1963 Italian Grand Prix

 1963 Italian Grand Prix

Racing data
7th of 10 races of the 1963 World Automobile Championship
Surname:	XXXIV Gran Premio d'Italia
Date:	September 8, 1963
Place:	Monza , Italy
Course:	Autodromo Nazionale Monza
Length:	494.5 km in 86 laps of 5.75 km
Weather:	warm, dry, sunny
Pole position
Driver:	John Surtees	Ferrari
Time:	1: 37.3 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Jim Clark (Round 60)	Lotus Climax
Time:	1: 38.9 min
Podium
First:	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax
Second:	Richie Ginther	BRM
Third:	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax

The 1963 Italian Grand Prix took place on September 8, 1963 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza near Monza and was the seventh race of the 1963 World Automobile Championship .

Reports

background

The planned route that was still used in the first training session

The organizers originally planned to hold the entire event on the 10 km long route variant. The track variant with the two banked curves was last used by Formula 1 in 1961 . In the first training session, the cracks in the asphalt and the poor overall condition of the oval part were already criticized. The cracks resulted in multiple accidents and suspension damage and the second training session was canceled for the same reasons. Thereupon the organizers decided on the 5.75 km long street course variant without the banked curves as the route for the rest of the race weekend.

After Ferrari had used the Ferrari 156/63 for a large part of the season , the next expansion stage of the car was launched, the Ferrari 156 Aero . The shark nose characteristic of the car has been removed and replaced by a conventional opening similar to that of other teams' vehicles. In addition, the front of the car was lengthened. The Ferrari 156 Aero was driven by John Surtees , team-mate Lorenzo Bandini , who had switched from Scuderia Centro Sud to Ferrari, the old car.

At Lotus , Trevor Taylor dropped out of a race due to an injury sustained in an accident at the Gran Premio del Mediterraneo . He was replaced by Mike Spence . Spence made his debut in the automobile world championship and drove from the Grand Prix of Great Britain in 1964 for Lotus as a new teammate of Jim Clark . After a break for several races, ATS returned and entered Phil Hill and Giancarlo Baghetti for the Grand Prix. Scirocco ended the season after the Italian Grand Prix, and for its driver Tony Settember it was the last report in a race in the automobile world championship.

There were other changes in the field of drivers for the teams with private cars and customer vehicles. For British Racing Partnership were Jim Hall and Innes Ireland reported. Ireland then ended the season. The last time Chris Amon and Mike Hailwood drove a Lola Mk4A was at Reg Parnell Racing . The car was only driven one more time in the World Automobile Championship. The Scuderia Centro Sud used three different cars for Maurice Trintignant , Mário de Araújo Cabral and Ernesto Brambilla . Trintignant and Cabral were registered for this team for the last time and then ended the season. For Brambilla it was the first report; another followed in 1969 . In either case, however, he did not qualify. Masten Gregory and Bob Anderson drove a Lotus for the last time in their careers and ended the season. Even Ian Raby and André Pilette disputed 1963 no further Grands Prix. For Roberto Lippi it was the last Grand Prix in the context of the automobile world championship.

Before the Italian Grand Prix, three non-World Championship races took place. Clark won the Kanonloppet , Surtees the Gran Premio del Mediterraneo and Jack Brabham the first ever Austrian Grand Prix . With Phil Hill and Graham Hill , two former winners took part in the race; Lotus and Cooper had previously been successful each time with the designers, and Ferrari five times.

In the drivers' championship, Clark was clearly ahead of Surtees by 20 points. All drivers with at least six points still had theoretical chances of the drivers' world championship, but one more victory was enough for Clark to win the title early. The situation in the constructors' championship was similar before the race. Lotus had a big lead over the competition and one more win would have meant the team winning the title.

training

Surtees dominated the training and took his first pole position of the season. He was more than a second faster with the new car than the runner-up Graham Hill, whose team-mate Richie Ginther was fourth. Clark, whose series of four pole positions in a row broke, qualified third between the two BRM drivers. Brabham drivers Dan Gurney and Brabham finished fifth and seventh ; between them lay Bandini. The first ten were completed by Bruce McLaren , Spence and Ireland. The best ATS in the field was Phil Hill's in 14th position, the two Lola qualified in the back field. Chris Amon had an accident and was seriously injured. He then did not take part in the race.

The starting field was limited to 20 vehicles. For this reason, seven drivers dropped out after training. These were Cabral, Raby, Settember, Carel Godin de Beaufort , Brambilla, Pilette and Lippi. Baghetti, who started the race from last place, would have missed qualifying in favor of Cabral as his time was worse. However, he was still allowed to start and Cabral did not qualify.

run

1963 World Champion: Jim Clark

The high-speed track in Monza was again characterized by slipstream duels and a large number of leadership changes, as well as overtaking maneuvers. Clark and Graham Hill prevailed against Surtees at the start, Graham Hill led after the first race lap. Then Surtees overtook Clark and attacked Graham Hill. After four laps he managed to overtake Graham Hill and Clark benefited from this situation with an improvement to second place. Surtees and Clark then dueled for the lead, while the gap to Graham Hill grew steadily. On lap 16 Surtees retired with engine failure and Clark took first place for the first time in the race, the position he needed to become world champion early.

