Ferrari 1.5 litre Grand Prix cars

Ferrari the 1.5 litre F1 era


Ferrari and Formula 1 went through enormous changes from the mid 1950s through the early 1960s and neither would be anything like the same creature they began as nor anyone could predict. Formula 1 started the 1950s as a European sport with little British involvement, possibly thanks to the Brits mainly concentrating their racing interests on Brooklands and Le Mans with only minor involvement in Voiturette racing. By the end of the decade several of the well known European Formula 1 teams had folded while the BRM fiasco had given way to several teams and several more had developed out of privateer competition.


BRM and Vanwall had grown in leaps and bounds while Cooper and Lotus had almost fallen into Formula 1 and collectively these teams had dominated F1 through the later 1950s. Ferrari meanwhile had continued their cycle of dominance and failure with the Lancia D50s taking them back to the forefront of the sport and the Jano developed 246 F1 being the final front engined champion. Ferrari had begun development of a new 65° V6 for the new 1.5 litre Formula 2 regulations that came into play in 1957 and while Enzo Ferrari claimed it was a Dino Ferrari design, it would appear to also be the work of the genius that was Jano.


Over the winter of 1957/58 the original engine was progressively rebuilt in both bore and stroke to its final 2417cc form and proved effective through 1958, taking Mike Hawthorn to a championship. Into 1959 the Coopers began to dominate with Brabham easily taking out the championship, adding the 1960 title too. Ferrari hadn’t stood still and the standard ladder chassis used in the 246F1 had been converted for mid rear engine placement. The new chassis was only tested in 1960 but proved relatively competitive and certainly allowed the Scuderia to learn lessons that would prove very useful.


Back at the end of 1958 the CSi President Auguste Perouse fronted a crowd at the Royal Automobile Club in London’s Pall Mall. After celebrating Mike Hawthorns success and Vanwalls manufacturers cup he proceeded to shock everyone in attendance. Perouse announced that the following two seasons of 2.5 litre racing would be the last and that Frances proposal for a 1.5 litre, 500kg formula had been voted on at the CSIs committee meeting and passed 5-2. The British and Italian ato clubs were outraged and promptly suggested they wouldn’t compete in any such formula. In reply the CSI said they were happy to allow a new Intercontinental formula for which the British, American and Italian auto clubs agreed to run 3 litre F1 cars, under their auspices.


As 1959 and 1960 dragged on every contestant got relatively complacent and little was developed for 1961, Climax and BRM only beginning to contemplate new 1.5 litre engines in mid 1960. This was somewhat understandable since the British teams won every race in 1960 except for the Italian GP, which they had boycotted. Enzo, ever the machiavellian character, professed to agree with the proposed Intercontinental formula but by late 1960 was testing the Jano V6 in the rear engined chassis. By this point the engine had been converted to 73mm x 56.8mm and was offering 180bhp although the 246/156P was still very primitive.


Away from the race track Ferrari had lost his son and was struggling with the growing need to finance his racing by selling cars. This era was perhaps peak empire with multiple players involved in Ferrari’s internal politics and all wanting to drag the company in different directions. Into 1961 the only question was, could anyone stop Ferrari except for Ferrari itself and could the cycle of success and failure be averted and longterm success finally obtained?
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1961



Carlo Chitti took over as engine designer at Ferrari after Andrea Fraschetti’s tragic passing in 1958 and eventually went on to be appointed technical director, effectively replacing Jano as chief of design. Chitti deemed the 65° V6 to be insufficient and began development of a 120° version with similar internal dimensions that was rated at 188bhp. This new engine was designed to both lower the centre of gravity and offer much easier ability to fit different carburettors and even fuel injection although they ran two Weber 401F3Cs through 1961. The 1.5 litre engine was fitted to a transaxle gearbox and sat amidship for perfect weight distribution.


A tubular chassis dominated by upper and lower longerons could take either engine although the 120° degree 156 required the upper longerons be bowed to accept the greater width. Giotto Bizzarini had developed new sharknose coachwork for 1961 and this new nose would be seen on the 246SP, 250TR61 and this new Grand Prix car. Just in case the Intercontinental series did get underway the 2925cc V6 seen in the 296S during 1958 had been developed into a potential powerplant although as it would come to pass, no such development was needed.


Phil Hill was retained as team leader for 1961 and the American had already showed his class in 1960 so was a smart choice. Taffy von Trips was also retained and the relaxed German was expected to be of equal quality to the American. Ferrari always had a large team of Sportscar racers from which to draw from and Richie Ginther had been called in on the advice of Hill and pretty quickly became a works F1 driver. Olivier Gendebien was another sportscar to be given the occasional run, in a Equipe Nationale Belge co-entry, Mairesse and Ricardo Rodriguez ditto. Perhaps the strangest driver in 1961 was Giancarlo Baghetti who was entered by the Federazione Italiana Scuderia Automobilsche (FISA) in the fourth 156 at most rounds.


Lotus had already developed a new, more advanced chassis from the 18 and this was built up with fibreglass coachwork for the 21. While waiting for the Coventry Climax and BRM V8 engines to become available they had to make do with the 151bhp Climax FPF. Lotus had Innes Ireland as team leader, Jim Clark and Henry Taylor in support. Aside from the works team Rob Walker entered various Lotus in ‘61 for Stirling Moss while several other teams also entered drivers in 18s and 18/21s. UDT-Laystall also entering Lotus, for a wide selection of drivers, Camoradi for Gregory and Burgess.


Cooper upgraded their T53 to the new T55 with the Climax engine and entered them for the works team of Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren. Other Coopers, mostly T53s, were entered by Camoradi for Gregory and Burgess and Yeoman Credit for Surtees and Salvadori. Porsche made the leap from F2 and ran a variety of machines including the centre seat 718RSK, F2 718/2 and proper F1 787, works drivers were Jo Bonnier, Dan Gurney and Hans Herrmann. Carel Godin de Beaufort also entered his own 718F2. The final works team was BRM who entered their P48 for Tony Brooks and Graham Hill while awaiting their own V8 engine.


Less well known cars run during the year were the Ferguson Climax P99, the final front engined F1 car and featuring the Ferguson four wheel drive system for Stirling Moss and Fairman. The Scuderia Serenissima entered De Tomaso F1 cars for Scarlatti and Vaccarella. Fred Naylor designed and built his own JBW-Climax while Keith Greene ran his fathers Gilby-Climax.


25th April 1961 - Syracause GP


#0008 - Baghetti 1st


The Syracause GP was the eighth Grand Prix held in 1961, the season setting off with one of the multiple British national GPs, the Lombank Trophy at Snetterton. A lack of entries saw the organisers invite Intercontinental Cup contestants and Jack Brabham, in a CT Atkins entered Cooper T53 ran home the winner from Cliff Allison in a UDT-Laystall Lotus, Surtees the best of the F1 entries finishing third in his Yeoman-Credit Cooper T53. The Pau GP and both the F1 spec Glover Trophy and intercontinental formula Lavant Cup at Goodwood were held on the same day, Jim Clark winning at Pau in his Lotus, John Surtees taking the win at the Glover Trophy in his Cooper, Moss winning the Lavant Cup in his Walker entered Cooper. The Brussels GP followed and Brabham lead home McLaren in a Cooper 1,2. A week later Moss took the win at the Vienna GP against a thin field while another week on saw the Aintree 200 where Brabham won from McLaren. But still no Ferraris so nobody could gauge where they were performance wise.


Giancarlo Baghetti had proved a pretty average driver in the lower ranks but for whatever reason impressed the FISA authorities and was picked for their Ferrari 156 loan. A second works entered 156 with the 120° engine was in the entry list for Richie Ginther but it wasn’t ready in time, still there was a very full grid for the first proper international F1 GP. Gurney took pole, Baghetti starting in second, Surtees third, Graham Hill and Jack Brabham rounding out the top 5. Baghetti fluffed the start, dropping to 7th, but such was his power advantage he could pick off every one of the people in front and eventually take the lead, happy to hold Gurney at bay. Baghetti won by 5 seconds over Gurney and Bonnier, Brabham and Salvadori the only other finishers on the lead lap.


It is believed that Baghetti’s car was the 246P first seen at Monaco in 1960, now fitted with sharknose coachwork and generally converted to 1961 form.


Photos from the George Phillips collection @ the Revs Collection and Getty
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14th May 1961 - Naples GP



#0008 - Baghetti 1st



Three weeks later the vagaries of the F1 calendar once again saw two major races held on the same date, the non championship Naples GP and the first round of the F1 championship, the Monaco GP. A week earlier Silverstone hosted a Intercontinental race, the BRDC International Trophy, Moss winning from Brabham and Salvadori, all in Cooper T53s. Meanwhile at Naples a very thin field where only Salvadori and Bandini were well known arrived at Naples and Gerry Ashmore surprised most by taking pole from Salvadori and Baghetti, was it sandbagging or was the Syracause GP a one off? In the race Salvadori lead early on before a puncture, Bandini leading for a single lap before the inevitable happened and Baghetti took over in the lead. Baghetti ran on to a win by a whole lap from Ashmore and Bandini.
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22nd May 1961 - Monaco GP


#0001 - Ginther 2nd

#0003 - Hill 3rd

#0002 - von Trips 4th


The Monaco organisers had a new system for allocating the maximum of 16 starting positions, each factory team getting two entries. Moss and Trintignant were also given an entry so the final four were to be given to the fastest qualifiers. Nine drivers including new guy Ginther competed for those four spots. Ginther was given the so far one off 120° 156 for the race and instantly set qualifying alight. Elsewhere most of the Coopers and BRMs had the bew Mark II Coventry-Climax straight 4 that offered little more power but did rev higher, a mere stop gap measure. Still despite their lack of power Graham Hill went well as did the Lotus’ of Clark and Ireland. Brabham had flown back from Indy for Saturdays practice sessions, his car having been tested by McLaren on the Friday. Still he set to his work professionally and with plenty in hand. and Phil Hill and von Trips with the 60° V6 Ferraris were hot on the heels of Ginther with the new car.


Thursday Practice had begun with lap times around 1min 48sec, but the faster drivers soon reduced this to under a min 45sec, and soon 1min 42sec, Moss and the works Lotus’ also setting a fast pace towards the end of the afternoon. The Ferraris continued to set the pace although Clark was fastest and dropped under 1min 40sec and while Clark was fast he crashed heavily at Ste Devote although fortunately without injury. Lotus flew out works mechanics to repair the 21 for Saturdays practice sessions, beginning with chassis repairs. Friday practice began at 7.15am with Moss trialing the works Cooper and choosing to stick with his Lotus, the Porsche team had finally arriving, and the Ferrari team, especially Ginther on his Monaco debut, that ran fast and well and Ginther managed a 1min 39.8. Several of the backmarkers turned to slipstreaming to ensure a good time and scrape onto the grid.


Phil Hill worked hard and almost equalled Ginther’s time and von Trips was not far behind, and for a while the three Ferraris were fastest of the morning, but then Graham Hill went out and broke things up with a lap in exactly 1min 40.0sec, thus taking third place in the morning’s times. Clark was still second fastest overall and he, Ginther and Phil Hill were the only ones to get below 1min 40sec, and this had now become the target figure. Ireland managed to ram Gendebien and crumple his Lotus’ nose causing the Lotus mechanics yet more work. Saturday afternoon saw the third session with warm hot weather, several drivers needing to impove to have a hope of getting into the 16.


Surtees Yeoman Credit Cooper was struggling to run well and he was forced to sit out the third practice. McLaren in his usual quiet and unflurried way had been getting on with the job in hand, going progressively faster, and it was not long before he got under the target figure of 1min 40.0sec. Moss continued to go faster and faster in his Lotus and suddenly put in a 1min 39.1 to take pole. Elsewhere von Trips also dipped under 1min 40.0 as did Graham Hill and Ireland wrote off another Lotus when he spun and injured his knee cap, ending up in hospital. Such was the wreckage and the Monaco organisers slow pace just 10 minutes were left, Ginther, Surtees, Herrmann and May making the field, Allison also going through as a replacement for Ireland.


Perfect weather greated the start, Brabham returning from Indy practice where he had made the grid. Such was the heat, Moss had his cockpit sides removed so he could drive cool, Clarks Lotus finally finished and ready to go. Brabham had only completed one lap for the race and started last while Clarks car was already smoking, the mechanics discovering one cylinder was oiling a plug. Team Lotus replaced the plugs and the Climax engine wasn’t fired up until 5 seconds before the start.


Ginther lead at the Gasworks hairpin and streaking uphill towards the Casino, Clark and Moss in pursuit. Ginther still lead at the end of lap one, Clark several lengths behind, Moss, Gurney, Brooks, Bonnier and Hill in pursuit. Ginther pulled out a 5 second lead on the first three laps while Moss took over in second while Clark dropped to the back of the field and coasted into the pits, a wire in the fuel pump coming loose, an easy fix. Despite that Clark stopped again for yet more new plugs and was several laps behind. Moss struggled to keep up with the Ferrari and it took til lap five before he found his rhythm.


