1961 Belgian Grand Prix

Last updated
1961 Belgian Grand Prix
Spa 1950.jpg
Race details
Date18 June 1961
Official name XXI Grote Prijs van Belgie
Location Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Spa, Belgium
Course Street circuit/Racing facility
Course length 14.1 km (8.761 miles)
Distance 30 laps, 423.0 km (262.8 miles)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 3.59.3
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of the United States.svg Richie Ginther Ferrari
Time 3.59.8 on lap 20
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Ferrari
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders
  • 1961 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1961 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 18 June 1961 at Spa-Francorchamps. It was race 3 of 8 in both the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.

Contents

The organizers of the race invited 25 entries, but were only going to pay starting money to 19: sixteen pre-selected cars plus the 3 fastest of the remaining 9. Three of the cars without starting money decided not to race after practising. A fourth entry was a single car for Cliff Allison and Henry Taylor. UDT Laystall decided to let the fastest driver in practice compete, but Allison wrecked the car on his first practice lap. The Emeryson cars were also discarded by Equipe Nationale Belge after discovering terminal chassis damage on one of them, although Willy Mairesse gained the use of a Team Lotus spare machine to post a better time on Saturday. The team eventually reached a deal for Mairesse and Lucien Bianchi to compete in the race with the older, yet proven, Lotus 18s of non-starters Marsh and Seidel.

The race was completely dominated by the Ferrari team, with the four works drivers finishing 1-2-3-4. This was the last time any constructor achieved this score in a F1 race. Of the four works Ferraris, three cars were painted red in the tradition of rosso corsa, the national racing colour of Italy, and Gendebien's car was painted in a Belgian racing yellow. Apart from two NART entries in the 1964 season this was the last time a Ferrari car wore other than the traditional red colour in Formula One. While Graham Hill took the lead at the start from sixth on the grid, he could not hold off the Italian cars and all had passed him by the end of the first lap. Hill fought with John Surtees for fifth place until he retired with an oil leak on the 24th lap.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorQualifying timesGap
Q1Q2
14 Flag of the United States.svg Phil Hill Ferrari 4:06.33:59.3
22 Flag of Germany.svg Wolfgang von Trips Ferrari 4:04.04:00.1+0.8
38 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 4:05.84:03.0+3.7
424 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Surtees Cooper-Climax 4:09.14:06.0+6.7
56 Flag of the United States.svg Richie Ginther Ferrari 4:10.54:06.1+6.8
636 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill BRM-Climax 4:07.6unknown+8.3
738 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tony Brooks BRM-Climax 4:09.84:07.9+8.6
814 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 4:14.34:08.2+8.9
918 Flag of Sweden.svg Jo Bonnier Porsche 4:12.34:08.3+9.0
1020 Flag of the United States.svg Dan Gurney Porsche 4:08.44:10.9+9.1
1128 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 4:12.24:08.6+9.3
1244 Flag of the United States.svg Masten Gregory Cooper-Climax 4:13.54:10.2+10.9
1340 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Lewis Cooper-Climax 4:18.04:11.1+11.8
1422 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 4:18.74:16.7+17.4
1530 Flag of New Zealand.svg Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 4:22.94:17.4+18.1
1634 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jim Clark Lotus-Climax No time4:17.7+18.4
1746 Flag of Italy.svg Lorenzo Bandini Cooper-Maserati 4:20.84:19.0+19.7
1832 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax No time4:20.0+20.7
1910 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Willy Mairesse Lotus-Climax 4:27.34:20.6+21.3
2026 Flag of France.svg Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Maserati 8:54.24:21.4+22.1
2142 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tony Marsh Lotus-Climax 4:26.84:23.2+23.9
2212 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Lucien Bianchi Emeryson-Maserati 4:27.34:49.3+28.0
2348 Flag of Germany.svg Wolfgang Seidel Lotus-Climax 4:33.04:27.4+28.1
2450 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ian Burgess Lotus-Climax 4:57.24:34.6+35.3
DNS16 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Cliff Allison Lotus-Climax No timeNo time
Source: [1] [2]

  Drivers that were not guaranteed full starting money: only the top 3 non-guaranteed drivers would receive it. Despite this, Godin de Beaufort and Bandini chose to compete anyway.

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
14 Flag of the United States.svg Phil Hill Ferrari 302:03:03.819
22 Flag of Germany.svg Wolfgang von Trips Ferrari 30+0.7 secs26
36 Flag of the United States.svg Richie Ginther Ferrari 30+19.5 secs54
48 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 30+45.6 secs33
524 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Surtees Cooper-Climax 30+1:26.842
620 Flag of the United States.svg Dan Gurney Porsche 30+1:31.0101
718 Flag of Sweden.svg Jo Bonnier Porsche 30+2:47.19
814 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 30+3:55.68
940 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Lewis Cooper-Climax 29+1 Lap13
1044 Flag of the United States.svg Masten Gregory Cooper-Climax 29+1 Lap12
1122 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 28+2 Laps14
1234 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 24+6 Laps16
1338 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tony Brooks BRM-Climax 24+6 Laps7
Ret36 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill BRM-Climax 24Ignition6
Ret26 Flag of France.svg Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Maserati 23Gearbox20
Ret46 Flag of Italy.svg Lorenzo Bandini Cooper-Maserati 20Wheel Bearing17
Ret28 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 12Engine11
Ret30 Flag of New Zealand.svg Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 9Ignition15
Ret32 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 9Engine18
Ret12 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Lucien Bianchi Lotus-Climax 9Oil Leak21
Ret10 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Willy Mairesse Lotus-Climax 7Ignition19
DNS42 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tony Marsh Lotus-Climax Start Money Dispute
DNS48 Flag of Germany.svg Wolfgang Seidel Lotus-Climax Start Money Dispute
DNS50 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ian Burgess Lotus-Climax Start Money Dispute
DNS16 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Cliff Allison Lotus-Climax Car Damaged in Practice
WD16 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Henry Taylor Lotus-Climax Car Damaged by Allison
Source: [3]

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. "1961 Beigan GP Qualification". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  2. "Belgium 1961". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  3. "1961 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Belgium 1961 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
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