1961 Monaco Grand Prix

 1961 Monaco Grand Prix

Racing data
1st of 8 races of the 1961 Automobile World Championship
Surname:	XIX Grand Prix de Monaco
Date:	May 14, 1961
Place:	Monte Carlo , Monaco
Course:	Circuit de Monaco
Length:	314.5 km in 100 laps of 3.145 km
Weather:	dry, sunny
Pole position
Driver:	Stirling Moss	Lotus Climax
Time:	1: 39.1 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Richie Ginther (lap 84) Stirling Moss (lap 85)	Ferrari Lotus-Climax
Time:	1: 36.3 min
Podium
First:	Stirling Moss	Lotus Climax
Second:	Richie Ginther	Ferrari
Third:	Phil Hill	Ferrari

The 1961 Monaco Grand Prix took place on May 14, 1961 on the Circuit de Monaco near Monte Carlo and was the first race of the 1961 World Automobile Championship .

Reports

background

Debut race of the Lotus 21

Debut race of the "Haifischmaul" Ferrari 156 (picture by Phil Hill at the 1962 German Grand Prix)

The 1961 Monaco Grand Prix marked the beginning of a new era in the world automobile championship. Because the displacement of the car was limited to 1.5 liters for safety reasons, because there had been many fatal accidents in the previous season and in the years before. This capacity limitation lasted until 1966 and finally brought the end of the front-engined car era. All cars in the field now had a mid-engine, as Ferrari also switched to this concept. The new Ferrari 156 made its debut at the Monaco Grand Prix and was used for several years. The chassis of the car was based on the Ferrari Dino 246P , but the vehicle was shorter overall and the engine was built deeper into the chassis. The Ferrari Dino 246P was the team's first mid-engined car, but was only used for testing in two races. The most distinctive feature of the Ferrari 156 was the front, which was similar to a "shark's mouth" and gave the vehicle this nickname. Ferrari chose a V6 unit as the engine, which in 1961 was superior to the engines of the competition. With Phil Hill and Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips , the team kept the two regular drivers, and Richie Ginther also became the third regular driver, who had already driven several races for Ferrari in 1960.

BRM did not build a new car for the 1961 season, but drove a further development of the BRM P48 . A separate unit was no longer used as the motor, but the Climax motor . After Jo Bonnier and Dan Gurney left the team, Tony Brooks became Graham Hill's new teammate . Lotus also launched its new car, the Lotus 21 . The car was an interim solution, as the British teams were still waiting for the unfinished V8 Climax engine, which was specially developed for the new regulations. The Lotus 21 was therefore based on the Lotus 20 , which was originally designed for Formula Junior , but was only partially suitable for the automobile world championship. Jim Clark and Innes Ireland also drove for Lotus. Also, Cooper did not change its driver line-up and announced Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren for the Grand Prix. The Cooper T55 was used as a vehicle, but the car no longer achieved the superiority and success of the previous versions.

Since the new regulations of the automobile world championship were very similar to those of Formula 2, Porsche, as the new works team, which had already entered individual races in previous years, decided to participate in the entire season. From Formula 2, Porsche took over the Type 718 as a vehicle, and the further development, the Porsche 787 , also made its debut at the same time . Bonnier and Gurney switched from BRM to Porsche, and Hans Herrmann drove for the team again. Other teams registered for the Monaco Grand Prix with private cars. Lucien Bianchi and Olivier Gendebien drove for the Ecurie Nationale Belge in cars made by the designer Emeryson Cars . Masten Gregory drove a Cooper T53 for Camoradi International and John Surtees also drove a T53 for the Yeoman Credit Racing Team . Stirling Moss continued to drive for the Rob Walker Racing Team , which had reported both a T53 and a modified Lotus 18 . Moss chose the Lotus for training and racing. The UDT Laystall Racing Team made their debut in the automobile world championship and reported two Lotus 18s for Cliff Allison and Henry Taylor . Allison returned with it after a long injury break. Maurice Trintignant also started for Scuderia Serenissima on a Cooper T51 . Michael May made his debut in the automobile world championship and drove for the Scuderia Colonia .

With Moss, Trintignant and Brabham, three former winners took part in the race. Trintignant won the race twice before, Moss and Brabham once each. Ferrari had previously been victorious in the constructors' category, Cooper twice.

