricardo Rodríguez	Ferrari	4: 01.0	210.62 km / h	07th
08th	Masts Gregory	Lotus BRM	4: 01.0	210.62 km / h	08th
09	Richie Ginther	BRM	4: 01.4	210.27 km / h	09
10	Tony Maggs	Cooper-Climax	4: 03.6	208.37 km / h	10
11	John Surtees	Lola-Climax	4: 04.4	207.69 km / h	11
12	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	4: 04.9	207.27 km / h	12
13	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	4: 07.7	204.93 km / h	13
14th	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	4: 08.0	204.68 km / h	14th
15th	Jack Brabham	Lotus Climax	4: 08.2	204.51 km / h	15th
16	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus Climax	4: 09.2	203.69 km / h	16
17th	Jo Siffert	Lotus Climax	4: 11.6	201.75 km / h	17th
18th	Lucien Bianchi	Lotus Climax	4: 18.9	196.06 km / h	18th
19th	John Campbell-Jones	Lotus Climax	4: 26.9	190.18 km / h	19th
20th	Dan Gurney	Lotus BRM	no time		20th

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	32		2: 07: 32.3	12	3: 55.6
02	Graham Hill	BRM	32		+ 44.1	01	3: 58.0
03	Phil Hill	Ferrari	32		+ 2: 06.5	04th	3: 59.0
04th	Ricardo Rodríguez	Ferrari	32		+ 2: 06.6	07th	4: 04.4
05	John Surtees	Lola-Climax	31		+ 1 lap	11	4: 04.4
06th	Jack Brabham	Lotus Climax	30th		+ 2 rounds	15th	4: 09.0
07th	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	30th		+ 2 rounds	13	4: 12.1
08th	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus Climax	30th		+ 2 rounds	16	4: 13.4
09	Lucien Bianchi	Lotus Climax	29		+ 3 rounds	18th	4: 22.2
10	Jo Siffert	Lotus Climax	29		+ 3 rounds	17th	4: 18.6
11	John Campbell-Jones	Lotus Climax	16		+ 16 rounds	19th	4: 32.8
-	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	25th		DNF	06th	3: 57.0	Collision with Trevor Taylor
-	Trevor Taylor	Lotus Climax	25th		DNF	03	3: 57.0	Collision with Willy Mairesse
-	Richie Ginther	BRM	22nd		DNF	09	4: 07.0	transmission
-	Tony Maggs	Cooper-Climax	22nd		DNF	10	4: 00.8	transmission
-	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	19th		DNF	02	3: 58.3	oil pressure
-	Masts Gregory	Lotus BRM	13		DNF	08th	4: 06.9	withdrawn
-	Innes Ireland	Lotus Climax	08th		DNF	05	4: 01.7	suspension
-	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	03		DNF	14th	4: 34.3	ignition
-	Dan Gurney	Lotus BRM	00		DNS			Participation withdrawn

World Cup stands after the race

The first six of the race got 9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 points. Only the five best results from nine races counted. In the constructors' championship, only the points of the best placed driver on a team counted.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Graham Hill BRM 16 02  Phil Hill Ferrari 14th 03  Jim Clark Lotus Climax 9 04th  Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 9 05  Trevor Taylor Lotus Climax 6th 06th  John Surtees Lola-Climax 5 07th  Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 4th

Item driver constructor Points 08th  Giancarlo Baghetti Ferrari 3 09  Ricardo Rodríguez Ferrari 3 10  Jo Bonnier Porsche 2 11  Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax 2 12  Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 1 13  Jack Brabham Lotus Climax 1

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  BRM 16 02  lotus 15th 03  Ferrari 14th 04th  cooper 11 05  Lola 5 06th  Porsche 3

Web links

• Results at motorsportarchiv.de
• Photos at f1-facts.com
• Grand Prix Results: Belgian GP, ​​1962 on grandprix.com
• Today in 1962: The Clark-Lotus era begins at Spa at f1fanatic.co.uk
• Clark secures his maiden victory at espnf1.com