1962 British Grand Prix

The 1962 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Aintree on 21 July 1962. It was race 5 of 9 in both the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. This was the last race at Aintree. From 1963 onwards, the race would be held at Silverstone or Brands Hatch. Scotsman Jim Clark dominated the race, driving a Lotus 25. It was considered a power track,[clarification needed] benefitting the light and powerful Lotus and Lola cars in particular. Ferrari were still sidelined due to the Italian metal workers' strike but managed to send one car for Phil Hill.[1]

1962 British Grand Prix
Race details
Date 21 July 1962
Official name 15th RAC British Grand Prix
Location Aintree Motor Racing Circuit
Aintree, England
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.828 km (3.000 miles)
Distance 75 laps, 362.100 km (225.000 miles)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Climax
Time 1:53.6
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus-Climax
Time 1:55.0 on lap 36
Podium
First Lotus-Climax
Second Lola-Climax
Third Cooper-Climax
Lap leaders

Race

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It was not a particularly exciting race, with Clark leading from start to finish and fairly large gaps between the cars.[1] Out of the twentyone starters, six still had four-cylinder engines while the rest were multi-cylinder cars. These cars were in a sort of class of their own, with Jackie Lewis finishing best of the four-cylinder cars.[2] John Surtees' Lola started and finished in second place, in spite of having lost second gear on the tenth lap. Dan Gurney was hopeful after winning in France and at the non-championship Solitude race in the preceding two weeks. He began the race in third but had a slipping clutch and slid steadily down the field, ending in ninth position.[3] His teammate Jo Bonnier had to retire with a broken transmission. Bruce McLaren (Cooper) passed Gurney after twelve laps and finished in third.[3] Graham Hill pushed his BRM hard but had to settle for fourth, and was threatened by Jack Brabham in the closing stages. Brabham, however, had burns on his right foot since lap 40 and was in a lot of pain. He finished fifth, ahead of Tony Maggs' Cooper.[1] Brabham had hoped to start in his own car after his mechanics had worked days and nights, but at 3 am the morning before the race it was discovered that they had been supplied with the wrong exhaust system. The Brabham BT3 had to wait until Nürburgring two weeks later to make its first appearance.[4]

Innes Ireland had perhaps the day's biggest disappointment. After having qualified his Climax-engined UDT/Laystall Lotus 24 on the first row, the gear shifter bent on his first lap, leaving him with only three gears. He had to pit immediately after start and finished last, after having spent several laps repairing the car.[1] Trevor Taylor was anxious to have a good race after several recent collisions and started well. Soon, however, he had to pit with a loose carburettor, and only managed an eighth place in his Lotus 24. Phil Hill's Ferrari, meanwhile, was totally outclassed by the British cars in spite of its new six-speed gearbox. He never ran higher than tenth and had to retire with ignition troubles.[1]

Classification

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Qualifying

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Pos No Driver Constructor Qualifying times Gap
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
1 20   Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 1:55.6 1:54.0 1:55.0 1:53.6
2 24   John Surtees Lola-Climax 1:55.8 1:55.0 1:54.2 1:58.8 +0.6
3 32   Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 1:55.2 1:55.8 1:54.4 No time +0.8
4 16   Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 2:02.0 1:56.6 1:54.6 1:54.6 +1.0
5 12   Graham Hill BRM 1:55.8 No time 1:55.0 1:54.6 +1.0
6 8   Dan Gurney Porsche 1:55.2 1:54.8 1:56.8 1:55.8 +1.2
7 10   Jo Bonnier Porsche 1:56.0 1:55.2 2:00.6 1:55.4 +1.6
8 14   Richie Ginther BRM 1:55.2 1:55.6 1:55.2 1:56.8 +1.6
9 30   Jack Brabham Lotus-Climax No time 1:55.8 1:56.0 1:55.4 +1.8
10 22   Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax 1:56.8 1:56.4 1:56.0 1:56.4 +2.4
11 26   Roy Salvadori Lola-Climax 1:57.4 1:57.4 1:56.2 1:59.0 +2.6
12 2   Phil Hill Ferrari 1:58.6 1:57.8 1:56.6 1:56.2 +2.6
13 18   Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax No time 2:06.0 1:59.0 1:57.0 +3.4
14 34   Masten Gregory Lotus-Climax 1:58.0 1:57.2 1:58.6 1:57.4 +3.6
15 42   Jackie Lewis Cooper-Climax 2:08.6 2:02.4 2:00.4 1:59.4 +5.8
16 36   Ian Burgess Cooper-Climax No time 2:01.6 2:01.6 2:00.6 +7.0
17 54   Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 2:02.0 2:01.4 No time 2:01.4 +7.8
18 48   Tony Shelly Lotus-Climax 2:03.6 2:02.4 2:08.2 No time +8.8
19 40   Tony Settember Emeryson-Climax 2:06.0 2:03.2 2:02.4 2:03.6 +8.8
20 46   Jay Chamberlain Lotus-Climax No time 2:05.6 2:04.6 2:03.4 +9.8
21 44   Wolfgang Seidel Lotus-BRM No time No time 2:25.6 2:11.6 +18.0
Source:[5]

Race

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 20   Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 75 2:26:20.8 1 9
2 24   John Surtees Lola-Climax 75 + 49.2 2 6
3 16   Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 75 + 1:44.8 4 4
4 12   Graham Hill BRM 75 + 1:56.8 5 3
5 30   Jack Brabham Lotus-Climax 74 + 1 Lap 9 2
6 18   Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax 74 + 1 Lap 13 1
7 34   Masten Gregory Lotus-Climax 74 + 1 Lap 14  
8 22   Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax 74 + 1 Lap 10  
9 8   Dan Gurney Porsche 73 + 2 Laps 6  
10 42   Jackie Lewis Cooper-Climax 72 + 3 Laps 15  
11 40   Tony Settember Emeryson-Climax 71 + 4 Laps 19  
12 36   Ian Burgess Cooper-Climax 71 + 4 laps 16  
13 14   Richie Ginther BRM 70 + 5 Laps 8  
14 54   Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 69 + 6 Laps 17  
15 46   Jay Chamberlain Lotus-Climax 64 + 11 Laps 20  
16 32   Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 61 + 14 Laps 3  
Ret 2   Phil Hill Ferrari 47 Engine 12  
Ret 26   Roy Salvadori Lola-Climax 35 Battery 11  
Ret 10   Jo Bonnier Porsche 27 Differential 7  
Ret 44   Wolfgang Seidel Lotus-BRM 11 Brakes 21  
Ret 48   Tony Shelly Lotus-Climax 6 Engine 18  
DNS 48   Keith Greene Lotus-Climax Practice only - Shelly's car
WD 28   Maurice Trintignant Lotus-Climax Car damaged
WD 38   John Campbell-Jones Emeryson-Climax Driver unfit
WD 50   Keith Greene Gilby-BRM Car not ready
WD 52   Jo Siffert Lotus-BRM Insufficient starting money
Source:[6]
  • Scuderia Ferrari withdrew their other two entries, cars #4 and #6, to which drivers had not been allocated.

Championship standings after the race

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  • Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Blunsden, John (September 1962). "Brittiska Grand Prix - tråkigt på Aintree!" [British Grand Prix: boring at Aintree!]. Illustrerad Motor Sport (in Swedish). No. 9. Lerum, Sweden. p. 19.
  2. ^ Blunsden, p. 32
  3. ^ a b Blunsden, p. 18
  4. ^ Blunsden, p. 33
  5. ^ "1962 British GP Qualification". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  6. ^ "1962 British Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Britain 1962 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.


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