Before the season, several grands prix not counting for the automobile world championship took place. Brabham won the Brussels Grand Prix and the Lombank Trophy . Surtees won the Glover Trophy on Cooper , Clark on Lotus the Grand Prix de Pau and Moss on Lotus the Grand Prix of Vienna .

training

The new balance of power, which was confirmed in the course of the season, was already indicated during training. Ferrari and Lotus were the fastest cars in the field and made the first three places on the grid, followed by BRM and Cooper. Moss was the fastest driver in practice and reached the last pole position of his career. Ginther secured second place on the grid ahead of Clark and Graham Hill. Ginthers teammates started the race from positions five and six, the best Cooper driver was McLaren in seventh place. The first ten were completed by Brooks and the two Porsche drivers Bonnier and Gurney. The reigning world champion Brabham qualified in 16th place.

As in previous years, the starting field was limited to 16 vehicles for safety reasons. This meant that all drivers had to qualify for the race, with a new rule in effect. Each works team had two places on the grid, and the previous winners of the race were automatically qualified. This allowed Brabham to start, although his training time would not have been enough for a qualification. Furthermore, Surtees, Herrmann, May, Allison and Trintignant made it onto the starting grid. Taylor, Gregory, Bianchi and Gendebien, however, did not qualify.

The training session was overshadowed by two serious accidents that affected both Lotus factory drivers. Clark had an accident in the Sainte Devote , was uninjured and took part in the race after the car had been repaired. Ireland had an accident in the tunnel, was thrown out of the car and broke a leg. Therefore, he did not start the race despite qualifying.

run

Before the race, Moss had some side panels removed from the car to save weight. He also doused himself with water to cool himself. Ginther won the starting duel with superiority. In the first three laps alone, he was five seconds ahead of the competition. Clark was in second place in front of Moss and Gurney, followed by Brooks, Bonnier, Phil Hill and McLaren in midfield. Brabham won four positions at the start and caught up with Graham Hill, Graf Berghe von Trips and Surtees. In the following laps, both Clark and Graham Hill had problems with the fuel pump. Graham Hill retired, Clark fell back and in the end crossed the finish line eleven laps behind.

In the lead, Ginther was ahead of Moss, with the two Porsches from Bonnier and Gurney in third and fourth place. In the outdated and inferior engine performance of the Lotus 18, Moss continually narrowed the gap to Ginther and overtook him on lap 14. This was possible because the driver's performance was more decisive than the car's performance at the Circuit de Monaco. Bonnier also overtook Ginther, but was then overtaken by Phil Hill, who improved to second. Brabham was eliminated on lap 38, May followed four laps later. However, the majority of the participating vehicles reached the finish line with twelve cars.

In the final phase of the race, the three Ferraris dueled for second place and constantly changed positions. Ginther prevailed and narrowed the gap to Moss. The lead of the leader decreased with every lap, but in the end Moss defended first place and reached the goal with a three-second lead over Ginther. With this victory, Moss took the lead in the drivers 'championship and Lotus led in the constructors' championship. Phil Hill took third place after Graf Berghe von Trips had an accident on the last lap of the race. However, he was ranked fourth. Gurney finished fifth on Porsche, McLaren scored one point in sixth. McLaren was five laps behind, which made it clear that the Cooper was no longer a victorious car. Trintignant was seventh ahead of Allison, Herrmann and Clark. Surtees and Bonnier were eliminated, but were still classified as they had covered the necessary race distance.

For Moss it was the third and final victory at the Monaco Grand Prix, a record that was beaten by Graham Hill in 1968 . 1968 was also the year that Lotus won the Monaco Grand Prix again.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Porsche System Engineering	02	Jo Bonnier	Porsche 787	Porsche 1.5 B4	D.
			Porsche 718
	04th	Dan Gurney	Porsche 718
	06th	Hans Herrmann
Scuderia Colonia	08th	Michael May	Lotus 18	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
Equipe Nationale Belge	10	Lucien Bianchi	Emyson 1001	Maserati 1.5 L4	D.
	12	Olivier Gendebien	Emyson 1003
Camoradi International	14th	Masts Gregory	Cooper T53	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
Owen Racing Organization	16	Tony Brooks	BRM P48 / 57	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
	18th	Graham Hill
Rob Walker Racing Team	20th	Stirling Moss	Lotus 18	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
Rob Walker Racing Team			Cooper T53
Yeoman Credit Racing Team	22nd	John Surtees	Cooper T53	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
Cooper Car Company	24	Jack Brabham	Cooper T55	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
	26th	Bruce McLaren
Team Lotus	28	Jim Clark	Lotus 21	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
	30th	Innes Ireland
UDT Laystall Racing Team	32	Cliff Allison	Lotus 18	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
	34	Henry Taylor
Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	36	Richie Ginther	Ferrari 156	Ferrari 1.5 V6	D.
	38	Phil Hill
	40	Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips
Scuderia Serenissima	42	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper T51	Maserati 1.5 L4	D.

