17th season of FIA Formula One motor racing
The
1963 Formula One season
was the 17th season of
FIA
Formula One
motor racing. It featured the 14th
World Championship of Drivers
, the 6th
International Cup for F1 Manufacturers
, and numerous non-championship
Formula One
races. The World Championship was contested over ten races between 26 May and 28 December 1963.
Jim Clark
driving for
Lotus
won his first Drivers' Championship with three races to go.
[1]
He won seven races in the championship, a number that would not be beaten until
1988
, when
Ayrton Senna
won eight, and a win percentage that nearly beat
Alberto Ascari
's record from
1952
. Lotus also won the Manufacturers' Championship for the first time.
[2]
Every
pole position
and race in the 1963 championship were won by British drivers, the first time that this was achieved by any single nation. (
Italy
is sometimes considered to have achieved this feat in
1952
, but this only goes if the
Indianapolis 500
is excluded from the statistic.)
Teams and drivers
[
edit
]
The following
teams
and
drivers
competed in the 1963
FIA
World Championship
. All teams competed with tyres supplied by
Dunlop
.
Entrant
|
Constructor
|
Chassis
|
Engine
|
Driver
|
Rounds
|
Brabham Racing Organisation
|
Lotus
-
Climax
|
25
|
Climax FWMV 1.5 V8
|
Jack Brabham
|
1
|
Brabham
-
Climax
|
BT7
BT3
|
2?10
|
Dan Gurney
|
All
|
Owen Racing Organisation
|
BRM
|
P57
P61
|
BRM
P56 1.5
V8
|
Richie Ginther
|
All
|
Graham Hill
|
All
|
Cooper Car Company
|
Cooper
-
Climax
|
T66
|
Climax FWMV 1.5 V8
|
Bruce McLaren
|
All
|
Tony Maggs
|
All
|
Team Lotus
|
Lotus
-
Climax
|
25
|
Climax FWMV 1.5 V8
|
Jim Clark
|
All
|
Trevor Taylor
|
1?6, 8?10
|
Peter Arundell
|
4
|
Mike Spence
|
7
|
Pedro Rodriguez
|
8?9
|
R.R.C. Walker Racing Team
|
Cooper
-
Climax
|
T60
T66
|
Climax FWMV 1.5 V8
|
Jo Bonnier
|
All
|
British Racing Partnership
|
Lotus
-
BRM
|
24
|
BRM
P56 1.5
V8
|
Jim Hall
|
1?9
|
Innes Ireland
|
1, 6
|
BRP
-
BRM
|
Mk 1
|
2?5, 7
|
Reg Parnell Racing
|
Lola
-
Climax
|
Mk4A
|
Climax FWMV 1.5 V8
|
Chris Amon
|
1?7
|
Maurice Trintignant
|
1
|
Lucien Bianchi
|
2
|
Mike Hailwood
|
7
|
Masten Gregory
|
8?9
|
Lotus
-
Climax
|
24
|
Climax FWMV 1.5 V8
|
Maurice Trintignant
|
4
|
Mike Hailwood
|
5
|
Lotus
-
BRM
|
BRM
P56 1.5
V8
|
Masten Gregory
|
5
|
Rodger Ward
|
8
|
Hap Sharp
|
8?9
|
Chris Amon
|
9
|
Scuderia Ferrari
SpA SEFAC
|
Ferrari
|
156
|
Ferrari
178 1.5
V6
|
Willy Mairesse
|
1?2, 6
|
John Surtees
|
All
|
Ludovico Scarfiotti
|
3?4
|
Lorenzo Bandini
|
7?10
|
Bernard Collomb
|
Lotus
-
Climax
|
24
|
Climax FWMV 1.5 V8
|
Bernard Collomb
|
1, 6
|
Siffert Racing Team
|
Lotus
-
BRM
|
24
|
BRM
P56 1.5
V8
|
Jo Siffert
|
1?9
|
Scirocco Powell Racing Cars
|
Scirocco
-
BRM
|
SP
|
BRM
P56 1.5
V8
|
Tony Settember
|
2, 4?7
|
Ian Burgess
|
5?6
|
Automobili Turismo e Sport
|
ATS
|
100
|
ATS
100 1.5
V8
|
Phil Hill
|
2?3, 7?9
|
Giancarlo Baghetti
|
2?3, 7?9
|
Ecurie Maarsbergen
|
Porsche
|
718
|
Porsche
547/3 1.5
F4
|
Carel Godin de Beaufort
|
2?3, 5?10
|
Gerhard Mitter
|
3, 6
|
Ecurie Filipinetti
|
Lotus
-
BRM
|
24
|
BRM
P56 1.5
V8
|
Phil Hill
|
4
|