After 23 laps, a three-way battle between Clark, Graham Hill and Dan Gurney developed at the front . Graham Hill led the race for three laps, then Gurney overtook both rivals. Clark was already first again in the next lap, but then fell again behind Graham Hill and Gurney. The lead then switched between these two drivers four times in just five laps before Clark was back on top. The three-way battle continued and all three drivers changed positions on each subsequent race lap until Graham Hill fell back with a damaged clutch. Before that, Gregory, Bandini and Jo Siffert had already retired due to technical problems. Another five changes in leadership took place between Clark and Gurney before Gurney was eliminated with a faulty fuel system. He was ranked 14th. The failure of his two competitors allowed Clark to reduce the pace, whereby Ginther overtook him, who was already one lap behind Clark at this point.

Clark won, over two minutes behind, and won his first drivers' world championship three races before the end of the season. For the fourth time this season, Clark set the fastest race lap. Clark did not win the Italian Grand Prix in the following years, Lotus only won again in 1972 . These were the first title wins for Lotus, as the team also secured the constructors' championship with this victory. On the lap of honor, team owner Colin Chapman sat on the back of the car and had the trophy in his hands while Clark drove him around the track. The Lotus 25 was the first vehicle with a monocoque in the automobile world championship to win a title. In the following years, the competition also adopted this successful construction. Ginther was second in the race ahead of McLaren, Ireland, Brabham and Maggs.

In the drivers' championship, Clark unmatched his lead to 27 points. Ginther moved up to second ahead of Surtees. In the constructors' championship, Lotus was 23 points ahead of the competition, BRM was the new runner-up ahead of Ferrari.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	02	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari 156/63	Ferrari 1.5 V6	D.
	04th	John Surtees	Ferrari 156 Aero
Team Lotus	06th	Mike Spence	Lotus 25	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
	08th	Jim Clark
Owen Racing Organization	10	Richie Ginther	BRM P57	BRM 1.5 V8	D.
	12	Graham Hill	BRM P61
			BRM P57
ATS	14th	Giancarlo Baghetti	ATS 100	ATS 1.5 V8	D.
	16	Phil Hill
Cooper Car Company	18th	Bruce McLaren	Cooper T66	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
	20th	Tony Maggs
Brabham Racing Organization	22nd	Jack Brabham	Brabham BT3	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
	24	Dan Gurney	Brabham BT7
Ecurie Maarsbergen	28	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche 718	Porsche 1.5 B4	D.
British Racing Partnership	30th	Jim Hall	Lotus 24	BRM 1.5 V8	D.
	32	Innes Ireland	BRP Mk1
Scirocco Powell	34	Tony Settember	Scirocco 01	BRM 1.5 V8	D.
Reg Parnell Racing	38	Chris Amon	Lola Mk4A	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
	40	Mike Hailwood	Lola Mk4
Tim Parnell	42	Masts Gregory	Lotus 24	BRM 1.5 V8	D.
Scuderia set colli	44	Roberto Lippi	De Tomaso F1-002	Ferrari 1.5 V6	D.
André Pilette	46	André Pilette	Lotus 18/21	Ferrari 1.5 V6	D.
DW Racing Enterprises	48	Bob Anderson	Lola Mk4	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
Ian Raby Racing	50	Ian Raby	Gilby 62	BRM 1.5 V8	D.
Siffert Racing Team	54	Jo Siffert	Lotus 24	BRM 1.5 V8	D.
Rob Walker Racing Team	58	Jo Bonnier	Cooper T66	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
			Cooper T60
Scuderia Centro Sud	62	Ernesto Brambilla	Cooper T53	Maserati 1.5 L4	D.
	64	Mário de Araújo Cabral	Cooper T60	Climax 1.5 V8
	66	Maurice Trintignant	BRM P57	BRM 1.5 V8

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} Graham Hill drove the BRM P61 with the number 12 in practice sessions and in the race.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Jo Bonnier drove the Cooper T66 with the number 58 in practice sessions and in the race.