Moss and Bonnier began to reel in the Ferrari and they soon managed to close the gap and then on lap fourteen Moss and Bonnier lined up the Ferrari and got past him. Graham Hill had a fuel pump failure and was out but a train of cars had formed and ran well behind Ginther, only Brabham struggling with fatigue. Von Trips had finally managed to see off Gurney and now the three Ferrari’s ran 3,4,5. Moss began to pull away so that after 20 laps he held a 6 second lead over Bonnier while the three Ferraris in pursuit. Hill passed Ginther on lap 24 and closed on Bonnier, Hill getting ahead on lap 26 to run second, von Trips taking Ginther.


Six laps later Ginther retook fourth while McLaren was struggling with an engine that kept flooding, Surtees managing to take sixth. Brabham was truly struggling and managed to avoid being lapped by pitting for new plugs while Bonnier dropped back from Hill while Ginther got his second wind and took up pursuit, diving up the inside at the hairpin to retake third. Ginther was now forcing the pace, lap times dropping to 1min 38sec. Such was the pace that the last four runners had already been lapped twice while Brabham had retired and Clark was still gamely lapping despite being nine laps back.


Ginther pushed hard enough that Hill was now just 4.5 seconds behind Moss while Brooks managed to get his nose hooked on Gurneys exhaust and overrevved his engine. Moss began to speed up and held the gap at 5 seconds, Bonnier’s fine run was over when vapour lock caused his engine to die. Traffic favoured Moss who would lap cars at Ste. Devote while the two Americans had to follow them around Casino, losing precious time on three ocassions. Only thanks to Moss absolute brilliance was the now tiring Hill held at bay, Ginther managing to get past his team leader on lap 75. Ginther slowly managed to reel in the leading Lotus, the lead dropping from 6 seconds to 4.5 seconds.


Such was the pace that Ginther set a 1min 36.3, just a tenth off the 2.5 litre lap record although it was for nought when Moss equaled the time a lap later. McLaren ran out of fuel at the hairpin although he could coast in and refuel while the leaders lapped von Trips on lap 89. Ginther had dropped back to 6 seconds but over the last three laps threw everything at Moss although he only lowered it to 3.6 seconds at the end. Hill took a very tired third and found von Trips stopped on his final lap thanks to spark plug failure, Hill giving the German a lift.


The Monaco GP was one of the greatest Grand Prix ever held at the principality and only the mastery of Stirling Moss kept the flying Ginther at bay. The rest of the year would be raced on power tracks, could anyone keep the Ferraris from dominating?


RESULTS


1st #20 Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 100 laps

2nd #36 Richie Ginther Ferrari 100 laps +3.6 secs

3rd #8 Phil Hill Ferrari 100 laps +41.3 secs

4th #40 Wolfgang von Trips Ferrari 98 laps Accident

5th #4 Dan Gurney Porsche 98 laps

6th #26 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 95 laps

7th #42 Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Maserati 95 laps

8th #32 Cliff Allison Lotus-Climax 93 laps

9th #6 Hans Herrmann Porsche 91 laps

10th #28 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 89 laps

11th #22 John Surtees Cooper-Climax 68 laps Engine

12th #2 Jo Bonnier Porsche 59 laps Injection

13th #16 Tony Brooks BRM-Climax 54 laps Engine

DNF #8 Michael May Lotus-Climax 42 laps Oil Pipe

DNF #24 Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 38 laps Ignition

DNF #18 Graham Hil l BRM-Climax 11 laps Fuel Pump

DNS #30 Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax Injury in Practice

DNQ #34 Henry Taylor Lotus-Climax

DNQ #14 Masten Gregory Cooper-Climax

DNQ #10 Lucien Bianchi Emeryson-Maserati

DNQ #12 Olivier Gendebien Emeryson-Maserati


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Btw, all race reports largely rely on the impeccable writing of Jenks!

 

22nd May 1961 - Dutch GP


Just eight days after the Monaco GP both the F1 world championship Dutch GP and the Intercontinental qualifying London Trophy at Crystal Palace were held. Most British private teams staying home, choosing to compete domestically, Salvadori taking the London Trophy win with a Yeoman Credit Cooper T53. Every Grand Prix manufacturer was invited to submit two entries for the Dutch GP, Ferari three.


Ferrari entered Phil Hill, von Trips and Ginther in 120° 156s, Cooper entered Brabham and McLaren, Lotus sent Jim Clark and Trevor Taylor, BRM entered Graham Hill and Tony Brooks, finally Porsche sent Jo Bonnier and Dan Gurney. Team-Walker were invited to enter Stirling Moss in either a Lotus or Cooper-Climax, John Surtees was invited to enter a Yeoman Credit Cooper-Climax


The sole current Dutch F1 driver, Carel Godin de Beaufort was given an entry for Ecurie Vlaarsbergen with a loaner Porsche 718F2. , his home town, this Ecurie was given two entries. De Beaufort also organised a works Porsche for Hans Herrmann to drive under the cover of his Maarsbergen entry.


Practice began on an icy Saturday morning with occasional showers of rain and the Ferrari didn’t turn up for this first practice session. Late entries from Camoradi International were included and Gregory was entered with their Cooper-Climax and Ian Burgess with their Lotus-Climax although only the former was out on the Saturday morning.


Nobody knew how the new 1.5 litre Grand Prix cars would perform although times under 1min 40sec were soon being recorded, Brabham the fastest of all with 1min 36.6sec. Ferrari finally arrived during the lunch break, Ginther in his Monaco mount, von Trips in a brand new car and Hills Monaco mount converted to 120° form. Second practice saw everyone begin to hit their stride, Moss hitting 1min 36.2 sec, Brabham, Graham Hill, Brooks and Surtees also dipping below 1min 37 sec.


von Trips was the first Ferrari to dip under 1min 37sec, Ginther also dipping under while the German was complaining about the cars handling. Final practice was held on Sunday morning in fine, sunny conditions although the icy wind was still striking. Ferrari fitted 6.50 x 15 tyres to replace the original 6 x 15 tyres and the 156s handling improved no end. Von Trips and Ginther managed to dip below 1min 36sec, Hill eventually hitting 1min 35.7sec.


Raceday found the cars sit in the paddock with the mechanics feverishly worked on them to try and counter the warming weather. Masten Gregory qualified eighth but was forced to non start since the Camoradi entries were only there in case the original entries couldn’t start and everyone had proved very reliable so far. Ginther nearly stalled on the startline and struggled to get going but von Trips and Hill squeezed out Moss and lead at the first corner.


Von Trips eked out a small margin over Phil Hill, Graham Hill and Clark very close in pursuit, von Trips pulling away to lead solidly at the end of lap one. The positons quickly settled down as von Trips turned a 1min 36.0sec lap. Clark harried Graham Hill and eventually took over in third. Clark set a 1min 35.5sec record while trying to catch Phil Hill, Ginther now struggling with an engine that was not giving its all.


Such was Ginthers engine issue, Moss got past and then Brabham also caught and passed him. Clark neared to run within 4 seconds of von Trips and finally passed Phil Hill to run second on lap 22 although Hill managed to repass again, Hills role as the supporting act perhaps not enough. Moss managed to pass Graham Hill, Ginther also improving and passing Brabham and he soon caught Graham Hill and Moss and passed them both.


Von Trips still had a 5 second lead over Clark and Hill and felt confident of his pace, Phil Hill slowly but surely getting ahead and solidying second place. Lap 54 saw Phil Hill put on a late race pace that nobody could match, proving the contention that he had been sandbagging to keep Clark at bay and ran just 1.5 seconds behind the German leader. Von Trips and Hill eventually pulled out a 12 second gap on Clark, the new Lotus excellent handling not enough to counter the power advantage.


Ginthers throttle spring broke four laps from the end and it meant he had to use his foot to lift his throttle pedal when he needed to slow. Moss managed to get past when Ginther missed his throttle closing at the hairpin. Von Trips ran home an easy winner, taking just 5 seconds longer than Brabham had in his much more powerful Cooper in 1960, Hill running home second, Clark third.


Perhaps the most interesting thing about the 1961 Dutch GP was that nobody, yes nobody pitted in a two hour race and everyone finishing.


1st #3 Wolfgang von Trips Ferrari 156 #0005 75 laps/ 2:01.52.1 2nd

2nd #1 Phil Hill Ferrari 156 #0002 +0.9sec 1st

3rd #15 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 21 #930 +13.1sec 10th

4th #14 Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 18 #912 +22.2sec 4th

5th #2 Richie Ginther Ferrari 156 #0004 +22.3sec 3rd

6th #10 Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax T55 #FI-10-61 +1.20.1 sec 7th

7th #12 John Surtees Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-1-61 +1.26.7sec 9th

8th #4 Graham Hill BRM-Climax P48/57 #571 +1.29.8sec 5th

9th #5 Tony Brooks BRM-Climax P48/57 #572 +1 lap 8th

10th #7 Dan Gurney Porsche 787 #787-1 +1 lap 6th

11th #6 Jo Bonnier Porsche 787 #787-2 +2 laps 11th

12th #11 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax T55 #FI-11-61 +2 laps 13th

13th #16 Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax 18 #371 +2 laps 14th

14th #8 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 718 #718-201 +3 laps 15th

15th #9 Hans Hermann Porsche 718 #718-205 +3 laps 12th

DNS #17 Masten Gregory Cooper-Climax T53 #VR

DNS #18 Ian Burgess Lotus-Climax 18 #908



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18th June 1961 - Belgian GP


The European summer saw racing slow down somewhat with only the Silver City Trophy at Brands Hatch in the four weeks between the Dutch and Belgian GPs. Every British team competed in the F1 formula event at Brands Hatch although Cooper had a nightmare and Moss lead Clark and Brooks home. The race was a dark one with Shane Summers dying in a practice accident.


Spa Francorchamps invited sixteen entrants to attend and another nine to compete for three starting spots. The sixteen were Phil Hill and von Trips for Scuderia Ferrari, Gendebien, Mairesse and Bianchi for Equipe National Belge, Moss for Equipe Walker, Bonnier and Gurney for Porsche, Surtees for Yeoman Credit, Trintignant for Scuderia Serenissima, Brabham and McLaren for Cooper works team), Clark and the now recovered Ireland for Team Lotus, Graham Hill and Tony Brooks for BRM.


Mairesse and Bianchi were in Lotus 18s but Gendebien was a much valued member of the works Ferrari sportscar team and Ferrari loaned him a 60° 156 that was painted yellow for the race. The nine trying to qualify were Ginther (Ferrari), Cliff Allison or Henry Taylor (not both) in a UDT Laystall Lotus 21, de Beaufort (Porsche), Jack Lewis (Cooper), Marsh (Lotus), Seidel (Lotus), Bandini (Centro-Sud Cooper) and Gregory, Burgess (Camoradi team).


Cliff Allison had crashed heavily on the first practice lap in the fast approach to Blanchimont corner, sustaining leg injuries, writing the UDT Lotus off completely. The session was flagged for 40 minutes while the track was cleaned and it didn’t resume until 6:15pm. Brooks managed a sub 4min 10sec time while McLaren and Moss were both delayed by niggles, Brabham though running well although well behind Brooks.


Ferrari took their time but Hill, von Trips and Gendebien were on fire from the start and were among the top 5. Ginther was learning the fearsome circuit and lagged behind while Graham Hill was quickly going very well on a fairly rough circuit. Saturday practice ran from 3pm until 5pm and conditions were ideal with Ferrari and Lotus all present and ready to go. Surtees was driving the fast circuit motorcycle style and was easily the fastest of the non Ferrari runners.


The ENBs fun day out was ruined when one of the Emerysons broke its chassis and both were withdrawn, the team forced to beg for other teams spare cars as loaners. Lotus loaned Mairesse a car but left it til later with the unsaid implication that a bill would follow any actual loan for the race. Ferrari didn’t reappear until 4.30pm but both Hill and von Trips approached the 4 minute mark, Gendebien hitting 4min 6sec and Ginther 4min 6.1sec.


Hill and von Trips hit 3min 59.3sec and 4min 00.1sec towards the end of the session while Surtees surprised with a 4min 06sec. The two Porsches both managed a 4min 8sec lap while Moss and Brabham also hit that mark. Gregory and Lewis were easily the fastest qualifiers and they were lucky enough to qualify tor full starting money.


The start was scheduled for 3pm on Sunday and a massive crowd gathered. de Beaufort and Bandini elected to start despite no starting money so there were 21 starters. Mairesse and Bianchi both managed to secure Lotus-Climax loans, the cars quickly repainted yellow. The starter gave all 21 drivers a lecture and the start proved to be very clean with nobody jumping the start at all.