Scuderia Centro Sud
|
BRM
|
P57
|
BRM
P56 1.5
V8
|
Lorenzo Bandini
|
4?6
|
Maurice Trintignant
|
7
|
Moises Solana
|
9
|
Cooper
-
Climax
|
T60
|
Climax FWMV 1.5 V8
|
Mario de Araujo Cabral
|
6?7
|
Cooper
-
Maserati
|
T53
|
Maserati
6-1500 1.5
L4
|
Ernesto Brambilla
|
7
|
Tim Parnell
|
Lotus
-
BRM
|
24
|
BRM
P56 1.5
V8
|
Masten Gregory
|
4, 7
|
Lola
-
Climax
|
Mk4
|
Climax FWMV 1.5 V8
|
John Campbell-Jones
|
5
|
Lotus
-
Climax
|
18/21
|
Climax FWMV 1.5 V8
|
Andre Pilette
|
6
|
Tim Parnell
|
6
|
DW Racing Enterprises
|
Lola
-
Climax
|
Mk4
|
Climax FWMV 1.5 V8
|
Bob Anderson
|
5, 7
|
Ian Raby Racing
|
Gilby
-
BRM
|
62
|
BRM
P56 1.5
V8
|
Ian Raby
|
5?7
|
Kurt Kuhnke
|
Lotus
-
Borgward
|
18
|
Borgward
1500 RS 1.5
L4
|
Kurt Kuhnke
|
6
|
Scuderia Settecolli
|
De Tomaso
-
Ferrari
|
F1
|
Ferrari
178 1.5
V6
|
Roberto Lippi
|
7
|
Andre Pilette
|
Lotus
-
Climax
|
18/21
|
Climax FPF 1.5 L4
|
Andre Pilette
|
7
|
Canadian Stebro Racing
|
Stebro
-
Ford
|
Mk IV
|
Ford
109E 1.5
L4
|
Peter Broeker
|
8
|
Frank Dochnal
|
Cooper
-
Climax
|
T51
|
Climax FPF 1.5 L4
|
Frank Dochnal
|
9
|
Lawson Organisation
|
Lotus
-
Climax
|
21
|
Climax FPF 1.5 L4
|
Ernie Pieterse
|
10
|
Selby Auto Spares
|
Lotus
-
BRM
|
24
|
BRM
P56 1.5
V8
|
Paddy Driver
|
10
|
Otelle Nucci
|
LDS
-
Alfa Romeo
|
Mk 1
|
Alfa Romeo
Giulietta 1.5
L4
|
Doug Serrurier
|
10
|
Alfa Special
-
Alfa Romeo
|
Special
|
Peter de Klerk
|
10
|
John Love
|
Cooper
-
Climax
|
T55
|
Climax FPF 1.5 L4
|
John Love
|
10
|
Sam Tingle
|
LDS
-
Alfa Romeo
|
Mk 1
|
Alfa Romeo
Giulietta 1.5
L4
|
Sam Tingle
|
10
|
Ted Lanfear
|
Lotus
-
Ford
|
22
|
Ford
109E 1.5
L4
|
Brausch Niemann
|
10
|
David Prophet
|
Brabham
-
Ford
|
BT6
|
Ford
109E 1.5
L4
|
David Prophet
|
10
|
Scuderia Lupini
|
Cooper
-
Maserati
|
T51
|
Maserati
6-1500 1.5
L4
|
Trevor Blokdyk
|
10
|
Team and driver changes
[
edit
]
Mid-season changes
[
edit
]
Calendar
[
edit
]
Round
|
Grand Prix
|
Circuit
|
Date
|
1
|
Monaco Grand Prix
|
Circuit de Monaco
,
Monte Carlo
|
26 May
|
2
|
Belgian Grand Prix
|
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
,
Stavelot
|
9 June
|
3
|
Dutch Grand Prix
|
Circuit Zandvoort
,
Zandvoort
|
23 June
|
4
|
French Grand Prix
|
Reims-Gueux
,
Gueux
|
30 June
|
5
|
British Grand Prix
|
Silverstone Circuit
,
Silverstone
|
20 July
|
6
|
German Grand Prix
|
Nurburgring
,
Nurburg
|
4 August
|
7
|
Italian Grand Prix
|
Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
,
Monza
|
8 September
|
8
|
United States Grand Prix
|
Watkins Glen International
,
New York
|
6 October
|
9
|
Mexican Grand Prix
|
Magdalena Mixhuca
,
Mexico City
|
27 October
|
10
|
South African Grand Prix
|
Prince George Circuit
,
East London
|
28 December
|
Calendar changes
[
edit
]
Championship report
[
edit
]
Rounds 1 to 3
[
edit
]
The
Monaco Grand Prix
received the honorary title of
European Grand Prix
and, more importantly, functioned as the 1963 season opener. With little driver changes in the front-running teams and constructors withholding to introduce new designs to the narrow streets of
Monte Carlo
, the battle between the
1962
