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The1962 Formula One season was the 16th season ofFIAFormula One motor racing. It featured the 13thWorld Championship of Drivers, the 5thInternational Cup for F1 Manufacturers, and numerous non-championshipFormula One races. The World Championship was contested over nine races between 20 May and 29 December 1962.
Graham Hill driving forBRM won his first Drivers' Championship when rivalJim Clark retired from the last race.[1] BRM also won the Manufacturers' Championship for the first time, and it would be the only time.[2]
Double World ChampionJack Brabham formed his own team and debuted theBrabham BT3 in theUnited States Grand Prix, becoming the first ever F1 driver to score championship points in a car bearing his own name.
Ricardo Rodríguez suffered a fatal crash duringpractice for his home race, the non-championshipMexican Grand Prix. He had been the youngest everdriver forScuderia Ferrari, but also became the youngest ever F1 driver to die.
The followingteams anddrivers competed in the 1962FIAWorld Championship. All teams competed with tyres supplied byDunlop.
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TheDutch Grand Prix hosted the season opener for the first time and was granted the honorary designation ofEuropean Grand Prix for this year.Lotus turned up with a revolutionary new chassis, theLotus 25 being the first car built around analuminiummonocoque instead of aspace frame. However, it wasJohn Surtees who tookpole position in the privately runLola, ahead ofGraham Hill forBRM. Lotus'sJim Clark qualified third, but this meant he had the inside line to the first corner and he managed to take the lead.Dan Gurney in thePorsche had a wonderful start from eighth to take third behind Hill and ahead of Surtees. The top three were steady in the opening phase, but then, both Clark and Gurney ran into technical troubles. Around the same time, the frontwishbone broke on Surtees's Lola and he had a heavy crash but escaped unhurt. Graham Hill led away and scored the victory.Bruce McLaren (Cooper) was running second before he retired with a brokengearbox. Reigning championPhil Hill (Ferrari) was running third at the time, inheriting second but later being overtaken byTrevor Taylor (Lotus).[5]
Jim Clark scored his first careerpole in theMonaco Grand Prix, ahead of Graham Hill and Bruce McLaren. But due to a confusing start procedure, it wasWilly Mairesse in the Ferrari who went by, touching wheels with Clark and Hill in the process and locking up his wheels into the first corner. A chain reaction led to an accident with six drivers, three of whom retired on the spot. Mairesse took the lead but spun his car in the secondhairpin, making the order at the end of the first lap: McLaren, Graham Hill, Phil Hill. McLaren was relegated back to second by lap 7, and then third by Clark, who was recovering from a bad start, was setting multiple fastest laps and started challenging Hill for the lead. On lap 55, however, hisclutch gave out and he had to retire. But Hill was not yet out of the woods, with his BRM engine starting to smoke and McLaren, back in second, getting ever closer. On lap 93, Hill's engine gave up with a bang, although he still scored a point, as he was classified in sixth. McLaren was challenged by Phil Hill but held on to score his first win in two years.Lorenzo Bandini finished third in his first race for Ferrari.[6]
TheBelgian Grand Prix saw Graham Hillqualify on pole, ahead of McLaren, Taylor and home hero Mairesse. In the first phase of the race, those four were fighting over the lead in close combat and their relative positions changed all the while. Clark had started in twelfth, but joined the leading group. On lap 11, Clark set the fastest lap and took the lead, with teammate Taylor holding back their rivals. Clark held on to take the win, but getting up to the final corner of lap 26, Taylor crashed with Mairesse, the Lotus cutting down atelegraph pole and the Ferrari landing upside down on fire. Both drivers were flung out and suffered minor injuries. Graham Hill finished second, Phil Hill third.Ricardo Rodríguez came home in fourth, becoming the youngest F1 driver ever to score points. This record stood untilJenson Button broke it in the2000 Brazilian Grand Prix.[7]
In the Drivers' Championship,Graham Hill (BRM) was leading with 16 points, ahead of1961 championPhil Hill (Ferrari) with 14 andJim Clark (Lotus) with 9. In the Manufacturers' Championship, BRM went ahead with 16 points, ahead of Lotus (15) and Ferrari (14).
TheFrench Grand Prix sawJim Clarkqualify onpole position in hisLotus, ahead of championship leaderGraham Hill forBRM andBruce McLaren forCooper. AlthoughFerrari had withdrawn from the event due tostrike actions,[8] the first three rows were occupied by seven different teams and five different constructors. Fifth-startingJohn Surtees was in second after the first lap and challenged Hill for the lead, but had to pit when his engine had trouble picking up fuel.Jackie Lewis was lapped by Hill but then suddenly lost hisbrakes andrear-ended the leader. Clark took the lead, but was caught by Hill within three laps, confirming to the Lotus team that their car was not running well, and they decided to retire from the race. Further drama ensued when Hill's BRMengine had jammed with ten laps to go, paving the way forDan Gurney taking his first andPorsche's only win.South AfricanTony Maggs was second for Cooper, scoring his first podium, andRichie Ginther third for BRM.[9]
During theBritish Grand Prix, Clark scored his third pole position of the year, this time ahead of Surtees andIreland. The latter, however, could not get his Lotus to fire up and was passed at by everyone at the start. McLaren took over third place. The top three remained unchanged throughout the race, with Clark taking an unchallenged win and even getting close to lapping championship leader Hill, who came home in fourth.[10]
TheGerman Grand Prix saw the debut ofBrabham's first F1 chassis, designed byRon Tauranac.Scuderia Ferrari, having recovered fromstrikes inItaly,[8] brought an upgraded chassis and gave it toLorenzo Bandini to try it out. Duringpractice,Carel Godin de Beaufort was running hisPorsche with a largecamera mounted to the rear by theGermantelevision crew. The device fell off, however, and championship leader Hill was the unlucky victim, unable to avoid it, breaking his oil lines and quickly spinning off the track. Tony Maggs then slid on Hill's oil and had a similar accident, but both drivers were unhurt. Gurney started on pole, ahead of Hill and Clark, but the race was delayed for over an hour, after a suddendownpour made the track incredibly slippery. When the race got underway, Clark stalled his engine and fell back, but he passed 17 cars on the first lap. The leading pair went side-by-side as they started the third lap and it was Hill who came out on top. Surtees had inherited third place from Clark and this top three got away from the rest. Surtees got second place when Gurney'sbattery came loose and theAmerican had to secure by hand. At half-distance, Clark had recovered to fourth place, mastering the wet conditions and gaining at least five seconds per lap on the leading trio. After almost losing the car twice at high speed, however, theScot settled down. Surtees tried to push Hill into making a mistake but theBrit held on, taking the win, with Surtees and Gurney finishing within the next five seconds.[11]
In the Drivers' Championship,Graham Hill (BRM) was still holding onto the lead with 28 points, ahead ofJim Clark (Lotus) with 21 andJohn Surtees (Lola) with 19. In the Manufacturers' Championship, BRM were leading with 31, ahead of Lotus (27) andCooper (23).