Graham Hill’s BRM led up the climb to the Burnenville Forest although it couldn’t last and all four Ferraris went by during the middle of the lap. Gendebien had been granted the freedom to race as he wanted and ran second while Clark and McLaren both had to pit on lap one with gearbox and engine issues.


Phil Hill, von Trips and Gendebien pushed the pace to 4min 03sec on the third lap and this caused Ginther to fall a little way behind as he wasn’t fully versed on the tricky circuit. Graham Hill and Surtees were having a terrific battle for fifth place, Bonnier, Brabham and Gurney in hot pursuit. Clark finally reappeared before stopping once more, many laps behind the Ferraris, McLaren doing the occasional lap but never racing again.


Gendebien was driving as hard as he could in the under-powered 156 and put in a lap of 4min 01.7sec to lead on lap 6 and 7. He knew he couldn’t keep ahead of Hill and von Trips and they respected him enough to allow this little interlude although it was for nought and he dropped back to third. Von Trips and Hill lead at the 10 lap mark and they took turns leading while Gendebien ran 12 second back, Graham Hill the best of the rest 34 seconds back.


de Beaufort saw two more red cars in his mirrors on lap 13 and the Ferraris lapped him. Ginther finally worked out Spa’s secrets and soon took on Gendebien and soon caught and passed him before closing in on the leaders. Lap 20 saw Ginther set a 3min 59.8sec lap record and join the two leaders. Surtees and Graham Hill dueled until lap 19 when the BRM slowed and pitted, leaving Surtees in a safe fifth.


A light drizzle began on lap 25 although this didn’t delay the Ferraris who continued to lap around the 4min 10sec mark. Hill moved past von Trips at the end and took the win while Ginther took third and Gendebien fourth, Surtees the best of the rest in fifth.


Results


1st #4 Phil Hill Ferrari 156 #0002 30 laps 2:03:03.8

2nd #2 Wolfgang von Trips Ferrari 156 #0005 +.7

3rd #6 Richie Ginther Ferrari 156 #0004 +19.5

4th #8 Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 156 #0003 +45.6

5th #24 John Surtees Cooper-Climax #FI-1-61 +1:26.8

6th #20 Dan Gurney Porsche 718 #718-203 +1:31

7th #8 Jo Bonnier Porsche 718 #718-204 +1:47.1

8th #14 Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 18/21 #912 +3:55.6

9th #40 Jackie Lewis Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-6-61 +1 lap

10th #44 Masten Gregory Cooper-Climax T53 #F1-3-61 +1 lap

11th #22 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 718 #718-201 +2 laps

12th #34 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 21 #932 +4 laps

13th #38 Tony Brooks BRM-Climax P48/57 #572 +4 laps

DNF #36 Graham Hill BRM-Climax P48/57 #571 24 laps Oil leak

DNF #26 Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Maserati T51 22 laps Gearbox

DNF #46 Lorenzo Bandini Cooper-Maserati T53 #FI-13-61 20 laps Big end bearings

DNF #28 Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax T55 #FI-10-61 12 laps Con-rod

DNF #12 Lucien Bianchi Lotus-Climax 18 #373 9 laps Oil pipe

DNF #32 Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 21 #933 9 laps Engine

DNF #30 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax T55 #FI-11-61 8 laps Fuel feed

DNF #10 Willy Mairesse Lotus-Climax 18 #909 7 laps Engine

DNS #16 Cliff Allison Lotus-Climax 18/21 #918 Injured in practice accident

DNS #16 Henry Taylor Lotus-Climax 18/21 #918 Car damaged by Allison

DNS #42 Tony Marsh Lotus-Climax 18 #909 No starting money available

DNS #48 Wolfgang Seidel Lotus-Climax 18 #373 No starting money available

DNS #50 Ian Burgess Lotus-Climax 18 #908 No starting money available


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2nd July 1961 - French GP


Few circuits were quicker than the Reims track that was selected for the French GP and after Spa few believed that anyone could stop them. The ACF knew the track had no issues with numbers and had no official invite list, instead any F1 runner could attend and race and that they did. Ferrari for what its worth chose to bring their usual three cars but also a car for FISA who as noted had already selected Giancarlo Baghetti to drive.


The FISA entry was the old 60° 156 that had been driven by Gendebien at Spa and he was expected to be no match for the works drivers. Cooper sent Brabham and McLaren and hoped that at least one V8 would be ready but both ran the ordinary Cooper-Climax fours. Two new Lotus were entered for Ireland and Clark, Clarks fitted with new SU carbs. Porsche also entered two of their 718/2 F1 with the 160bhp V8 motor that would be seen in the 804F1. Bonnier and Gurney were entered as usual, de Beaufort running the third car. Elsehwere Graham Hill and Tony Brooks were entered in BRMs. Stirling Moss was once again entered in his Rob Walker Lotus. UDT-Laystall entered three Lotus for Henry Taylor and Lucien Bianchi.


Scuderia Serenissima entered two cars, an old Cooper-Maserati for Trintignant and a brand new car built by Alessandro de Tomaso in conjunction with OSCA for Scarlatti although it only had a 140bhp OSCA engine. Lucky Casner’s Camoradi International had both their new Cooper and two old Lotus cars entered for Gregory and Burgess. The Yeoman Credit Racing Team brought along three Coopers for Surtees and Salvadori. Jack Lewis entered a new privately owned Cooper-Climax as did Bernard Collomb, two more entries for the Equipe National Belge, to be driven by Gendebien and Mairesse but as they could see little future in the Emeryson-Maserati cars on such a fast circuit they withdrew.


Seidel arrived with his two old Lotus-Climax hoping to get himself and the Swiss driver Michael May in the field. Practice for the 47th French Grand Prix began on Wednesday evening, and the Champagne Country was showing signs of living up to its tradition of being very hot, even as late as 6pm when practice began. In the pits there was an awful feeling of hopelessness among the Coventry-Climax engined brigade, even though every self-respecting car was using the new Mark II engine, these being in plentiful production.


When the three red 120° Ferraris and the red 60° degree car came out of the paddock, making a lovely sound which echoed between the concrete pits and the cantilever concrete roofs of the grandstands opposite, everyone felt it was going to be worse than Spa. Brabham and McLaren went out to circulate in close company as did Phil Hill and von Trips, and while the Ferraris were happy the Coopers were soon back, to disappear behind the pits and change their axle ratios. Porsche, Serenissima, Seidel all missed first practice.


Elsewhere training cars with their “T” signage were seen widely and these couldn’t be registered for any lap time achieved, Surtees setting a very fast time that wasn’t recorded. The works Ferrari team were soon cruising round feeling out the track, Baghetti well back as he had never driven at Reims. Brabham was soon lapping at 2min 30sec, the Coopers doing 2min 31sec, Ginther showing the way with a 2min 28sec without trying. Moss wasn’t happy with his Lotus bitza although he too was quick and when he lucked into a tow from von Trips managed a 2min 27.6sec.


Tavoni wasn’t happy and called in von Trips for a dressing down while Moss sat grinning at his great fortune. Baghetti spent the session learning and kept falling for the English drivers who wanted a similar tow and was also called in, only released when the British drivers were out the back of the circuit. Hill closed out the session in style and eventually recorded a 2min 49.4sec to show the pesky Brits the way. Baghetti was still struggling with a 2min 32sec best, Graham Hill managing a excellent 2min 29.1 sec.


Thursday practice saw even hotter tempratures and Porsche with three of their older 718/2s for de Beaufort and Bonnier, the two Serenissima cars were also out practising, as also were May and Seidel in the two white Lotus cars. Ferrari basically sat out the session, only Ginther having a few trial laps, Baghetti however circulated constantly, learning how to race the Brits, the best of whom were matching and bettering his 2min 30sec times.


A brief moment of chaos was provided when a local resident in his Peugeot entered the circuit on his way home, the sleeping gendarmes no help and came upon McLaren and Baghetti arrived although the driver was soon arrested and the two F1 drivers continued regardless. By the end of the session Baghetti was fast and wise enough to best the Brits and managed a 2min 30sec, the best Brits in the 2min 31sec range and only Ginther dipping below the magic mar with a 2min 27sec lap. Fridays practice session was more of the same although such was the battle, McLaren, Clark, Ireland, Gurney, Brooks and Surtees all got below 2min 30sec, and needless to say young Baghetti was mixed up amongst them all, though his best time was 2min 30.5sec.


Saturday was a free day, the idea being to let the road surface settle a bit, but the sunshine became tropical and the tar melted even more. Sunday morning there was much relief when the temperature showed signs of not rising any more. At 2:15pm the Grand Prix cars were wheeled down the track from the pits to the starting line, the drivers either going with them or walking on their own.


Many of them had soaked themselves in water to combat the heat, so that they looked a pretty tatty sight, but the appreciative crowd cheered and clapped more in sympathy for what they knew was going to be a gruelling two hours sitting in an inferno than anything else. The biggest cheer went up when Moss appeared, in wet soggy overalls, and there was no doubt that the French crowd were more on his side than on anyone’s. The three works Ferraris had had the Perspex carburetter covers replaced by the older gauze types, Lotus had removed the cockpit side panels and many cars had been fitted with slots and scoops in anticipation. of the tremendous heat.


Also Porsche and BRM had taken precautions against flying stones, for which the Reims circuit is notorious when the tar melts, by fitting wire-mesh guards in vulnerable places such as carburetters, tops of windscreens and oil coolers. For once Mr. Raymond Roche did not make a nonsense of the start and all 26 cars got away perfectly, the three Ferraris on the front row surging away together, but Moss was tucked right in behind them and crouching down behind his windscreen and really trying.


Needless to say it was the three red cars that led down the hill to Thillois, but the blue Lotus of Moss was right behind them and the end of the opening lap saw the whole field stream by almost nose to tail, the leaders being in the order Phil Hill, Ginther, von Trips, Moss, Surtees, Clark, Ireland, Graham Hill, Brooks, Bonnier and so on.


At the end of the second lap things broke up a bit and the three Ferraris in the order Hill, von Trips and Ginther, and Moss were in the leading group, then came Surtees and Clark nose to tail, followed by the two BRMs and then Bonnier, Gurney, Ireland, Baghetti and McLaren practically touching each other, then Salvadori followed by Brabham and Mairesse. Already there was trouble amongst the tail-enders and both Lewis and Gregory pulled into the pits for attention.


On lap 3 Ginther was right on the tail of von Trips and Moss was doing wonders to stay with the red cars, there being quite a gap before Surtees arrived and behind the Yeoman Credit car there was a solid mass of cars comprising Clark, Hill, Ireland, Brooks, Baghetti, Bonnier, Gurney and McLaren, all going by as quickly as that. Collomb stopped at his pit and so did Henry Taylor, the UDT car having a petrol leak.


On lap 4 as they went round Muizon hairpin, before the long downhill straight to Thillois, Phil Hill still led from von Trips but Ginther got into a slide and spun, which let Moss by. Surtees was next along and in dodging Ginther’s car the Cooper took to the rough stuff and clouted a bank which bent a rear suspension member, so as the cars passed the pits there was quite a reshuffle.


The order was Hill, von Trips, Moss, Ginther but then no sign of Surtees, and it was not until the main pack had gone by that he appeared and motored slowly into the pits to retire. Brooks also went into the pits, his Climax engine overheating due to sitting close behind other cars, and he went out with a head gasket gone. Lewis was back in the pits, as was Gregory and they were joined by Burgess, so the mechanics had a busy time in the sweltering heat.


On lap 5 Moss was still holding third place and crouching down in his cockpit trying all he knew, but the two leading Ferraris were drawing away and Ginther was catching him up fast, but the initial sprint had carried him well away from all the other runners. On this lap the order of the “second race” was Clark, Ireland, Hill, Baghetti, Bonnier, McLaren, Gurney, all nose-to-tail or side-by-side, the traffic being so thick as this lot rounded Thillois that it was surprising that nobody ran into anyone.


Almost the length of the pits straight behind came Brabham, de Beaufort and Salvadori, and then came the stragglers. Despite the Ferraris running away from him Moss was credited with the fastest lap of the race on lap 2 although the Ferraris had already slowed, clearly fast enough to lead easily. On lap 6 Ginther got back into third place and the pattern was set, the only doubt being as to which of the Ferraris would win.


The battle for fifth place was as furious as ever, nobody having any real advantage, and on lap 8 when Phil Hill began to slow down, as ordered by Enzo and Tavoni, and wait for von Trips, Baghetti moved up to third place in his group, behind Ireland and Graham Hill. On the next lap the BRM was pushed back and the order was Ireland, Baghetti, Clark, Hill, McLaren, Bonnier, Gurney, and so furious was this battle that it was beginning to take precedence over the race itself.


At 10 laps Phil Hill led von Trips by 2 seconds, then after on 18-second gap came Ginther, with Moss 10 seconds behind him, but only 6 seconds later came the battle, and it was obvious that they were closing up on Moss. Their order was now Baghetti, Clark, Bonnier, Hill, McLaren, Gurney, Ireland, this reshuffle being caused by Baghetti pushing Ireland onto the grass at Muizon, but one lap later and Ireland was back up behind Clark and Baghetti and out to get his own back on the Italian. This was a splendid free-for-all with every man for himself, although it was very obvious that the red Ferrari was the real bait that they were all attacking.


