| 1968 Mexican Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | November 3, 1968 | ||
| Official name | VIIGran Premio de Mexico | ||
| Location | Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca,Mexico City,Mexico | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.000 km (3.107 miles) | ||
| Distance | 65 laps, 325.000 km (201.946 miles) | ||
| Weather | Sunny, Mild, Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Lotus-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:45.22 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Jo Siffert | Lotus-Ford | |
| Time | 1:44.23 on lap 52 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Lotus-Ford | ||
| Second | McLaren-Ford | ||
| Third | Lotus-Ford | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1968 Mexican Grand Prix was aFormula One motor race held at theCiudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca on November 3, 1968. It was race 12 of 12 in both the1968 World Championship of Drivers and the1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.
This race was to determine the World Drivers' Championship, contested between Britons Graham Hill in theLotus 49B-Ford and Jackie Stewart in theMatra MS10-Ford, and defending champion, New ZealanderDenny Hulme in theMcLaren M7A-Ford. The race was moved back a week so as not to clash with theMexico City Summer Olympics, which ended on October 26.
Hulme started with a mathematical chance of becoming world champion, but his McLaren broke a rear suspension member early, crashed, and caught fire.[1]Jo Siffert took the lead, but had to pit with a broken throttle cable.[citation needed] Stewart fell back when his engine started to misfire, his car's handling began going off, and had a fuel-feed problem.[citation needed] Hill won this race and his second Drivers' Championship, after Stewart fell back to seventh after an engine problem with his Matra.[2]
The Mexican government's effort to curb civil unrest led to a switch from military police to unarmed policemen and track marshals for crowd control; by race end, spectators were encroaching on the track itself.[2] This was one reason for the ultimate cancellation of future MexicanGrands Prix.[2]
Coming into this race, Graham Hill led the Drivers' Championship by 39 points ahead of his title rivals Stewart and Hulme, with both trailing their respective frontrunners in the championship by three points each. It was the first time in four years that at least three drivers were still in contention of winning the drivers' title heading into the season finale. If Hill won the title, he would have won his second championship title after clinching his first one six years prior, whilst Stewart had the chance to claim his maiden drivers' title. If Hulme won, he would have become the first driver sinceJack Brabham in 1960 to successfully defend his championship title.
The championship would have been won by either of the top three drivers in the following manner:
| Hill would have won if: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Graham Hill | Jackie Stewart |  Denny Hulme | |
| Pos. | 3rd or better | Any position | Any position |
| 4th | 3rd or lower | 2nd or lower | |
| 5th | |||
| 6th | 4th or lower | ||
| lower than 6th | 5th or lower | ||
| Stewart would have won if: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Jackie Stewart | Graham Hill | Denny Hulme | |
| Pos. | 1st | Any position | Any position |
| 2nd | 4th or lower | 3rd or lower | |
| 3rd | 6th or lower | 2nd or lower | |
| 4th | 7th or lower | 3rd or lower | |
| Hulme would have won if: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Denny Hulme | Graham Hill | Jackie Stewart | |
| Pos. | 1st | 4th or lower | Any position |
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Jo Siffert | Lotus-Ford | 1:45.22 | — |
| 2 | 6 | Chris Amon | Ferrari | 1:45.62 | +0.40 |
| 3 | 10 | Graham Hill | Lotus-Ford | 1:46.01 | +0.97 |
| 4 | 1 | Denny Hulme | McLaren-Ford | 1:46.04 | +0.82 |
| 5 | 14 |  Dan Gurney | McLaren-Ford | 1:46.29 | +1.07 |
| 6 | 5 | John Surtees | Honda | 1:46.49 | +1.27 |
| 7 | 15 | Jackie Stewart | Matra-Ford | 1:46.69 | +1.47 |
| 8 | 3 |  Jack Brabham | Brabham-Repco | 1:46.80 | +1.58 |
| 9 | 2 | Bruce McLaren | McLaren-Ford | 1:47.00 | +1.78 |
| 10 | 4 |  Jochen Rindt | Brabham-Repco | 1:47.07 | +1.85 |
| 11 | 12 |  Moisés Solana | Lotus-Ford | 1:47.67 | +2.45 |
| 12 | 8 | Pedro Rodríguez | BRM | 1:47.80 | +2.58 |
| 13 | 21 |  Jean-Pierre Beltoise | Matra | 1:48.38 | +3.16 |
| 14 | 11 | Jackie Oliver | Lotus-Ford | 1:48.44 | +3.22 |
| 15 | 7 |  Jacky Ickx | Ferrari | 1:49.24 | +4.02 |
| 16 | 23 | Johnny Servoz-Gavin | Matra-Ford | 1:49.27 | +4.05 |
| 17 | 18 | Vic Elford | Cooper-BRM | 1:49.48 | +4.26 |
| 18 | 17 |  Jo Bonnier | Honda | 1:49.96 | +4.74 |
| 19 | 22 | Piers Courage | BRM | 1:50.28 | +5.06 |
| 20 | 9 | Henri Pescarolo | Matra | 1:50.43 | +5.21 |
| 21 | 19 | Lucien Bianchi | Cooper-BRM | 1:50.57 | +5.35 |
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Graham Hill | Lotus-Ford | 65 | 1:56:43.95 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | 2 | Bruce McLaren | McLaren-Ford | 65 | + 1:19.32 | 9 | 6 |
| 3 | 11 | Jackie Oliver | Lotus-Ford | 65 | + 1:40.65 | 14 | 4 |
| 4 | 8 | Pedro Rodríguez | BRM | 65 | + 1:41.09 | 12 | 3 |
| 5 | 17 | Jo Bonnier | Honda | 64 | + 1 Lap | 18 | 2 |
| 6 | 16 | Jo Siffert | Lotus-Ford | 64 | + 1 Lap | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | 15 | Jackie Stewart | Matra-Ford | 64 | + 1 Lap | 7 | |
| 8 | 18 | Vic Elford | Cooper-BRM | 63 | + 2 Laps | 17 | |
| 9 | 9 | Henri Pescarolo | Matra | 62 | + 3 Laps | 20 | |
| 10 | 3 | Jack Brabham | Brabham-Repco | 59 | Oil pressure | 8 | |
| Ret | 23 | Johnny Servoz-Gavin | Matra-Ford | 57 | Ignition | 16 | |
| Ret | 14 | Dan Gurney | McLaren-Ford | 28 | Suspension | 5 | |
| Ret | 22 | Piers Courage | BRM | 25 | Engine | 19 | |
| Ret | 19 | Lucien Bianchi | Cooper-BRM | 21 | Engine | 21 | |
| Ret | 5 | John Surtees | Honda | 17 | Overheating | 6 | |
| Ret | 6 | Chris Amon | Ferrari | 16 | Transmission | 2 | |
| Ret | 12 | Moisés Solana | Lotus-Ford | 14 | Broken wing | 11 | |
| Ret | 1 | Denny Hulme | McLaren-Ford | 10 | Suspension | 4 | |
| Ret | 21 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise | Matra | 10 | Suspension | 13 | |
| Ret | 7 | Jacky Ickx | Ferrari | 3 | Ignition | 15 | |
| Ret | 4 | Jochen Rindt | Brabham-Repco | 2 | Ignition | 10 | |
| DNS | 17 | Jo Bonnier | McLaren-BRM | 0 | Engine | ||
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| Previous race: 1968 United States Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1968 season | Next race: 1969 South African Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1967 Mexican Grand Prix | Mexican Grand Prix | Next race: 1969 Mexican Grand Prix |