championship protagonists was expected to restart. Only five drivers were guaranteed a starting place: the previous World Champions or winners of the
Monaco Grand Prix
. The rest had to fight in
qualifying
over the remaining eleven spaces. 1962's runner-up
Jim Clark
managed this with ease in his
Lotus
-
Climax
. He posted the fastest practice time and started the race on
pole position
. Reigning champion
Graham Hill
started second in his
BRM
, while
John Surtees
(
Ferrari
) and
Richie Ginther
(BRM). Hill and Ginther took the lead at the start, but the first nine cars kept going nose-to-tail. Clark managed to get past Hill on lap 7, but then went wide at the Station hairpin and going down to third once again. He tried again and the lead changes hands multiple times, before Clark went ahead definitively and increased his lead to 17 seconds at three-quarters race-distance. Then suddenly, his
gearbox
jammed and his
wheels
locked. Hill was gifted the win, ahead of teammate Ginther and
Bruce McLaren
in the
Cooper
.
[3]
The
Belgian Grand Prix
was run at
Spa-Francorchamps
, one of the fastest circuits of the year, with the 1.5
litre
cars running full
throttle
for some three minutes per lap. Clark was still suffering from gearbox issues, so Hill took pole position, ahead of
Dan Gurney
(
Brabham
) and local hero
Willy Mairesse
(Ferrari). Clark started eighth, but somehow, managed to take the lead before the first corner was reached. Hill followed him and the pair had a 15 second lead after the first lap. The race was run in very wet conditions and Clark had the upper-hand, stretching out a lead of his own to almost 30 seconds at half-distance. Then when Hill's gearbox broke, his win looked sealed, expect the heaviest storm of the day flooded the track. Five drivers crashed and it was discussed to stop the race, but Clark cautiously completed the laps, ahead of McLaren and Gurney.
[4]
Moving north some 300 km (190 mi),
Circuit Zandvoort
hosted the
Dutch Grand Prix
. Clark started on pole, ahead of Hill and McLaren. The three arrived side-by-side at Tarzan corner, but the positions were unchanged. Brabham had started fourth but got up to second while his teammate Gurney drew everyone's attention with a heroic recovery drive after a bad start. Hill got back up to second, but his BRM was overheating. Gurney had climbed to fourth, but a
strut
underneath the car had come loose and a
pit stop
brought him back down the order. Hill's engine had enough on lap 58 and he was forced to pit, letting Surtees into second and Gurney up to third. The latter had been working wonders again, but Clark, meanwhile, was a lap ahead of everyone else. He won the race to make it a
"grand slam"
, ahead of Gurney and Surtees, a late spin by the Ferrari driver gave Gurney a deserved place as 'best-of-the-rest'.
[5]
In the Drivers' Championship,
Jim Clark
(
Lotus
) was leading with 18 points, ahead of
Richie Ginther
(
BRM
with 11 and
Bruce McLaren
(
Cooper
) and
Dan Gurney
(
Brabham
), both with 10. Lotus was leading the Manufacturers' Championship with 19 points, ahead of BRM with 14 and Cooper and Brabham with 10.