Behind them Brabham was having a bad time being unable to get rid of de Beaufort, the Dutchman driving very wildly at times and nearly taking Brabham onto the grass with him. Scarlatti was in the pits with the Tomaso OSCA and Mairesse was in trouble with the works Lotus, while Lewis and Brooks had retired.


Moss was now slowing visibly and it could be seen that the pack behind him were catching him on braking, and on lap 13 as Phil Hill lifted off and let von Trips go into the lead, having made it obvious who he thought should have won the race, Baghetti and his keen followers were right behind Moss.


Next time round von Trips led Phil Hill, while Ginther was still some way back, and in fourth place came Baghetti, with Clark and Ireland and the rest of them on his heels, Moss being in the middle of the group. On lap 15 Tavoni gave his two leading drivers a sign which said “GINT,” meaning either “wait for Ginther,” or “let Ginther take the lead.” This sign came out on the next lap, and on lap 17 von Trips and Hill were given the “slow down” sign.


Behind this Ferrari procession poor Baghetti was having no peace, for now Clark and Ireland were making a concerted attack on him, and the three of them had pulled away slightly from Bonnier, McLaren, Moss, Graham Hill and Gurney, who were still in a tight bunch. Brabham had disappeared into his pit with reputed low pressure, but it may have been to escape from being run over by de Beaufort, and Bianchi had stopped with overheating, and Trintignant was in the pits with the Cooper-Maserati.


On lap 20, having been commanded to slow down, the Ferraris did so, but at the end of the lap it was Phil Hill who went by into the lead and von Trips drew into the pits with water coming out of his right-hand exhaust pipe. There was no need to look for the trouble, for water in the exhaust means only one thing and that is a ruined engine, so number 20 Ferrari was wheeled away and the race took on a new interest.


Moss was having more and more trouble stopping his Lotus and was now at the back of the battle, which was now being resolved for third place, the order being: Baghetti, Clark, Ireland, McLaren, Bonnier, Gurney and Graham Hill, all as close as could be. On lap 19 Phil Hill had 14 seconds’ lead over Ginther, feeling quietly satisfied at being back in the lead again, in spite of Mr. Ferrari’s plans. Moss drew into the pits, the lack of braking becoming embarrassing, and it was discovered that the balance pipe between the two pads of the right-hand rear disc brake had fractured and was letting all the pressure, and fluid, escape.


Four laps had gone by while a new pipe was fitted and during that time, unbeknown to anyone a layer of molten tar that had centrifuged around the inside of the rims of the rear wheels, had run down to the bottom and coagulated. The wheels being alloy discs, this could not be seen and when Moss restarted back in the race he found a terrible vibration coming from the back end, so stopped next time round to check that the wheel had been tightened properly after the brake repair. It was all right so off he went again, but still had this vibration and after a few laps returned to investigate. It was some time before the lumps of tar were discovered and the vibration cured, but by this time he was many laps behind the rest of the field.


Phil Hill continued to lead Ginther by approximately 10sec, and Baghetti still had the Lotus pair all round him, Clark leading on lap 20 and Ireland being in front on lap 23, but there was never more than a few yards between the three of them. A little way back Bonnier was just leading McLaren, Graham Hill and Gurney, and on lap 23 Gurney suddenly shot to the lead of this group and set his sights on the Ferrari/Lotus duel, as if he had got his second wind. On lap 25 the gap between the leading Ferraris doubled as Ginther had another “moment” out on the circuit, taking a slip-road, but he was still 55sec ahead of Baghetti who was now being attacked by Gurney as well as the two Lotus boys.


The only other runner that was going steadily and not in trouble was Salvadori, but he had been lapped by the leaders already. The Porsche of de Beaufort had succumbed to his driving and retired with an oily mess all over the back of the car and a lot of smoke from underneath. Phil Hill was lapping quietly in 2min 35sec, and on lap 29 he had Moss just behind him, though naturally many laps in arrears. Gurney took his turn at the front of the chasing pack, Baghetti and Clark just behind.


Clark, Gurney and Bonnier took turns swapping the lead with none pulling out a lead. This lasted until lap 36 when Clark had a stone strike his nose and he had to pit for a spare pair of goggles. Ferrari had been eternally confident of their pace and reliability but on lap 38 Ginther appeared and Hill was nowhere to be seen, Hill having spun on wet tar at Thillois and collected Moss as he attempted to return to the track.


Hill stalled and eventually proved unable to restart, the starter unable to cope with the heat and while the American attempted to push start the 156, the FIA had recently ruled that illegal and the marshals forced him to stop. Ginther still had the pace and the lead to relax and continue unconcerned while Baghetti battled Gurney and Bonnier. However the very next lap saw Ginther pit with dropping oil pressure although he had forgotten that the rules forbade any replenishment.


Tavoni knew this and waved the American away just as Baghetti and the two Porsches neared. Ginther still lead on lap 42 although he stopped at Muizon as he sensed his engine was about to explode. Baghetti found himself in the lead in his first world championship Grand Prix as he passed Ginthers stricken 156, and with two Porsche on his tail. Hill finally managed to restart although well back in ninth and totally exhausted from the effort.


Bonnier and Gurney now attacked with renewed vigour, for victory was in sight and on lap 41 Baghetti led by the smallest margin, and there were only 11 more laps to go. On lap 42 the Porsches were side-by-side, one each side of Ferrari’s long tail, on lap 44 they had the red car between them, but on lap 45 Baghetti was back in front again. Once more they made a concerted attack, and on lap 46 they were side-by-side and in front of the Ferrari. Now it seemed that they had got Baghetti sewn-up, but next time round and he was back in the lead, having gone by them down the straight to Thillois and outbraked them for the hairpin.


On lap 48 he was the meat in the sandwich once more, the three cars practically touching each other as they roared past the pits. On lap 49 Gurney dead-heated the Ferrari across the line, with Bonnier almost touching their exhaust pipes, and the crowd nearly died with excitement. On lap 50 Baghetti snatched the lead again, but Gurney was only inches behind, the wheels of the two cars being almost interlocked. The American was really fighting now, but the unruffled Baghetti was still holding his own in the most incredible exhibition of cool driving anyone could wish to see.


Bonnier had dropped back and the reason was clear to see when he drew into his pit with smoke and oil coming from the rear of the car, the Porsche engine had succumbed to the furious pace. With only two laps to go he was sent off to try and limp round to the end, but meanwhile Gurney was racing the Ferrari for the Thillois hairpin. He got the lead and held it up the straight towards the finishing line, crossing it with Baghetti right alongside him, but a few inches back, and together they disappeared over the brow and under the Dunlop Bridge to start the last lap.


The tension was terrific as everyone waited for them to reappear on the long straight down to Thillois, and as they shot out of woods and started the run downhill, at 150mph the red Ferrari was just leading. The silver Porsche gained slowly but surely and as they went into the braking area for the hairpin Gurney took the lead. Out of the hairpin they slid, with the Porsche leading but the Ferrari was right in its slipstream.


Up the final straight they came, with thousands of pairs of eyes from the grandstands and pits glued on the two cars. About 300 yards before the finishing fine the Ferrari suddenly pulled out and shot by the Porsche in one of the most perfect pieces of timing by Baghetti that would have done credit to Fangio himself. The roar from the crowd was terrific as the young Italian won the French Grand Prix by less than the length of a car. The Ferrari team were beside themselves, the Porsche team happy enough at having put up such a splendid fight, and the Chapman team more than pleased with their third and fourth places.


Bonnier struggled round to finish seventh, and the McLaren/Graham Hill duel was resolved as they crossed the line, in favour of the New Zealand driver. A very unhappy Phil Hill arrived a lap late, bringing Ginther in on the tail, and the Ferrari team drivers drowned their sorrows while the FISA protege was lifted from the car and water was poured on him to cool him off, for he had driven a harder race than anyone, having been attacked by all and sundry for the whole 52 laps, to say nothing of the three practice sessions.


This was motor racing, and Giancarlo Baghetti had arrived, even if he never wins another race, for he had ensured that the 1961 French Grand Prix will go down in history just as Mike Hawthorn did in 1953.


1st #50 Giancarlo Baghetti Ferrari 156 #0001 52 laps 2:l4:17.5

2nd #12 Dan Gurney Porsche 718 #718-204 +0.01

3rd #8 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 21 #932 +1.01

4th #6 Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 21 #933 +.09

5th #4 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax T55 #FI-11-61 +31.7

6th #22 Graham Hill BRM-Climax P48/57 #571 +.1

7th #10 Jo Bonnier Porsche 718 #718-203 +1.34.5

8th #42 Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-2-61 51 laps

9th #16 Phil Hill Ferrari 156 #0002 50 laps

10th #30 Henry Taylor Lotus-Climax 18/21 #916 49 laps

11th #46 Michael May Lotus-Climax 18 '914' 48 laps

12th #36 Masten Gregory Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-3-61 43 laps

13th #32 Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Maserati T51 42 laps

14th #38 Ian Burgess Lotus-Climax 18 #908 42 laps

15th #18 Richie Ginther Ferrari 156 #0004 40 laps (not running)

DNF #26 Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 18/21 #912 31 laps/Brake pipe

DNF #48 Willy Mairesse Lotus-Climax 21 #930 27 laps/Engine

DNF #14 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 718 #718-201 23 laps/Overheating

DNF #28 Lucien Bianchi Lotus-Climax 18/21 #917 21 laps/Overheating

DNF #20 Wolfgang von Trips Ferrari 156 #0005 18 laps/Piston

DNF #34 Giorgio Scarlatti De Tomaso-OSCA #F1-001 15 laps/Engine

DNF #2 Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax T55 #FI-10-61 14 laps/Oil pressure

DNF #52 Bernard Collomb Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-9-61 6 laps/Valve

DNF #44 Jack Lewis Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-6-61 4 laps/Overheating

DNF #40 John Surtees Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-1-61 4 laps/Accident

DNF #24 Tony Brooks BRM-Climax P48/57 #572 4 laps/Head gasket


Photos copyright of Motorsport Images

 

15th July 1961 - British Grand Prix


The thirteen days between the French and British world championship Grand Prixs saw Silverstone host the British Empire Trophy, the penultimate Intercontinental Trophy race. Moss, Surtees, Brabham and McLaren (all in Coopers) fought for the win with the Clark and Ireland Lotus and the Brooks and Hill BRMs, Moss leading home Surtees and Hill. This was both the final race for Vanwall and European entry for Reventlows Scarab although it didn’t start, and the first race for the four wheel drive Ferguson P99.


After the fast straights of the Reims circuit the Grand Prix scene moved to the slow corners of the Aintree circuit, and all the regular contestants, plus many more, entered for the British Grand Prix. The Scuderia Ferrari entered their usual team of Phil Hill, von Trips and Ginther, with the rear-engined 120° and at the last minute F.I.S.A. entered Giancarlo Baghetti, and Ferrari lent them the rear-engined 60° car. In view of the likelihood of rain at Aintree the cars were fitted with the sealed Perspex covers over the carburetter intakes, in place of the wire-mesh ones normally used. Porsche had the same three cars they had used at Reims, which were the old trailing link suspension ones with 4-cylinder engines on Weber carburetters, the new flat-8 still not being raceworthy, though undergoing much test-bed work.


These were entered for Bonnier, Gurney and de Beaufort, the last-named being a private entry though looked after by the factory mechanics. There was little or no change among the British entries, everyone waiting seemingly in vain for the Coventry-Climax V8 engine and in the meantime doing the best they could with the Mark II 4-cylinder. Brabham and McLaren had the usual works Cooper cars, Ireland and Clark the two new Lotus cars, with 5-speed ZF gearboxes, Graham Hill and Brooks with B.R.M.s, all with Climax engines. Moss was driving the Rob Walker Lotus-Climax as used at Reims, and Surtees and Salvadori had the Yeoman Credit Team Coopers, the former having the Yeoman Credit special Cooper as a training car, now modified still further to take a Mark II Climax engine.


U. D.T.-Laystall entered their two rebodied Lotus cars for Henry Taylor and Bianchi and had one of the older-type Lotus cars as a training car, this being fitted with the Laystall 5-speed gearbox, now modified internally and being given a thorough testing on the practice car. Camoradi entered Masten Gregory in their Cooper and Burgess in their Lotus, and H. & L. Motors of Stroud entered Jack Lewis in his 1961 Cooper-Climax. Private entries with old-type Lotus-Climax cars came from R. H. H. Parnell, Ashmore, Seidel and Mrs. Bryden-Brown, this last being the car Gurney has driven on occasions, only this time it was on loan to the Formula Junior driver Maggs.


