The1966 Formula One season was the 20th season ofFIAFormula One motor racing. It featured the 17thWorld Championship of Drivers, the 9thInternational Cup for F1 Manufacturers, and four non-championship races open to Formula One cars. The World Championship was contested over nine races between 22 May and 23 October 1966.
Jack Brabham won the Drivers' Championship in aBrabham-Repco.[1] It was his third and last championship. Brabham was also awarded the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, their first title.[2]
John Taylor collided withFormula Two driverJacky Ickx during theGerman Grand Prix. Taylor was badly burned in the accident and succumbed to his injuries four weeks later.
The season saw "the return to power", with the FIA doubling the maximum allowedengine displacement from 1.5 to 3litres.
The followingteams anddrivers competed in the 1966FIAWorld Championship.
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Dubbed "the return to power", the new formula of 3litrenaturally-aspirated engines was met with enthusiasm. Not all projects were finished in time for the start of the season, however.Coventry Climax had decided to quit their business of building racing engines, despite winning their latest championship in1965, so mostBritish teams had to find new contracts:[5]
Two teams made their debut this year:
The 1966 season started off with theMonaco Grand Prix. The twisty track seemed for a large part to negate the difference inpower between the 3litreFerrari engines and the 2litreBRM andClimax engines (used byLotuses).1963 and1965 championJim Clarkqualified onpole position in the Lotus-Climax, ahead of1964 championJohn Surtees for Ferrari. On the second row started the two BRMs ofJackie Stewart and1962 championGraham Hill. At the start, Clark's car got jammed in firstgear and was passed by everyone. Surtees and Stewart created a gap to the rest of the field. Under normal circumstances, the Ferrari would soon leave the BRM behind, but Surtees'rear axle failed and he retired on lap 16. Stewart was out on his own, followed byJochen Rindt in theCooper-Maserati and Hill, beforeLorenzo Bandini rose up to second place in the Ferrari. Clark was charging back to the front of the field, but spent a lot of time behind Hill. Clark dove through into the first corner to take third place - Rindt had retired with engine failure - but the Lotus's left-rear suspension failed later in the lap and the reigning champion was out of the race. Stewart held on to take his second career win, ahead of Bandini and Hill.Bob Bondurant finished in fourth place to get three BRMs in the points. Behind came three Coopers but none of them were classified and did not receive championship points.[15]
At first, Stewart was setting the pace duringpractice for theBelgian Grand Prix, but on the high-speed circuit, Surtees qualified on pole in his Ferrari, more than three seconds ahead of Rindt in the Cooper-Maserati. Stewart started third, while Clark could only manage tenth. As the flag was waved, rain was falling at the far end of the track. Stewart and Hill crashed in theMasta Kink, already known as the most dangerous corner, and theScot got trapped under his car in a pool of leakingfuel for 25 minutes. Hill and Bondurant, who had both crashed as well, borrowed a spectator's toolkit to free him. Another five cars retired within the first lap of the race, including Clark. Surtees led the race, ahead of Rindt and Bandini, and that became the finishing order as well. Behind them finished1959 and1960 championJack Brabham and Rindt's teammateRichie Ginther. Two other drivers were still running but were not classified, making it two races in a row that championship points were held back under the new rule. Following his crash, Stewart became a strong advocate of improving driver safety in not only Grand Prix but motor racing in general.[16]
When Surtees was not granted a drive with Ferrari in the24 Hours of Le Mans, he left theItalian team and, with that, gave up his F1 drive as well. He found a seat at Cooper, where Ginther had left to return to his old teamHonda. Bandini qualified on pole for theFrench Grand Prix, with old teammate Surtees and new teammateMike Parkes beside him on the first row. At the start, Surtees fell back with fuel pick-up issues, before he retired on lap 5. Brabham got up to second place, the only driver able to follow Bandini's pace. On lap 32, theAustralian inherited the lead as the Ferrari's throttle cable broke. The Italian took a piece of string from astraw bale lining the track and tied it to his throttle, operating it by hand and actually nursing his car back to the pits, but finished out of the points. Brabham won the race, ahead of Parkes in his first race and Brabham's teammateDenny Hulme.[17]
In the Drivers' Championship,Jack Brabham (Brabham-Repco) took the lead with 12 points, ahead ofLorenzo Bandini (Ferrari, 10 points), followed bySurtees,Stewart andRindt (all 9 points). In the Manufacturers' Championship, Ferrari had the lead with 21 points, ahead of Brabham (12) andBRM andCooper (both 9).