Rounds 4 to 7
[
edit
]
Championship leader
Jim Clark
scored another
pole position
at the
French Grand Prix
, ahead of
Graham Hill
and
Dan Gurney
. At the start, Hill stalled his engine, along with
Masten Gregory
and the unrelated
Phil Hill
, but they were allowed to be push-started without further consequence, which was a diversion from the normal rules by the French race director. Behind Clark, a group of
Brabhams
and
BRMs
were fighting over second place. A couple of laps later, a series of retirements had changed the picture, and Clark's engine was not reaching full
rpm
either.
Jack Brabham
was catching the leading
Lotus
, but when the rain fell, Clark was again the fastest man on track and took the chequered flag to complete another
"grand slam"
and a
hattrick
of wins. When an electrical wire had come loose, Brabham's engine died. Although he could restart it, second place was now up for grabs. Hill took first advantage but his
clutch
slipped and it was
Tony Maggs
for
Cooper
that was the first to finish behind the almighty Clark. During the race, the stewards decided to
penalise
the three drivers that stalled on the grid by adding a minute to their race time.
[6]
Hill was still classified as third, but at a later point, it was decided to withhold his championship points. No points were awarded for third place.
[7]
For the
British Grand Prix
at
Silverstone
, Clark scored a fourth consecutive pole position, ahead of Gurney and Hill. Clark bogged down at the start, but he was back in front after just four laps. Brabham was the first of a group tightly fighting over second place. Gurney took over when Brabham's engine blew up. The race went on without incidents until Gurney's engine blew up on lap 60 and spread oil across the track. Hill went into second place before he starting running out of
fuel
, letting Surtees into second and coasting over the line in third place. Clark scored his fourth win in a row.
[8]
Clark looked unstoppable going into the
German Grand Prix
, putting his Lotus on pole once again, ahead of Surtees and
Bandini
(BRM). Clark held the lead at the start and was expected to run away with it, but sixth-starting
Richie Ginther
overtook him and so did Surtees, later in the first lap. Surtees and Clark soon passed Ginther, but still, it was a Ferrari in front and not a Lotus. And that remained for a while, with Clark going faster through the corners, but his Climax engine cutting out a cylinder, slowing him down on the straights. Graham Hill retired with a failing gearbox. When Surtees set a new lap record, Clark eased off to at least ensure a second place. Surtees delivered Ferrari's first win in two years. Ginther finished third. There were multiple heavy crashes during the race: Surtees's teamamte
Willy Mairesse
came off worst with a broken arm.
[9]
Clark was now 20 points ahead in the championship, and he would clinch the title if he won the
Italian Grand Prix
, no matter the results of his rivals. Unlike in
1962
, the organisers had planned to use the full 10 km (6.2 mi)
Monza circuit
, including the oval.
Bob Anderson
crashed his
Lola
in
practice
and described it the safest accident he could wish to have. However, the
police
went round the track and noted that there were no fences on the inside of the oval to protect spectators. The organisers quickly agreed, seeing that there was a petition going to refuse the race unless the banking was eliminated, and declared to use the road circuit only for the rest of the weekend. Surtees qualified on pole in front of Ferrari's home crowd, ahead of Hill and Clark. Hill got the best start and was followed by Clark, before the traditional
slipstreaming
commenced and the lead changes hands multiple times through the next laps. Soon, though, Surtees and Clark were on their own, and then the Ferrari engine blew up. This gifted Clark the lead, but without a slipstream, the Climax engine was not up for it, so Hill and Gurney caught him and they formed a new trio at the front. But Hill's clutch gave out just after half-distance and Gurney's BRM had trouble with its fuel system, so Clark was left alone once more and his pace dropped. By this point, however, he was a lap ahead of second-placed Ginther and he cruised to the finish, to take the win and claim the 1963 championship.
[10]
Jim Clark
(
Lotus
) led the championship with 51 points, ahead of
Richie Ginther
(
BRM
, 24) and
John Surtees
(
Ferrari
, 22). On the basis of points, Ginther could still get level with Clark, but only the six best results in the season would count towards the championship, so on the minute chance tat he would win the last three races, a number of third and second place finishes would be discounted. It marked Clark's and Lotus's first titles, and it was the first time that a driver secured the title with three races to go. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Lotus stood on 51 points, ahead of BRM (28) and Ferrari (22).