Marsh had his much-modified Lotus-Climax and Keith Greene was entered in the Gilby-Climax, a smart-looking car built on orthodox Lotus-cum-Cooper-cum-Lola lines by Gilby Engineering. The Scuderia Centro-Sud entered Bandini with their 1961 Cooper-Maserati and Natili with the early model of similar layout. All these had been seen before in Formula One racing at some time or other, but a complete newcomer to racing and Formula One in particular was the Ferguson-Climax. This interesting machine was built and looked after by Ferguson Research Ltd., and entered by the R. R. C. Walker Racing Team, being painted in dark blue with a white band round the nose.


British hopes that the twisty Aintree circuit would help the British teams were dashed when the Ferraris proved fastest in the first practice session. Porsche were well placed, having raced at Aintree before, so they knew how well their cars should go, and Bonnier was the only one to trouble the Ferraris, equalling the fastest time set up by Ginther and Phil Hill, all three of them doing 2 min. 00.8 sec., which was a good start bearing in mind that the lap record for Aintree by a 1½-litre car stood at a 2 min. exactly. Surtees was trying out his two Yeoman Credit Coopers, Parnell making adjustments and leaving the decision on which one to use for the race until practice was over.


The best Climax runners managed to drop lap times to 2min 00sec, Fairman only able to achieve a 2min 3.4sec with the Ferguson although Moss managed a 2min 00.6sec when he had a drive. Ferrari could relax with each driver able to do a 1min 58.8 sec, only equalled by Bonnier. Further back Brooks showed his brilliance with a 1min 59sec, matched by Moss, Ireland and Clark were .2sec behind, Brabham another .2 behind and Surtees managed a 1min 59.6sec lap.


Sun and wind gave way to rain and wind on Friday and it was obvious that nobody was going to match the times they set on Thursday. Baghetti was still learning the circuit and went well off piste, leaving two massive ruts in the horse racing circuit before rejoining the track. Every team switched to testing wet weather Dunlop D12s during the last practice although the Ferrari’s remained the fastest runners, the absolute favourites for the race.


As the 2.30pm start neared the rain worsened so every team fitted rain tires. Such was the rain it made viewing the race almost impossible with only a small window each lap to tell who was where on track. The end of lap one saw Hill leading von Trips and Ginther, Moss leading the British pack over Bonnier, Clark, Brooks and Graham Hill. Little changed over the next few laps, Bonnier running steadily in fourth although unable to match the pace of the Ferrari’s who were pulling away. Moss managed to pass Bonnier and was able to keep the Ferraris within view, Ginther closing up on von Trips while Hill extended his lead.


The leaders came down to Tatts Corner at the end of lap six a cheer went up for Moss was in third place, Ginther having had a “moment” out in the country, which had allowed Moss to slip by, and it was very obvious that “Rain-master-Moss” was out to get the rest of the Ferrari team if it was humanly possible, though inhuman would have described the conditions more accurately. Surtees had got by Clark, Henry Taylor had a decent prang while McLaren and Fairman had closed up on Gurney. Such was Hills pace he began to lap the tail-enders on lap seven and he was baulked slightly, allowing von Trips and Moss not only to close up, but to get right with him.


In the melee that followed von Trips took the lead, so that the order at the end of lap seven was von Trips, Hill, Moss, with Ginther still some way back. Moss was really pressing Phil Hill. Bonnier dropped back another place as Brabham came up to challenge Graham Hill, and Surtees stopped to have his broken exhaust system removed. On lap 10 another great cheer went up as Moss got past Phil Hill and took second place, but down in mid-field Baghetti responded by passing Brooks, so the order was now von Trips, Moss, Phil Hill, Ginther, then a long gap and Graham Hill hotly pursued by Brabham, with Bonnier dropping back still further and being challenged by Salvadori.


Moss got closer and closer to von Trips and on lap 14 he was right with him and trying to pass, much to the delight of the very wet crowd who urged him on. On lap 15 Moss was still trying to pass von Trips, and the two of them were now 10 seconds ahead of Phil Hill, who was in turn an equal amount ahead of Ginther. Meanwhile, Moss had decided he was not going to get past von Trips so settled for “worrying tactics,” following the Ferrari closely, seldom more than a second behind, and as fast as von Trips nipped through gaps when lapping slower cars, Moss followed him through.


From lap 16 until lap 24 he was always in the Ferrari’s mirrors, and the rain came steadily down, so that it said much for the German driver that he did not make a mistake and spin or slide on the very wet track or in any of the large puddles that lay about. They were now 12 seconds ahead of Hill and Ginther was still about the same amount behind, in fourth place, while it was 45 seconds before Brabham appeared on the scene, having disposed of Graham Hill who was now in sixth place. Salvadori was driving a splendid race, seeming to be very happy in the wet and he had dealt very convincingly with Clark and Bonnier, while Gurney had regained speed and pushed Baghetti back a place.


The young Italian was driving a very steady race, looking confident, but on lap 22 was overtaken by Surtees who was making up time after his pit-stop to have his exhaust system sorted out. However, two laps later and Surtees disappeared out on the circuit, his crownwheel and pinion breaking, so Baghetti was back in eleventh place again. On this lap, the 24th, von Trips appeared from behind the trees at Melling Crossing as usual, followed by the Lotus of Moss, but just as it came into view the tail of the blue car slid out to the left on the sheet of water. In an instant Moss had correction on the steering and slid sideways down the road at around 100 m.p.h. with full left-lock on.


For a moment it looked as though he would spin, but then the tail of the car flicked straight and across the road in the other direction. Still complete master of the situation Moss had full right lock on in an instant, and continued to slide down the road sideways, only this time with his tail hung towards the inside of the track, but then, equally quickly the tail flicked back again and this time went right round beyond full left lock, and in a wonderful exhibition of proprioception Moss unwound the steering, let the car complete a clockwise 360-degree spin, caught it at the end of the spin, by which time the speed had been dissipated down to about 40 m.p.h., selected a lower gear and took Tatts Corner as if nothing had happened. The crowded grandstands really showed their appreciation of seeing a Master Driver at work, and the Walker pit thought “Hmm, he’s a few seconds overdue,” having seen none of this feat of brilliance.


On lap 28 von Trips, with 10 seconds lead over Moss as a result of the spin, lapped Baghetti and going into Waterway Corner in a cloud of spray, in company with von Trips and some cars they were both lapping, the Italian “lost it” and went backwards through the rails, bending the Ferrari but climbing out unhurt. The terribly wet conditions were causing havoc, for Bianchi spun at the Melling puddle, as had Moss, but he went wildly off onto the grass, and then spinning again as he tried to restart on the soaking turf. Phil Hill had a really big “moment” approaching Melling Crossing, going sideways towards the gateway so uncontrollably that he really frightened himself and slowed up considerably after that, so that Ginther began to close on him, and on lap 35 went by into third place.


In fifth place Brabham was going steadily and was now only 11 seconds behind Phil Hill, and Graham Hill was being caught by Jimmy Clark. By 30 laps the rain actually stopped, and during the next quarter of an hour patches of the track dried visibly and conditions improved. This was good for Clark, who soon caught Graham Hill, and for Brooks who now began to go as fast as the leaders, but unfortunately still two laps behind due to his long pit stop, while McLaren closed on Gurney. The only man who was not happy about the rain stopping was Brabham who, when he started pressing on as the track dried, found his water temperature getting rather high, so he had driven on his temperature gauge rather than his rev-counter. Ginther got away from Phil Hill and began to close on Moss and on lap 40 went by the blue Lotus into second place.


The fact that Moss could not stay with the Ferrari, and during the next four laps was caught by Phil Hill, rather indicated that something had gone wrong with the Walker team’s car. Sure enough, on lap 45 Moss drew into his pit, having no more brakes; the balance pipe across the caliper on the left-rear brake had fractured and he was rapidly losing pressure and fluid. This was quite remarkable for the same thing had happened to the rear brake on the other side at Reims, only two weeks previously. He had gallantly struggled on with less and less braking until he just had to give up, and the only man to put up any sort of challenge to the red cars was out of the race. By now the sun was shining and the track was drying quite fast.


On lap 35 von Trips had lapped McLaren, who was dicing with Gurney, and as the Ferrari lapped the Porsche McLaren took the opportunity to slip by as well and get ahead of Gurney. After the retirement of Moss the Ferrari team were in complete command, the three V6 engines sounding beautifully healthy, and making a lovely noise. Ginther slowed down and let Phil Hill move up into his rightful place of second, and the three of them settled down to tour round and complete the 75 laps which constituted the total length of the race. This put von Trips 20 seconds in the lead and the Ferrari pit were now content to give them signals merely showing how many more laps to go. Brabham was still in fourth place, but nearly a whole minute behind, and the only others on the same lap as the leader were Clark, Salvadori, and Bonnier.


The Ferguson was many laps behind and worse still the fledgling team push started Fairman on one occasion and were soon visited by the chief steward. Tony Rolt explained that they were in last, had no chance of winning anything and that they could really use the remaining laps as a test and were allowed to continue. This was allowed and they even called Fairman in on lap 50 to be replaced by Moss who soon hit the 2 minute lap mark. Ferrari and others were perturbed by a disqualified car continuing to lap and petitioned the chief steward lest the fast running Ferguson cause a incident or worse, prove a successful competitor and eventually Moss was flagged in and the car retired.


Von Trips, Phil Hill and Ginther were now signaled to slow and hold position while Clarks challenge for fourth ended with an oil leak on lap 63. A dry track saw several drivers begin to challenge for the minor places, Brooks two laps back but also setting record pace, a 1min 57.8 proving the races fastest lap. Still it was Ferrari’s party and their dominance was widely reported in the British and European press. Von Trips victory left him on 27 points, Hill on 25, Ginther in third with 16 points and with three races to go it only remained to be seen who out of von Trips and Hill would be world champion!


Results


1st #4 Wolfgang von Trips Ferrari 156 #0005 2:40:53.6 75 laps

2nd #2 Phil Hill Ferrari 156 #0002 +.46sec

3rd #6 Richie Ginther Ferrari 156 #0004 +.8sec

4th #12 Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax T55 #FI-10-61 +21.8sec

5th #8 Jo Bonnier Porsche 718 #718-203 +7.6sec

6th #36 Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-2-61 +10sec

7th #10 Dan Gurney Porsche 718 #718-204 +1 lap

8th #14 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax T55 #FI-11-61 +1 lap

9th #22 Tony Brooks BRM-Climax P48/57 #572 +2 laps

10th #16 Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 21 #933 +3 laps

11th #42 Masten Gregory Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-6-61 +4 laps

12th #60 Lorenzo Bandini Cooper-Maserati T53 #FI-13-61 +4 laps

13th #50 Tony Maggs Lotus-Climax 18 #903 +6 laps

14th #44 Ian Burgess Lotus-Climax 18 #908 +6 laps

15th #54 Keith Greene Gilby-Climax +6 laps

16th #56 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 718 #718-201 +6 laps

17th #52 Wolfgang Seidel Lotus-Climax 18 #373 +7 laps

DNF #18 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 21 #932 62 laps/Oil gauge pipe

Disq. #26 Jack Fairman/Stirling Moss Ferguson-Climax P99 #P99/1 56 laps/Push start

DNF #32 Lucien Bianchi Lotus-Climax 18/21 #917 45 laps/Gearbox

DNF #28 Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 18/21 #912 44 laps/Brake pipe

DNF #20 Graham Hill BRM-Climax P48/57 #571 43 laps/Valve spring

DNF #27 Giancarlo Baghetti Ferrari 156 #0003 27 laps/Spun off

DNF #48 Tony Marsh Lotus-Climax 18 #909 25 laps/Ignition

DNF #34 John Surtees Cooper-Climax T53 #VR 23 laps/Final drive

DNF #38 Tim Parnell Lotus-Climax 18 #904 12 laps/Clutch

DNF #46 Jack Lewis Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-6-61 7 laps/Steering

DNF #40 Gerry Ashmore Lotus-Climax 18 #919 7 laps/Ignition

DNF #30 Henry Taylor Lotus-Climax 18/21 #916 5 laps/Spun off

DNF #62 Massimo Natili Cooper-Maserati T51 #FII-13-59 0 laps/Gearbox


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6th August 1961 - German GP


Most of the F1 stars raced at the Solitudering, near Stuttgart in the Solitude GP on July 23rd, Innes Ireland taking a fine win from Porsche team drivers Bonnier and Gurney in their new experimental cars which were effectively prototypes of the 1962 804F1. Two weeks later the actual F1 circus returned to the Nurburgring for the Grosser Preis von Deutschland. After two years at the Avus and the Sudlieche, the 1961 German GP returned to the full 22.8km North circuit, aka the Nordlieche. The AVD dug hard to find 33 entrants although several couldn’t compete. Cooper finally had a finished V8 and it was naturally fitted to Jack Brabhams Cooper.