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	John Surtees	Ferrari	1: 37.3	212.74 km / h	01
02	Graham Hill	BRM	1: 38.5	210.15 km / h	02
03	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	1: 39.0	209.09 km / h	03
04th	Richie Ginther	BRM	1: 39.2	208.67 km / h	04th
05	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax	1: 39.2	208.67 km / h	05
06th	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	1: 40.1	206.79 km / h	06th
07th	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Climax	1: 40.4	206.18 km / h	07th
08th	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	1: 40.5	205.97 km / h	08th
09	Mike Spence	Lotus Climax	1: 40.9	205.15 km / h	09
10	Innes Ireland	BRP-BRM	1: 41.6	203.74 km / h	10
11	Jo Bonnier	Cooper-Climax	1: 41.9	203.14 km / h	11
12	Masts Gregory	Lotus BRM	1: 42.1	202.74 km / h	12
13	Tony Maggs	Cooper-Climax	1: 42.2	202.54 km / h	13
14th	Phil Hill	ATS	1: 42.7	201.56 km / h	14th
15th	Jo Siffert	Lotus BRM	1: 43.3	200.39 km / h	15th
16	Jim Hall	Lotus BRM	1: 43.8	199.42 km / h	16
17th	Mike Hailwood	Lola-Climax	1: 43.9	199.23 km / h	17th
18th	Bob Anderson	Lola-Climax	1: 44.2	198.66 km / h	18th
19th	Maurice Trintignant	BRM	1: 44.4	198.28 km / h	19th
20th	Giancarlo Baghetti	ATS	1: 46.8	193.82 km / h	20th
21st	Chris Amon	Lola-Climax	no time
DNQ	Mário de Araújo Cabral	Cooper-Climax	1: 44.8	197.52 km / h	-
DNQ	Ian Raby	Gilby-BRM	1: 45.1	196.96 km / h	-
DNQ	Tony Settember	Scirocco BRM	1: 45.9	195.47 km / h	-
DNQ	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	1: 46.4	194.55 km / h	-
DNQ	Ernesto Brambilla	Cooper Maserati	1: 50.3	187.67 km / h	-
DNQ	André Pilette	Lotus Climax	1: 53.7	182.06 km / h	-
DNQ	Roberto Lippi	De Tomaso-Ferrari	2: 03.9	167.07 km / h	-

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	86	0	2: 24: 19.6	03	1: 38.9
02	Richie Ginther	BRM	86	0	+1: 35.0	04th	1: 39.9
03	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	85	0	+ 1 lap	08th	1: 40.9
04th	Innes Ireland	BRP-BRM	84	0	+ 2 rounds	10	1: 40.4
05	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Climax	84	0	+ 2 rounds	07th	1: 40.8
06th	Tony Maggs	Cooper-Climax	84	0	+ 2 rounds	13	1: 42.0
07th	Jo Bonnier	Cooper-Climax	84	0	+ 2 rounds	11	1: 41.0
08th	Jim Hall	Lotus BRM	84	0	+ 2 rounds	16	1: 41.3
09	Maurice Trintignant	BRM	83	0	+ 3 rounds	19th	1: 41.1
10	Mike Hailwood	Lola-Climax	82	0	+ 4 rounds	17th	1: 41.8
11	Phil Hill	ATS	79	0	+ 7 rounds	14th	1: 42.9
12	Bob Anderson	Lola-Climax	79	0	+ 7 rounds	18th	1: 41.8
13	Mike Spence	Lotus Climax	73	0	+ 13 rounds	09	1: 41.3
14th	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax	64	0	+ 22 laps	05	1: 39.2
15th	Giancarlo Baghetti	ATS	63	0	+ 23 laps	20th	1: 44.7
-	Graham Hill	BRM	59	0	DNF	02	1: 39.3	coupling
-	Jo Siffert	Lotus BRM	41	0	DNF	15th	1: 43.3	oil pressure
-	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	37	0	DNF	06th	1: 39.9	transmission
-	Masts Gregory	Lotus BRM	26th	0	DNF	12	1: 42.5	Engine failure
-	John Surtees	Ferrari	16	0	DNF	01	1: 39.6	Engine failure
-	Chris Amon	Lola-Climax	00	0	DNS			Training accident / injury

World Cup stands after the race

The first six of the race got 9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 points. Only the six best results from ten 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  Jim Clark Lotus Climax 51 02  Richie Ginther BRM 24 03  John Surtees Ferrari 22nd 04th  Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 14th 05  Graham Hill BRM 13 06th  Dan Gurney Brabham-Climax 12 07th  Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax 9 08th  Innes Ireland BRP-BRM 6th 09  Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax 5

Item driver constructor Points 10  Gerhard Mitter Porsche 3 11  Jo Bonnier Cooper-Climax 3 12  Jim Hall Lotus BRM 3 13  Lorenzo Bandini BRM 2 14th  Jo Siffert Lotus BRM 1 15th  Trevor Taylor Lotus Climax 1 16  Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 1 17th  Ludovico Scarfiotti Ferrari 1

Constructors' championship

Item	constructor	Points
01	Lotus Climax	51 (52)
02	BRM	28
03	Ferrari	22nd
04th	Cooper-Climax	21st
05	Brabham-Climax	15th
06th	BRP-BRM	6th
07th	Porsche	4th

Web links

• Results at motorsportarchiv.de
• Photos at f1-facts.com
• Grand Prix Results: Italian GP, ​​1963 at grandprix.com
• Clark seals title with fifth victory at espnf1.com