TheBritish Grand Prix atBrands Hatch saw theBrabham duo ofJack Brabham andDenny Hulmequalify at the front, ahead ofDan Gurney in theEagle,Graham Hill forBRM andJim Clark forLotus. Next cameJohn Surtees in theCooper, to make it five different constructors in the top six. At the start, it was Brabham and Hill who led away, until it started raining andJochen Rindt pitted forrain tyres. Rindt got up to second place, pressing Brabham for the lead, while Surtees was third. As the rain dried, however, Rindt fell back and Surtees retired, leaving Brabham and Hulme to finish first and second. Behind them came Hill, Clark and Rindt.[18]
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Brabham and Hulme again qualified first and second for theDutch Grand Prix, ahead of Clark, still driving a 2litreClimax-powered Lotus. Hulme's engine went wrong on lap 17, eventually retiring on lap 37, and leaving Brabham vulnerable to Clark's offense. While lapping some backmarkers, theBrit passed theAustralian and pulled out a substantial lead. At half-distance, Graham Hill was the only driver not lapped by Clark and Brabham, but then, ashock absorber on the Lotus'scrankshaft broke and punched a hole in thewater pump, leading to hisengine coolant to leak away. This forced apit stop and brought him down to third place. Brabham won his third race in a row, ahead of Hill.[19]
TheGerman Grand Prix was run at theNürburgring Nordschleife. In fear of a dull race with not enough entries, theFIA allowedFormula Two entries to race simultaneously. They would not be eligible for F1 championship points. The lighter 2 litre cars topped the timings in qualifying, with Clark, Surtees andStewart occupying the front row. But at the start, the more powerful 3 litre cars got away better: Surtees held the lead, but Brabham andLorenzo Bandini were his nearest rivals.John Taylor spun off in the rain that had started falling. He got trapped in a burning wreck but was rescued by F2 driverJacky Ickx. At the end of the first lap, Brabham had taken the lead, ahead of Surtees, Rindt and Clark. The latter crashed out of the race on lap 11, while the podium places remained unchanged.[20]
After winning four consecutive races,Jack Brabham (Brabham) had a sizeable lead in the Drivers' Championship with 39 points, ahead ofGraham Hill (BRM, 17 points) andJohn Surtees andJochen Rindt (teammates atCooper, both on 15 points). In the Manufacturers' Championship, Brabham led with 39 points, ahead of Ferrari (23) and BRM (22).