The Climax concern were reluctant to reveal the bore and stroke of this 1 1/2-litre engine, nor would they mention horsepower figures, but one can assume at least 170bhp and it revs to 8,600rpm, while the total weight of the car was 530 kilograms. Coopers had modified a standard F1 chassis frame to take this engine and had made the left-side top chassis tube between the bulkhead and the rear suspension detachable, with two-bolt flanges at each end. Elsewhere the English works entries were the same ones seen at the British GP although some interesting privateer entries were present, Jack Lewis with a Cooper, Marsh with a modified Lotus, Ashmore and Maggs with standard Lotus and Bugess in the Camoradi Cooper.


European entries were Seidel and Mays Scuderia Colonia’s Lotus-Climax, Trintignant with the Serenissima Cooper-Maserati, Bandini with Centro-Sud’s 1961 Cooper-Maserati and the Frenchman Collomb with his own 1961 Cooper-Climax. Scuderia Ferrari entered their usual three works cars and a new 60° car for Mairesse, Baghettis car needing significant repairs after his Aintree crash. Porsche wanted to do well at home but were relying on their old 718/2 and driven by Bonnier, Gurney and Herrmann.


Official practice began on Friday morning in glorious sunshine and the V8 Climax promptly broke its distributor, Wally Hassan and his men had to quickly repair their new motor, Brabham forced to practise in the 4-cylinder works car. ,Moss had set the Nurburgring record of 9min 09.2sec back in ‘58 and it seemed likely to be broken.

Practice lasted for 1 1/2 hours, during which time most of the drivers acclimatised themselves and it was Bonnier with the Porsche who was fastest, for he had been testing on the circuit quite recently and had little to learn. Brabham in the 4-cylinder Cooper-Climax, Moss and Phil Hill were all soon knocking on the old record, but von Trips was in trouble with a broken engine before he could settle down.


After a 2-hour break, session two began and after a while took the V8 came out for its first try, only to find that the enlarged sump was scraping the ground in some of the abrupt dips. Ferrari were busy changing the engine in von Trips’ car so he did not practise and Seidel had not gone far before a king-post broke and he subsided onto the grass, more surprised than damaged. The Ferraris were not handling too well on the bumpy Nurburgring, for both front and rear suspensions were reaching the limits of travel and this jarring was causing the cars to jump about in a rather unpredictable manner.


In spite of this they were the fastest cars but Phil Hill was having to work very hard to get his times down below Bonnier, who had done 9min 04.8sec and was driving with great determination. Hill was lapping at around 9min 03.0sec, leaping and bouncing about and getting round some corners more by luck than judgment, when suddenly he got the car in step with the bumps and twists and went round in a shattering 8min 55.2sec. Next lap he was back above 9min and admitted freely that it had been a freak lap in which everything had gone right for once, but there was little hope of repeating it. For most people 9min 10sec appeared to be the barrier, but Clark was driving hard and got below this, though his team-mate Ireland was still learning the circuit, not having any real knowledge of the Nurburgring before this event.


Very early on Saturday morning Ferrari and Cooper were allowed to use the track for some unofficial practice as von Trips had missed one session and Brabham had not done much with the V8 Cooper-Climax. During this short spell the new V8 car was sorted out and Brabham got below 9 min. on hand-timing and Climax supporters were much happier. The last official practice was late on Saturday morning and the Nurburgring was on its best behaviour, bathed in bright sunshine, and everyone was out to make the most of it. The V8 Coventry-Climax was now on full song and sounding very good, and obviously had enough power for Brabham to be kept working hard on the twisty bits.


He put in five laps altogether, the raising of the front of the engine having cured the sump scraping, and his best was a rousing 9min 01.4sec, which proved to be the fastest of the day. Moss was trying really hard as usual, but was down on maximum speed and was also being troubled by the Colotti gearbox jumping out of 3rd gear, but even so he was making full use of his knowledge of the Nurburgring and put in a best lap of 9min 01.7sec, so it rather looked as though the extra 20bhp of the V8 Coventry-Climax was making up for the inferior handling of the heavy Cooper over the Lotus, and for Brabham’s comparatively meagre knowledge of the Nurburgring compared with that of Moss.


The Ferraris were still going thump on their suspensions and giving their drivers a rough time and none of the team could approach the times of Moss and Brabham. In the Lotus team there was a good deal of gloom for Clark had crashed heavily on his opening lap when part of the steering had broken, and though he had got away unhurt, the car was very badly damaged. Meanwhile the spare car had been lent to Seidel while his own car was being repaired, but when Clark got back to the pits the spare car was called in so that the works driver could go on with practice.


At 1pm the sky was clouded over and a shower of rain had fallen which sent everyone scurrying around the paddock fitting Dunlop D12 rain tyres, while Ferraris hurriedly removed the gauze covers over the carburetters of their cars and fitted Perspex ones. Surtees had settled to drive the Yeoman Credit standard Cooper-Climax, Clark was driving the early 1961 Team Lotus car, Seidel had a Lotus salvaged from the wreckage of the two Scuderia Colonia cars, Gurney was still using the Porsche with the disc brakes, and Brabham had the 4-cylinder works Cooper ready and standing by just in case anything went wrong with the V8 at the last minute.


After practice there had been a suspicion of overheating and the engine had been removed from the frame and dismantled for inspection but all was well, the only complaint being that Dunlop’s insisted that 6.50 x 15in rear tyres should be used and not the normal Cooper ones of 6.00 x 15 in. By 1:45pm the sun was shining and Dunlop’s were rushing round telling everyone to take off the rain-tyres and put back the normal ones. Certain people, such as Moss and Chapman, told Dunlop’s what to do, for Lotus had raced on these high-hysterisis tyres at Solitude on a dry track without any signs of the high wear-rate predicted. Ferraris unfortunately did what they were told, as did Porsche, and put the normal road-racing tyres back on.


By 2pm the twenty-six starters were lined up on the starting grid in rows of four-three-four, and they presented one of the most interesting sights seen for a long time, no one make of car having a monopoly. On the front row alone with Ferrari, Cooper, Lotus and Porsche there was enough diversity of design to keep the most bitter critic of Formula One quiet for a year. Wide angle V6, narrower angle V8, in-line four and flat-four, while a more varied collection of cars as regards shape’ would be difficult to find. In the second row were Ferrari, and Cooper, while in the third row were Lotus, BRM, Cooper and Porsche, so that no-one could claim a monopoly. And the driver element was truly International, with American, Australian, British and Swedish in the front row, and German, British and American in the second row.


A few minutes after 2pm, with the weather showing signs of holding up, ex-World Champion Fangio dropped the flag to start the 15-lap race and away went the entire field, with the once-dominant Ferrari team surrounded by green and silver cars. Brabham snatched a brief lead from Moss and Bonnier and they went round the South Curve and then up the straight behind the pits. Approaching the North Curve Moss, Gurney and Brabham were side-by-side, and the V8 Cooper cut into the lead as the three cars went into the left-hand bend.


Down the hill through Hatzenbach Brabham was holding a precarious lead, but then he hit a damp patch of road and slid straight off the road and into the bushes, landing up on a bank while the rest of the 25 runners went by, some smiling happily to themselves as they saw Brabham climb out of the V8 Cooper-Climax. With a clear road in front Moss now put to use all his vast knowledge of motor racing and the Nurburgring and really started to drive as only he can.


Out of the jostling pack behind him Phil Hill shook himself free, as did Herrmann with one of the works Porsches, and the end of the first 22.8-kilometre lap saw Moss leading Phil Hill, not comfortably, but leading nevertheless. Then came Herrmann with Gurney, Graham Hill and von Trips very close behind. Going into the South Curve there was a little kerfuffle in which Gurney got a big dent in the side of the body, Graham Hill flew over the bank and into the long grass, and von Trips appeared up the back straight in third place, ahead of Herrmann.


In midfield Ireland went by behind Ginther with the tail of his Lotus missing, it having come off early in the opening lap, and after a time it was obvious that some runners were missing. The orange Porsche of de Beaufort was in the pits having its wheels changed for some others fitted with Continental tyres and Bonnier came limping in very late with a punctured right-hand rear tyre. Brabham was not going to rejoin the race and stayed on the grass bank where he had landed, sitting deep in thought, while further round the circuit Marsh was stationary trying to trace a shortage of sparks in his coil ignition system, and Trintignant was motoring slowly along with suspension trouble.


On the second lap Moss drew away from Phil Hill, setting a fastest lap in 9min 13.8sec while still fully loaded with fuel, on new tyres and with the track still damp in places. Now that von Trips had got clear of the pack he was closing on Hill, and Clark was about to move up into fourth place ahead of Herrmann. They were followed by Ginther, Gurney, McLaren, Surtees and Mairesse, all in close company, and Ireland was missing. The Lotus had set itself on fire leaving Schwalbenswanz corner and Ireland pulled up hurriedly with the rear of the car well alight, signalling to Jack Lewis who was just behind, as to where he was aiming the blazing Lotus.


He leapt out, suffering a slight burn on his arm and had to stand and watch the car burn out completely as there were no worthwhile fire extinguishers at hand. After the leaders had gone by to start their third lap Marsh arrived at the pits to make a proper repair to broken ignition wire, and Trintignant arrived even later, both of them rejoining the race after a while. Bonnier was now going all right, having had a wheel changed, but was too far behind to have much hope of getting anywhere, and Graham Hill walked back to the pits to sit and watch the race.


Moss was really hurrying now, waiting for nobody, and it looked like Monaco all over again, with his sheer brilliance at cornering making up for a lot of horsepower, and at the end of lap three he had pulled out a 10sec lead over Hill, but von Trips was now only 7.5sec, further back. Clark was now firmly in fourth place, followed by Herrmann still going remarkably well, but Surtees had got away from the pack, leaving Ginther, Mairesse, Gurney and McLaren to fight it out, then came Lewis, easily the fastest private owner, leading Salvadori and Brooks.


After quite a long pause the rest of the runners straggled by and Seidel arrived with broken steering, to retire, with Ireland balanced on the tail of his white Lotus. On the fourth lap Moss maintained his lead with a lap in 9min 13.5sec, but von Trips was now speeding up considerably and on lap five when Moss turned 9min 13.0sec, von Trips capped it with 9min 12.2sec, now being only 5sec behind Phil Hill who was still holding second place. Porsche were having a had day, for Gurney was in eighth place while Herrmann arrived late and went into the pits to have a repair to the clutch control made, and while he was there Bonnier arrived with ominous white smoke coming out of the exhaust, a sure sign that all was not well with valves or pistons, and the car was retired.


On lap six von Trips lapped in 9min 08.1sec, to set a new overall lap record, and close right up on Phil Hill, and the following lap he turned 9min 04.3sec to set another record. Drier conditions, partly worn tyres and lighter fuel load were allowing this improvement in lap times, but as fast as von Trips speeded up so did Moss and Hill. The order after seven laps was still Moss, Hill, von Trips, Clark and Surtees, but Mairesse had now come up and Ginther had dropped back behind Gurney and McLaren, while Salvadori had passed Lewis; however, shortly after this the Yeoman Credit drive spun in the Karussel and spent a long time restarting, so that Lewis went back into 10th place.


Brooks retired out on the circuit with engine trouble and Marsh, de Beaufort, Herrmann, Collomb and Trintignant were all a lap or more behind the leaders but still motoring. On lap eight Moss was still holding his lead and set up a new lap record with 9min 02.8sec, but von Trips had overtaken Phil Hill and completed this lap in 9min 01.6sec, to set another new record. On the next lap the German set the record at 9min 01. 1sec and this brought him within 10sec of the flying Moss, but it also roused Hill, who decided not to be left behind and when von Trips completed lap 10 in 8min 59.9sec, to be the first driver to break 9min officially in a race, he had the American right on his tail, and barely had von Trips’ time come through from the timekeepers than they announced Hill’s time of 8min 57.8 sec, and the Lotus now had a precarious 9sec lead.


By these standards of motoring anyone else’s effort seemed futile, but nevertheless Clark was still going well in the Lotus, followed by Surtees and Mairesse, but they were all well over one minute behind the incredible Moss. Von Trips did another lap in 8min 59.9sec and this brought him within 7sec of the blue Lotus, but seeing Moss is one thing and catching him is something quite different.


Lap 13 was an unlucky one for the Ferrari team for a gentle rain began to fall and without rain tyres there was no hope at all of closing up any more, for Moss, in defiance of Dunlop, had started on rain tyres and in spite of gloomy prognostications they had not worn out on the dry track, so “Golden Boy” was now sitting pretty. All the excitement was now over for it was obvious that the Walker mechanics had screwed the Lotus together properly and on the damp track Moss drew away from the Ferraris to win as he pleased. With all hope of victory gone von Trips and Hill began to race each other, and though Hill led as he started the last lap it was von Trips who led across the finishing line to get second place, but to Hill went the lap record.