Rounds 8 to 10
[
edit
]
Even with the title in the pocket,
Jim Clark
was not easing off and fought for
pole position
for the
United States Grand Prix
, but it was
1962
champion
Graham Hill
that snatched it by a tenth of a second. His rivals in the hunt for second position in the championship,
John Surtees
and
Richie Ginther
, started on the second row. At the start, Clark's engine stalled, so Hill was unchallenged into the first corner. The
Lotus
was pushed to life and the freshly crowned champion started his race over a lap down. On lap 7, Surtees took the lead from Hill and
Dan Gurney
took third place from Ginther. Hill followed the
Ferrari
but had had enough of it by lap 30. He tried to overtake twice, but both times, Surtees repassed him on the straight. By lap 80, Hill was falling back with handling problems, but Surtees came into the pits with a failing engine. The
BRMs
of Hill and Ginther finished 1-2, ahead of Clark in third, whose engine was
misfiring
but had seen more than ten other drivers retiring.
[11]
Clark was back on top for the
Mexican Grand Prix
, he started ahead of Surtees and Hill. Ginther, second in the championship standings, started fifth. At the start, Hill missed a gear and moved down to eighth. Fourth-starting Gurney moved up to second. Surtees
pitted
on lap 19 and was
disqualified
for needing a
push-start
from his
mechanics
. Double World Champion
Jack Brabham
inherited third place and managed to get past Ginther. Clark finished an lonely race at the top, almost a lap ahead of Brabham and Ginther. Hill finished fourth.
[12]
Going into the final race, the
South African Grand Prix
, Ginther (29 points), Hill (25) and Surtees (22) could all still finish runner-up in the championship. The deal would be done if one of them could beat Clark to victory, but the champion started on pole position. Surtees started fourth, was up to second at the end of the first lap, but was back to fourth on lap 5. He suddenly retired on lap 43 when his engine blew up. Brabham had started second but fell back with a loss of power, while teammate Gurney was running a comfortable second, actually keeping up with Clark but not able to do more than that. Ginther's
driveshaft
failed on lap 44, letting Hill into third place and gifting the
Brit
second place in the championship.
[13]
The Drivers' Championship ended with
Jim Clark
(
Lotus
) on 54 points, winning his first title, ahead of
BRM
teammates
Graham Hill
and
Richie Ginther
, both scoring 29 points, but the
Brit
getting second place on
countback
. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Lotus gathered 54 points, winning their first title as well, ahead of BRM with 36 and
Brabham
with 28.
Results and standings
[
edit
]
Grands Prix
[
edit
]
World Drivers' Championship standings
[
edit
]
Points were awarded on a 9?6?4?3?2?1 basis at each round, with only the best six round results retained.
|
Key
|
Colour
|
Result
|
Gold
|
Winner
|
Silver
|
Second place
|
Bronze
|
Third place
|
Green
|
Other points position
|
Blue
|
Other classified position
|
Not classified, finished (NC)
|
Purple
|
Not classified, retired (Ret)
|
Red
|
Did not qualify (DNQ)
|
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
|
Black
|
Disqualified (DSQ)
|
White
|
Did not start (DNS)
|
Race cancelled (C)
|
Blank
|
Did not practice (DNP)
|
Excluded (EX)
|
Did not arrive (DNA)
|
Withdrawn (WD)
|
Did not enter (cell empty)
|
Text formatting
|
Meaning
|
Bold
|
Pole position
|
Italics
|
Fastest lap
|
|
- Italics
indicate fastest lap
- Bold
indicates pole position
‡ No points awarded as Hill's car was pushed at the start line.
[15]
International Cup for F1 Manufacturers standings
[
edit
]
Points were awarded on a 9?6?4?3?2?1 basis at each round with only the best six round results retained. Only the best placed car from each manufacturer at each round was eligible to score points.
- Bold
results counted to championship totals.
‡ No points awarded as Hill's car was pushed at the start line.
[15]
Non-championship races
[
edit
]
Other Formula One races, which did not count towards the World Championship, were also held in 1963.
Notes and references
[
edit
]