The teams that had had to make due with limited power until now, could finally take delivery of new 3litreengines for theItalian Grand Prix:BRM introducedH16 engines for the works team and their customerTeam Lotus, theEagle was powered by the newWeslakeV12, andHonda were on the grid for the first time this year with their own V12. Much to the joy of thetifosi,Ferrari teammatesMike Parkes andLudovico Scarfiottiqualified at the front, ahead ofJim Clark (Lotus),John Surtees (Cooper) andLorenzo Bandini (Ferrari). Championship leaderJack Brabham started in sixth but felt not much pressure, as Surtees had to win all three remaining races to stop theAustralian from claiming the title. Scarfiotti took the lead at the start but was down to seventh at the end of the first lap. His teammate Bandini replaced him at the front. Brabham went by on lap 4 but then retired with anoil leak. Successively, Surtees, Bandini and Clark retired as well, giving the lead back to Scarfiotti, ahead of Parkes andDenny Hulme (Brabham).Jochen Rindt's front tyre deflated coming out of the last corner, theAustrian crossing the finish line while spinning and eventually ending up in thegrass. With Surtees' retirement, Brabham had clinched the Drivers' Championship of 1966.[21]
As per usual, the championship ended overseas, firstly with theUnited States Grand Prix. Freshly crowned champion Brabham qualified onpole with last year's champion Clark next to him. Bandini started third but quickly took the lead, before Brabham went back through on lap 10. Bandini later repassed the Australian but then retired with an engine failure. Halfway through the race, Brabham retired as well. Clark had been left behind by the leading duo but inherited the race win. Rindt ran out of fuel and slowed down. He did finish the race, but his last lap took so long that it was forfeited, putting him a lap behind but still second in the classification, as Surtees in third was even further behind.[22]
The last round of the season, theMexican Grand Prix, saw Surtees back on pole, for the first time in a Cooper, ahead of Clark and Ginther. The Honda driver took the lead at the start, leading fifth-starting Rindt and fourth-starting Brabham. Surtees fell down to fifth but had charged back to first at the half-way point. He won the race, seven seconds ahead of Brabham and at least a lap ahead of Hulme and the rest of the field.[23]
Jack Brabham had won the Drivers' Championship with 42 points, ahead ofJohn Surtees (28) andJochen Rindt (22). Jack It was Brabham's third Drivers' Championship (following wins in1959 and1960), moving him into the second place in the record standings, behind five-time championJuan Manuel Fangio. He became the first and, so far, only driver to win the championship in a car carrying his own name. TheBrabham team also scored 42 points in the Manufacturers' Champions and won the title, ahead ofFerrari (31 points) andCooper (30 points).
Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers. Only the best five results counted towards the championship. Formula 2 cars were not eligible for Championship points.
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:[24] | ||||||
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| Pos. | Manufacturer | MON | BEL | FRA | GBR | NED | GER | ITA | USA | MEX | Pts.[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brabham-Repco | Ret | (4) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | (3) | Ret | 2 | 42 (49) |
| 2 | Ferrari | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | (6) | 1 | Ret | 31 (32) | ||
| 3 | Cooper-Maserati | NC | 2 | 4 | (5) | 7 | 2 | (4) | 2 | 1 | 30 (35) |
| 4 | BRM | 1 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 22 |
| 5 | Lotus-BRM | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 5 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 13 |
| 6 | Lotus-Climax | Ret | Ret | Ret | 4 | 3 | Ret | 9 | 6 | Ret | 8 |
| 7 | Eagle-Climax | NC | 5 | Ret | Ret | 7 | DNQ | DSQ | 5 | 4 | |
| 8 |  Honda | Ret | NC | 4 | 3 | ||||||
| 9 | McLaren-Ford | Ret | Ret | 5 | Ret | 2 | |||||
| 10 | Brabham-Climax | Ret | Ret | 7 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 6 | 1 | ||
| = | Brabham-BRM | Ret | 6 | 8 | 8 | Ret | DNQ | 1 | |||
| = | McLaren-Serenissima | DNS | 6 | DNS | 1 | ||||||
| — | Cooper-Ferrari | 11 | Ret | 0 | |||||||
| — | Eagle-Weslake | Ret | Ret | Ret | 0 | ||||||
| — | Shannon-Climax | Ret | 0 | ||||||||
| Pos. | Manufacturer | MON | BEL | FRA | GBR | NED | GER | ITA | USA | MEX | Pts. |
Four otherFormula One races were held in 1966, which did not count towards the World Championship.
| Race name | Circuit | Date | Winning driver | Constructor | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 South African Grand Prix | Prince George | 1 January | Mike Spence | Lotus-Climax | Report |
| Gran Premio di Siracusa | Syracuse | 1 May | John Surtees | Ferrari | Report |
| BRDC International Trophy | Silverstone | 14 May |  Jack Brabham | Brabham-Repco | Report |
| International Gold Cup | Oulton Park | 17 September | Jack Brabham | Brabham-Repco | Report |
The filmGrand Prix is a fictionalized version of the 1966 season, which includes footage of the actual races edited together with footage of actors in staged racing scenes.