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Stirling Moss	Lotus Climax	1: 39.1	114.25 km / h	01
02	Richie Ginther	Ferrari	1: 39.3	114.02 km / h	02
03	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	1: 39.6	113.67 km / h	03
04th	Graham Hill	BRM-Climax	1: 39.6	113.67 km / h	04th
05	Phil Hill	Ferrari	1: 39.8	113.45 km / h	05
06th	Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips	Ferrari	1: 39.8	113.45 km / h	06th
07th	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	1: 39.8	113.45 km / h	07th
08th	Tony Brooks	BRM-Climax	1: 40.1	113.11 km / h	08th
09	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	1: 40.3	112.88 km / h	09
10	Dan Gurney	Porsche	1: 40.6	112.54 km / h	10
11	John Surtees	Cooper-Climax	1: 41.1	111.99 km / h	11
12	Hans Herrmann	Porsche	1: 41.1	111.99 km / h	12
13	Michael May	Lotus Climax	1: 42.0	111.00 km / h	13
14th	Cliff Allison	Lotus Climax	1: 42.3	110.67 km / h	14th
15th	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper Maserati	1: 42.4	110.57 km / h	15th
16	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	1: 44.0	108.87 km / h	16
17th	Henry Taylor	Lotus Climax	1: 42.6	110.35 km / h	DNQ
18th	Masts Gregory	Cooper-Climax	1: 42.7	110.24 km / h	DNQ
19th	Lucien Bianchi	Emeryson Maserati	1: 42.9	110.03 km / h	DNQ
20th	Olivier Gendebien	Emeryson Maserati	1: 43.7	109.18 km / h	DNQ

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Stirling Moss	Lotus Climax	100		2: 45: 50.1	01	1: 36.3
02	Richie Ginther	Ferrari	100		+ 3.6	02	1: 36.3
03	Phil Hill	Ferrari	100		+ 41.3	05	1: 37.6
04th	Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips	Ferrari	98		+ 2 rounds	06th	1: 38.9
05	Dan Gurney	Porsche	98		+ 2 rounds	10	1: 40.0
06th	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	95		+ 5 rounds	07th	1: 38.3
07th	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper Maserati	95		+ 5 rounds	15th	1: 43.0
08th	Cliff Allison	Lotus Climax	93		+ 7 rounds	14th	1: 43.2
09	Hans Herrmann	Porsche	91		+ 9 rounds	12	1: 41.3
10	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	89		+ 11 rounds	03	1: 39.4
-	John Surtees	Cooper-Climax	68		DNF	11	1: 37.1	Fuel pump
-	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	59		DNF	09	1: 38.6	Injection pump
-	Tony Brooks	BRM-Climax	54		DNF	08th	1: 40.5	Valve damage
-	Michael May	Lotus Climax	42		DNF	13	1: 45.1	transmission
-	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	38		DNF	16	1: 41.6	Engine failure
-	Graham Hill	BRM-Climax	11		DNF	04th	1: 42.1	Fuel pump
	Innes Ireland	Lotus Climax	-	-	DNS	-	-	-

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 eight races counted. In the constructors' championship, the first six of the race got 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 points, only the points of the best placed driver on a team counted.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Stirling Moss Lotus Climax 9 02  Richie Ginther Ferrari 6th 03  Phil Hill Ferrari 4th 04th  Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips Ferrari 3 05  Dan Gurney Porsche 2 06th  Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 1

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  lotus 8th 02  Ferrari 6th 03  Porsche 2 04th  cooper 1

Web links

• Results at motorsportarchiv.de
• Photos at f1-facts.com
• Moss withstands Ferrari pressure with supreme Display at espnf1.com
• Grand Prix Results: Monaco GP, 1961 at grandprix.com