One lap before the end Mairesse spun out of a certain sixth place, to land up on the grass with a badly damaged Ferrari, so Surtees was followed home by McLaren and Gurney. A long way back came Ginther, who had given up trying, and he was nearly caught by Lewis as they crossed the line in a rainstorm that practically obliterated the cars as they finished the race. Salvadori just missed being lapped by Moss and as he crossed the line to start his fifteenth lap he could see the chequered flag being got ready to welcome Moss, and after he had done his final circuit in pouring rain he got back to find everyone packing up and trying to hide from the torrential rain. The Frenchman Collomb stopped by the line on his twelth lap and when Moss got the chequered flag he pushed his broken Cooper across, but under the new rules this is not permitted so he could not count as a finisher.


Moss certainly got the welcome he richly deserved and the 300,000 strong crowd were most appreciative at having seen an artist at work, and so strong is the Moss popularity at the Nurburgring that he was even forgiven for beating the German champion on his home ground. Von Trips paid a fine tribute to Moss after the race when he said: “On some laps I’d get as many as fifteen corners really right, but Moss, he gets them all right on every lap,” and that is so true of Moss when he surpasses even himself.



The day after the German GP was a bank holiday in the UK so most British drivers flew home to compete in what turned out to be the final Intercontinental Cup race, F1 clearly proving successful. Held at Brands Hatch, the Guards Trophy saw Brabham show his class and win from Clark and Graham Hill. Two weeks later the teams were in Sweden for the Kannonloppet where Moss beat Bonnier and Surtees. The following weekend the Danish GP saw more Moss mastery and a win over Ireland and Salvadori. Another week and the Modena GP saw Moss lead home Bonnier and Gurney.


Results


1st #7 Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 18/21 #912 2:18:12.4/ 15 lap

2nd #3 Wolfgang von Trips Ferrari 156 #0005 +21.4sec

3rd #4 Phil Hill Ferrari 156 #0002 +1.1sec

4th #14 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 21 #930 +54.6sec

5th #18 John Surtees Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-1-61 +36sec

6th #2 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax T55 #FI-11-61 +48.3sec

7th #9 Dan Gurney Porsche 718 #718-203 +41.2sec

8th #5 Richie Ginther Ferrari 156 #0004 +2min 0.5sec

9th #28 Jack Lewis Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-6-61 +.6sec

10th #19 Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-2-61 +6min 47.8sec

11th #33 Tony Maggs Lotus-Climax 18 #903 +1 lap

12th #30 Ian Burgess Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-3-61 +1 lap

13th #11 Hans Herrmann Porsche 718 #718-202 +1 lap

14th #31 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 718 #718-201 +1 lap

15th #37 Tony Marsh Lotus-Climax 18 #909 +2 laps

16th #27 Gerry Ashmore Lotus-Climax 18 #919 +2 laps

NC #38 Bernard Collomb Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-9-61 11 laps/Engine

DNF #1 Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax T58 #FI-12-61 0 laps/Accident

DNF #17 Graham Hill BRM-Climax P48/57 #571 1 lap/Accident

DNF #15 Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 21 #933 1 lap/Fire

DNF #26 Wolfgang Seidel Lotus-Climax 18 #373 3 laps/Steering

DNF #8 Jo Bonnier Porsche 718 #718-204 5 laps/Valves

DNF #16 Tony Brooks BRM-Climax P48/57 '572' 6 laps/Valve spring

DNF #32 Lorenzo Bandini Cooper-Maserati T53 #FI-13-61 10 laps/Engine

DNF #20 Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Climax T51 12 laps/Engine

DNF #6 Willy Mairesse Ferrari 156 #0001 13 laps/Accident

DNS #25 Michael May Lotus-Climax 18 '914' Car damaged in practice

DNS #12 Masten Gregory Cooper-Climax T53 #F1-3-61 Car driven by Burgess

DNS #36 Wolfgang Seidel Lotus-Climax 21 #930 Car driven by Clark


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10th September 1961 - Italian GP


As usual the 1961 Italian GP was held on the combined Monza road and oval circuits and was one of the fastest tracks in use. The 1960 Italian GP had seen a ban from the British teams who considered the banked oval dangerous and boycotted, leaving an easy win for Phil Hill in the outdated Ferrari 246F1. The British teams wrote to the AC Milano arguing that only the road course should be used and although their pleas were ignored they did drop the distance from 500km to 430km.


Enzo Ferrari gave the recent Modena race a miss, saying he was busy preparing for Monza he really meant it, for SEFAC Ferrari entered four cars as a works team and lent a fifth to Baghetti as a private entry. The factory team of Phil Hill, von Trips and Ginther were all entered in their usual cars with 120° engines and the fourth member of the team was young Ricardo Rodriguez who was entered in the earlier 60° type. Another new 120 car was lent to Giancarlo Baghetti and with an entry by Scuderia Sant-Ambroeus, but it was a works Ferrari in intent.


With six almost identical bright red rear-engined Ferraris lined up the Scuderia had a very impressive display. The Cooper factory had the new car with the Coventry-Climax V8 engine, as first seen at Nurburgring last month, with Brabham once again driving it, and McLaren had one of the works 4-cylinder Coventry-Climax-engined cars, while the other works one was brought along as a spare.


Team Lotus had not been able to buy a Coventry-Climax V8 engine, so Ireland and Clark were using the 1961 factory 4-cylinder cars, but the RRC Walker team had acquired a Coventry-Climax V8 and installed it in a Lotus chassis for Moss to drive. With the help of Ferguson Research, this new engine, identical to that in the works Cooper, was put into Walker’s second-string Lotus chassis.


The BRM team had made a wonderful effort and by dint of much hard work had finished two brand new cars and arrived at Monza well before practice began with these and the two regular 4-cylinder Coventry-Climax-engined cars which had raced at Modena the previous weekend. The new cars were the V8 engined ones, entirely of BRM design and brand new throughout, though suspension units and layout, and gearboxes., were as used on the 4-cylinder cars. The whole general layout and shape of these new V8-engined cars was a natural development of the proven 1960/61 cars, but a new space frame was designed to take the 90-degree V8 BRM engine.



Official practice began on Friday afternoon and went on from 3pm to 6:30pm – but before this there was a session of driving on the banked track alone for any drivers who had not competed at Monza before. Though seemingly tedious to some people this is a sensible precaution, especially for anyone who has never driven on a banked track before, and involved doing a number of laps at reasonable speeds in order to become conversant with the formation of the bankings, their height and their length.


The Ferrari team had already done a great deal of practice on the full 10-kilometre roadtrack circuit back in August and again early in the week before official practice began, and they knew that their cars were capable of lapping at 2min 46sec, which compared favourably with the lap record of 2 min though in practice last year Phil Hill had done 2min 41.4sec.


Ginther, Rodriauez and von Trips were off immediately, and the first two were soon up to a reasonable speed, Ginther with the 120-degree engine doing 2min 46.8sec and Rodriguez with the 60-degree engine doing 2min 49.6sec, and then Phil Hill joined in with a 2min 48.9sec, but at that point the rain came down. It was very gentle at first, but enough to discourage anyone from going flat-out round the banking, and then it increased and got down through the trees and made the Lesmo corners and the “parabolica” like skating rinks, so that everyone eased right up or stopped altogether.


Although the rain did not last very long and most of the track dried up quickly, there were still damp patches so that really fast laps were out of the question. Of the new British cars Moss was out with Lotus-Climax V8 and Brabham with the Cooper-Climax V8, but both were in difficulties, the Lotus with over heating troubles and the Cooper was having trouble with its water circulation round the whole system, a restriction to the flow causing water to blow out of the overflow pipe. While they were both going-they were going pretty well, and sounding terrific, the tearing scream as Moss accelerated away from the pus making people rush to the edge to see the Lotus go by.


The new BRM was not out for this first practice, both Hill and Brooks using the 4-cylinder cars, and while one of the V8s had been damaged during testing. the other was being prepared for Saturday’s practice session. Watching on the slippery South Turn, where the surface is very smooth and where the rain had made things greasy, not being enough to wash oil and rubber off, it was fascinating to see Rodriguez waltzing round the long hairpin bend, going from lock to lock and looking quite unconcerned at the way the car was sliding, while Baghetti was looking a bit worried and trying to keep a constant steering angle. In consequence he was sliding gradually outwards in a very gentle understeer, always managing to keep off the grass, but never looking convinced that he was going to make it.


In sharp contrast the de Tomaso cars were doing little dodges and twitches, mostly due to the inexperienced drivers. Most remarkable was Fairman in the old Cooper, who went round as if on tip-toe, at completely steady engine revs and road speed the whole way, and was faster than the Ferraris anyway. Having very little power he was able to keep things balanced, whereas a twitch of the toes in a Ferrari would release far too many horsepowers for the conditions. Towards the end of the afternoon when the whole track was virtually dry, except for the odd patch, things speeded up and it was noticeable that the Scuderia Ferrari kept both Baghetti and Rodriguez at work the whole time, either in their own cars or the training car.


That all was not well in the V8 Coventry Climax Pits was seen when Brabham came round with out any engine Covers on and Moss appeared in the Walker 4-cylinder Lotus. The works Lotus-Climax cars were going very well and Jimmy Clark was fairly singing round the banking, high up or loss down making little difference to him and on one occasion he passed underneath Barth in the experimental Porsche; the German driver being down as reserve for the Porsche Team. The Yeoman Credit team were not too happy for Salvadori spent most of the time running-in a new engine, and Surtees was having trouble with both his cars, breaking the engine an the standard one. Due to the nonsense over the entry Lewis could not practice on this first afternoon and he had to sit and watch people like Pilette, Pirocchi, Businello, Parnell, Lippi and Naylor virtually creeping round.


On Saturday afternoon the sun was blazing and conditions were good, if a little too hot, and once again there was a session of banking qualification before practice began at 3pm once again, to go on until 6:30pm. The Ferrari team were out in full force and were all below 2min 50sec, which seemed to be a sort of “bogey-time”, but which was eluding most of the British cars.


The two Coventry-Climax V8-engined cars were still in cooling difficulties, the problem not being that the engine was overheating, but the circulation systems seemed to be inadequate for the rate of flow generated by the enlarged pumps of the V8s. Both Moss and Brabham did short, sharp sessions of a lap or two at a time, but were never happy and neither could go on for very long.


The two junior lads of the Maranello cars were still working continuously and while Baghetti was being rather cautious, Rodriguez was going like the wind, and not long after von Trips had done 2min 46.3sec with the 120-degree-engined car, the Mexican driver did 2min 46.4sec with the old 60-degree-engined car, and needless to say his “team-mates” refused point blank to believe the timekeepers! Such is team-spirit these days.


Surtees was still in trouble with the Yeoman Credit Coopers and despairing of getting any practice at all he put his numbers on the Cooper works 4-cylinder car that Brabham had been using and put in a few laps. Brooks had done a 2min 52.2sec with the 4-cylinder BRM while the UDT drivers were not really in the hunt, and like the Yeoman Credit drivers they were all put to shame by Lewis with his private Cooper-Climax, who had done 2min 54.0sec.

Of the miscellaneous Italians Vaccarella did a good time of 2min 56.0sec with the Conrero-engined Tomaso, beating both Bandini and Trintignant with the Maserati-engined cars. The Ferrari team, with all their drivers below 2min 50sec packed up early and went home satisfied, though Phil Hill was convinced he had a bad engine and finally talked them into putting in a new one before the race.


The V8 Climax boys were far from happy, Moss deciding not to use his V8 car, but Brabham preparing to have a go as long as the water held out, or, to be more precise, in. The BRM team were happy enough with the performance of their car, but not convinced that it was ready to race, use during practice the fuel injection had nut been spot-on and the oiling system was far from perfect, the engine leaving little pools of oil on the ground every time it stopped. While running the Bourne V8 was surprisingly quiet even though it was revving to nearly 10,000rpm and giving out the best part of 175bhp if not more, for the Coventry Climax V8 is certainly giving 170bhp. With another 12 months’ development work it is easy to visualise these new engines giving close on 200bhp, for Ferrari already has his sights on such it figure with his 120-degree V6 engine.


The regulations said that anyone who was more than 10% slower than the second fastest practice time would be eliminated, and this rule saw only Pilette being turned down, in spite of a kit a people being unable to break the 3min for a lap. While last-minute preparations were going on in the paddock the Lotus contingent were up to some crafty shuffling, for Moss had definitely decided against using the V8 car, and Ireland had offered him his works car.


Both BRM drivers were on the 4-cylinder Climax-engined cars, as their V8 engine was not really ready, so once again it was only Brabham with a new engine, but he was well aware that he would not last long and everything looked set for a sweeping Ferrari victory. With the main straight divided in two the field of 32 starters were lined up in pairs, alternate rows being staggered, and must have presented the longest Grand must Prix starting grid ever seen, The Ferraris all had their engine side panels removed and the car Moss was in received some puzzled looks as it appeared with blue top, dark greets bottom and yellow wheels.