TheItalian Grand Prix was run on theroad circuit ofMonza, abandoning the fearsomebankedoval.Jim Clark, second in the championship,qualified onpole position, ahead of championship leaderGraham Hill and his teammateRichie Ginther. Hill took the lead at the start and led a group eight cars.Ferrari had brought five cars to their home race but they were all down in the second group. Clark pitted withtransmission problems, while Hill managed to create some space between him and the rest. BRM scored a comfortable 1–2, while close fighting and a light rain shower provided exciting battles, from whichBruce McLaren came up to complete the podium.[12]
F1 moved overseas for theUnited States Grand Prix atWatkins Glen. In repeat of this year'sFrench GP and last year'sUS GP, Ferrari withdrew from this race and the next because of ongoingstrikes inItaly.[8] Clark qualified on pole, ahead of Ginther and Hill, and the Lotus was fastest at the start. Hill went into second, trying everything to stay with his rival. This paid off on lap 12, when Clark was held up by a backmarker and Hill swooped by. On lap 19, however, Clark snatched the lead back and held on to take the win, ten seconds ahead of Hill. The rest of the field, all at least a lap down, were led by third-placed McLaren.[13]
Coming to the season finale, theSouth African Grand Prix, Clark had a nine-point deficit to Hill. If Clark would manage to win the race, then Hill could finish second at best, which meant that his result would not count - only the five best results of the season counted towards the championship. This would result in a tie on points, and Clark would win the title on countback - he would have four wins against Hill's three.
Clark started off well, scoring his sixth pole position of the season, with Hill starting alongside him. He held the lead at the start and then pulled away by a second per lap. He had an immense lead of half a minute when, suddenly, bluesmoke started pouring from his engine. After stopping in thepits, it was found that a bolt was missing from thecrankcase, which had allowedoil to leak out. The smoke was caused by the oil leaking on theexhaust. The Lotus mechanics did not have a fix, which meant Clark had to retire and give up the championship. Hill could cruise to the finish but still won the race almost 50 seconds ahead of McLaren and home heroTony Maggs.[14]
The Drivers' Championship was settled withGraham Hill (BRM) on 42 points, winning his first title, ahead ofJim Clark (Lotus) on 30 andBruce McLaren (Cooper) on 27. The Manufacturers' Championship was won by BRM with 42 points, ahead of Lotus (36) and Cooper (29).
Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers. Only the best five results counted towards the championship.
The International Cup for F1 Manufacturers only counted the points of the highest-finishing driver for each race. Additionally, like the Drivers' Championship, only the best five results counted towards the cup.
Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points were awarded in the following system:
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Source:[15] | ||||||
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| Pos. | Manufacturer | NED | MON | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | ITA | USA | RSA | Pts.[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BRM | 1 | (6) | 2 | (3) | (4) | 1 | 1 | (2) | 1 | 42 (56) |
| 2 | Lotus-Climax | 2 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 1 | (5) | 36 (38) |
| 3 | Cooper-Climax | (5) | 1 | Ret | 2 | 3 | (5) | 3 | (3) | 2 | 29 (37) |
| 4 | Lola-Climax | Ret | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 19 |
| 5 | Porsche | 6 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 3 | (6) | 5 | 11 | 18 (19) |
| 6 | Ferrari | 3 | 2 | 3 | WD | Ret | 6 | 4 | WD | 18 | |
| 7 | Brabham-Climax | Ret | 4 | 4 | 6 | ||||||
| 8 | Lotus-BRM | DNQ | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 12 | 6 | 1 | ||
| — | Emeryson-Climax | NC | 11 | Ret | WD | 0 | |||||
| — | ENB-Maserati | 16 | 0 | ||||||||
| — | Gilby-BRM | WD | Ret | DNQ | 0 | ||||||
| — | LDS-Alfa Romeo | Ret | 0 | ||||||||
| — | Cooper-Alfa Romeo | Ret | 0 | ||||||||
| — | De Tomaso | DNQ | 0 | ||||||||
| — | De Tomaso-OSCA | DNQ | 0 | ||||||||
| Pos. | Manufacturer | NED | MON | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | ITA | USA | RSA | Pts. |
The following Formula One races which did not count towards the World Championship of Drivers or the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, were also held in 1962.