By the 1min signal everyone had their engines running, and above the noise of blipping engines could be heard Ginther keeping his engine at a constant pitch, high up in the rev scale, and it was not until Lord Howe raised the Italian flag tor the last five seconds, that he let his revs drop and blipped the throttle in readiness for the take-otf. All the Ferraris were pulling very high axle ratios, so in consequence had very high bottom gears, and when the flag tell they seemed to hang fire for a long while before they really got under way.


As the field surged forward Graham Hill had his dark green BRM right in amongst the red cars, and Clark was leaping towards them as well. The whole 32 runners got away well and streamed round the Curva Grande and into the Lesmo bends, and as they went down the back straight, visible from the grandstands, one could sec Clark’s Lotus right amongst the red cars. Coming up the main Straight, on the pits side to head for the North Banking, Ginther and Clark were side-by-side, followed by Phil Hill, Rodriguez, von Trips, Brabham and Baghetti, with the rest in a solid stream behind.


Round the banking they swept, all but Ashmore who had gone into the Parabolica too fast, hit the outside grass bank and shot over it into the woods, coming off the South Banking to end the opening lap there were seven cars closer together than seemed reasonable and though they crossed the timing line in the carder Phil Hill, Ginther, Rodriguez, Clark, Brabham, von Trips and Baghetti, it meant nothing, for by the time they were into sight, the order had changed completely.


They were in such a tight bunch and jostling for position so continuously that a large tarpaulin really would have covered all seven cars. Already there was a small gap before the rest appeared, led by Bonnier, Gurney, Moss, Surtees etc, and the pace was obviously going to be fast and furious, if not a little ungentlemanly. Going down the back straight the leaders were still all bunched together, and approaching the parabolica turn, Clark and von Trips collided just before the braking point. Hill, Ginther and Rodriguez were in front of them, but Baghetti and Brabham were alongside, but luckily did not get involved.


What happened next was one of those strokes of ill-fortune that strike every so often, for the Ferrari spun and shot up the grass bank on the outside of the straight, and flung von Trips out. It cannoned off the wire mesh protecting fence and bounced back on the track, after rolling over a number of times, and stopped a crumpled wreck nearly in the middle of the track. Clark’s Lotus also spun as a result oh the impact, stayed on the track most of the time and came to rest on the grass verge, the driver badly shaken but unhurt.


The unfortunate von Trips landed heavily and though taken off to hospital died before anything could be done. The only saving grace being that he died not knowing that his Ferrari in running berserk killed 11 spectators leaning on the fence and injured many more, three of these dying later. With the whole field so close behind it was remarkable that no other cars were involved in the crash, and for those in the grandstands and pits, and around the rest of the circuit the race went on, details of the accident being unknown and unannounced by the organisers.


At the end of the second lap the order was Phil Hill, Ginther, Rodriguez, Baghetti and Brabham, with quite a gap before Moss appeared leading the two Porsches, Surtees, McLaren, the two BRMs, Ireland and Lewis. The four Ferraris up in front were not having it all their own way for Brabham was mixing it with them, the V8 Cooper-Climax being comfortably able to stay with the red care. Considering that Moss had never driven a works Lotus before, with its different handling and different gear-change, he was doing remarkably well, battling furiously with Gurney.


Already the race had settled into groups, the leading one having Brabham stirring up the four Ferraris, with Phil Hill leading most of the time, but Ginther occasionally taking a turn, though all four red cars were so closely grouped that the actual leader was academic. After a gap that-was widening slowly came Moss and Gurney as often as not side-by-side; and the rest of the time nose-to-tail, and they were followed at a length or two by Bonnier and McLaren.


On the ninth lap Brabham decided his engine had lost enough water and he pulled into the pits to retire before any damage was done, but he was well satisfied that that the V8 had the speed to stay with the Ferraris while it was running. With Brabham in the pits as the four Maranello cars finished the ninth lap in the order Ginther, Hill, Rodriguez and Baghetti, the race seemed over, and as there was no sign of any one of the four getting out on his own, or of any of them dropping back. It was just a question of waiting to see what “team orders” would produce.


At the end of 13 laps the four leading Ferraris went serenely by, still with Ginther leading from Phil Hill, though they had reversed positions a number of times in the preceding laps, and Rodriguez and Baghetti were keeping close behind them. They could be seen going down the back straight of the road circuit, towards the scene of the ghastly accident, but then only two of them appeared out of the South Turn and come up past the pits, these being Hill and Ginther. Shortly afterwards Rodriguez came into view, heading for the pits, and the nose cowling was taken off and mechanics worked about amongst the batteries and oil tank.


Moss went past with Gurney close behind and then Baghetti appeared and also headed for the pits, and a quick look under the engine cover and number 32 was wheeled away, the engine having broken. It was not long before the Rodriguez car was wheeled away with fuel-pump trouble, but something more serious was suspected. This sudden change in the situation left Phil Hill and Ginther out on their own, running nose-to-tail, but consciously aware that if two cars can blow-up then four can, and they began to take things pretty easy.


The Scuderia Serenissima pit signalled to Trintignant to come in and when he stopped Count Volpi told him the sad news that von Trips was dead and suggested he might like to withdraw from the race, but the little Frenchman could see no point in such a gesture and continued on with the race, the Cooper-Maserati going quite well for once.


By half distance, as the leaders went by the pits having completed 21 laps, the order was Phil Hill, Ginther, running in formation, then Moss just leading Gurney, the two of them less than 20sec behind the Ferraris, and following at intervals came McLaren, Brooks, Lewis, Salvadori, these being the ones on the same lap as the leaders.


Next time round Ginther had dropped back a lot and was obviously in trouble, and on the 24th lap he drew into the pits and another Ferrari was wheeled away with a broken engine. Now a Moss victory was a distinct possibility, for the battling 1.6sec and Porsche were only the length of the main straight behind the last remaining Ferrari, and Moss was leading Gurney more often than not now, clearly having got the measure of the Porsche driver.


As a rather lonely and worried Phil Hill went into the Curve Grande, Moss and Gurney were hurtling off the South Banking, and the gap was hovering around 20sec still. McLaren was running a lonely race Ian Brooks was beginning to get glimpses of young Lewis in the mirrors of his BRM, for the young man from Stroud was keeping up a very steady pace, driving immaculately, and slowly but surely gaining on the BRM, his Cooper-Climax sounding perfect.


The only encouragement that Phil Hill had was the knowledge that his car had a new engine, not stressed by practising, and he gradually speeded up and increased his lead to 28sec. Now it seemed that something was going wrong with the works Lotus, for Moss no longer led Gurney, though he was keeping just behind him, but on the 37th lap Moss drew into the pits and was forced to retire, for the left front-wheel bearing had given up and the wheel was flopping about on the stub axle. The continual leaning on this the outside wheel round all the right-hand corners and both bankings had been too much and the rollers had broken up.


For the first time since the start Gurney found himself on his own, and the 1961 Italian Grand Prix had two American drivers in full command once again, though this time on different cars. With the Ferrari pits keeping their fingers crossed, but sad in the knowledge of the death of von Trips, the leading Ferrari continued on its way.


On lap 40 Lewis was right behind Brooks, and the next time round be was in front but only by inches, and the BRM became glued to the tail of the Cooper, Phil Hill passed the pits for the last time and then went round the two banked turns and tip the final straight to receive a very welcome chequered flag. This was his second Italian Grand Prix win in succession, and the points gained made him unassailable World Champion, but not a happy one when he stopped and heard about the second lap tragedy.


Gurney was flagged into second place, with McLaren safely third, but the issue for fourth place was still open. On the banking for the last time could he seen the Cooper with the BRM almost touching its tail and as they came up the straight towards the finish Brooks pulled out of the slipstream as it 16 go by on the right, then changed his mind and pulled over to the left, crossing the line almost in a dead heat, but the-judges gave Lewis the verdict by-a matter of inches, placing him a most well deserved fourth, which must have made the organisers go away and eat humble-pie. A lap in arrears came Salvadori and two laps behind de Beaufort just led Bandini across the line, there being four more runners, making a total of 12 finishers out of 32 starters in what had been a hard and ruthless race.


Results


1st #2 Phil Hill Ferrari 156 #0002 2:03:13.0/ 43 laps

2nd #46 Dan Gurney Porsche 718 #718-203 +31.2sec

3rd #12 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax T55 #FI-11-61 +1:57.2sec

4th #60 Jack Lewis Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-6-61 +12sec

5th #26 Tony Brooks BRM-Climax P48/57 #572 +.1sec

6th #40 Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-2-61 +1 lap

7th #74 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche F4 #718-201 +2 laps

8th #62 Lorenzo Bandini Cooper-Maserati T53 #FI-13-61 +2 laps

9th #48 Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Maserati T51 +2 laps

10th #16 Tim Parnell Lotus-Climax 18 #904 +3 laps

11th #20 Henry Taylor Lotus-Climax 18/21 #918 +4 laps

12th #58 Renato Pirocchi Cooper-Maserati T51 #FII-13-59 +5 laps

DNF #28 Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 21 #933 36 laps/Wheel bearings

DNF #6 Richie Ginther Ferrari 156 #0004 23 laps/Engine

DNF #72 Gaetano Starrabba Lotus-Maserati 18 #905 19 laps/Engine

DNF #50 Nino Vaccarella de Tomaso-Alfa Romeo #F1-003 13 laps/Engine

DNF #8 Ricardo Rodriguez Ferrari 156 #0003 13 laps/Fuel pump

DNF #32 Giancarlo Baghetti Ferrari 156 #0006 13 laps/Engine

DNF #22 Masten Gregory Lotus-Climax 18/21 #917 11 laps/Rear wishbone

DNF #24 Graham Hill BRM-Climax P48/57 #571 10 laps/Valve

DNF #10 Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax T55 #FI-11-61 7 laps/Overheating

DNF #14 Brian Naylor JBW-Climax 6 laps/Engine

DNF #30 Jack Fairman Cooper-Climax T45 #FII-23-58 5 laps/Engine

DNF #38 Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 18/21 '912' 5 laps/Cracked chassis

DNF #42 John Surtees Cooper-Climax T53 #FI-1-61 2 laps/Accident

DNF #54 Roberto Bussinello de Tomaso-Alfa Romeo #F1-004 1 lap/Engine

DNF #52 Roberto Lippi de Tomaso-OSCA #F1-002 1 lap/Engine

DNF #56 Wolfgang Seidel Lotus-Climax 18 #373 1 lap/Engine

DNF #36 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 21 #934 1 lap/Accident

DNF #4 Wolfgang von Trips Ferrari 156 #0005 1 lap/Fatal accident

DNF #18 Gerry Ashmore Lotus-Climax 18 #919 0 laps/Accident

DNQ #68 André Pilette Emeryson-Climax #P Too slow


Images courtesy of Motorsport images and others (I have tried to avoid any of the truly horrific pictures of von Trips passing!)

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Late season


Phil Hill and Ferrari had already won all the trophies that was on offer so promptly withdrew from all further racing, understandable considering the immense cost of von Trips life. Many more interesting races continued regardless, firstly the Flugplatzrennen on 17th September at the very basic Zeltweg airfield circuit. Ireland lead home Clark and Surtees in a Lotus 1,2. Next up was the International Gold Cup at Oulton Park where Moss was unleashed in the Ferguson P99 four wheel drive. A damp track saw Moss lead home Brabham and McLaren in their works Coopers. The Lewis-Evans Trophy was held at Brands Hatch although many of the leading British entries were absent, Tony Marsh winning in his BRM-Climax.


World Championship F1 returned at the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen where a large crowd including Howard Hughes watched a fairly small number of British and German entries bulked up by several uncompetitive Coopers and Lotus entered for US pro’s such as Walt Hansgen, Roger Penske, Hap Sharp, Jim Hall and Lloyd Ruby. Brabham lead at the start although Moss powered through on lap one. Ireland, Graham Hill, Gurney, Gregory and McLaren in pursuit. Ireland spun and dropped to eleventh although by lap 10 recovered to run fourth. Brabham began to falter on lap 34 when his engine began to overheat and after a pitstop for more water, retired.


Moss was leading easily with a 40 second gap over Ireland although his oil pressure began to drop and when he was forced to pit and retire on lap 59, Ireland was now in the lead, Hill challenging until he too was forced to pit. Ireland took the win over Gurney and Brooks, it was his only world championship Grand Prix win and it was team Lotus first, it would also prove Moss last world championship race. The relatively minor Coppa Italia at Vallelunga was next up, Baghetti winning in his borrowed Porsche. The field split after this with some heading to NZ for the beginning of the Antipodean summer series and the rest to South Africa for their summer series.


The Rand GP saw only the Lotus and Porsche works teams compete, Clark winning from Taylor and Bonnier. The Natal GP saw Moss join the party althoughthe result was similar, Clark winning from Moss and Bonnier. Finally the 1961 South African GP was held on boxing day and saw the same result.