1961 United States Grand Prix

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1961 United States Grand Prix
Watkins Glen International Track Map-1960-1970.svg
Race details
DateOctober 8, 1961
Official name IV Grand Prix of the United States
Location Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course
Watkins Glen, New York
Course Permanent road course
Course length 3.78 km (2.35 miles)
Distance 100 laps, 378 km (235 miles)
Weather Temperatures up to 22 °C (72 °F);
Wind speeds up to 16.48 km/h (10.24 mph) [1]
Pole position
Driver Cooper-Climax
Time 1:17.0
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax
Time 1:18.2 on lap 28
Podium
First Lotus-Climax
Second Porsche
Third BRM-Climax
Lap leaders
  • 1961 United States Grand Prix

The 1961 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 8, 1961, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was the eighth and final race in both the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.

Contents

The United States Grand Prix had been held at two different circuits in its previous three runnings, but subsequently remained at Watkins Glen until 1980. The season-ending race was won by British driver Innes Ireland, his only career Grand Prix win. He started eighth, took the lead when the engine in Stirling Moss' Lotus failed, and finished 4.3 seconds ahead of American Dan Gurney. The win was the first victory for Colin Chapman's Team Lotus.

Background

By the time of the Watkins Glen event, the 1961 season had seen Californian Phil Hill crowned the first American World Champion. However, he did not take part in the race as the Scuderia Ferrari team had remained home. In the previous race, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Ferrari driver and team leader Wolfgang von Trips had been killed in a crash while leading the Drivers' Championship, handing victory and the Championship to Hill. Since Ferrari had clinched the Constructors' Championship as well as the Drivers', the team chose not to make the trip across the Atlantic for the season finale.

There had been considerable doubt about whether the US race would even take place, since the FIA did not grant the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Corporation final approval for the event until August 28. By October, however, the field was missing only the Ferrari team.

Howard Hughes visited the pits to meet with John Cooper about expanding his car manufacturing business. A photograph taken of Hughes in the pits and published in the May 10, 1976, issue of Time magazine was the last known photograph of him. [2]

Qualifying

While all but the two Porsche entries had Climax engines, only Jack Brabham of the factory Cooper team, and Stirling Moss, in Rob Walker's privately entered Lotus, had the newest developmental V8 version available to them. Moss set the pace on Saturday with a lap time of 1:18.2 in his 4-cylinder car, then posted a 1:17.2 with the V8. Brabham, the just-deposed two-time World Champion, responded by taking the pole with a 1:17.0. When Moss decided to use the older 4-cylinder in the race, saying that the car handled better with it, he dropped back to the second row of the grid, next to Brabham's teammate, Bruce McLaren. Graham Hill's BRM, a tenth quicker than the other 4-cylinder cars, was alongside Brabham on the front row, a second slower than the Australian.

Jim Clark, in one works Lotus, took fifth spot, while Ireland, his teammate, qualified eighth. On Friday, Ireland spun to the edge of the woods in the 180-degree South Loop when his steering failed. The following day, before he could put in a serious time, his gearbox broke. The back of the grid was filled largely with independent North American drivers in uncompetitive cars. Canadian Peter Ryan, in his only grand prix, led a group containing Walt Hansgen, Roger Penske, Hap Sharp, Jim Hall and Lloyd Ruby. Penske's car was one of the first instances of commercial sponsorship in F1, painted in bright DuPont Anti-Freeze yellow.

Race summary

A paid crowd of 28,000 (total around 60,000) attended the race on Sunday. At the start, Brabham led the field off the grid and into the first corner, but before the end of the first lap, Moss had moved into the lead. These two were followed by Ireland (up from eighth), Hill, Dan Gurney, Masten Gregory and McLaren. On lap three, McLaren moved up to third when Ireland spun on oil at the end of the straight. "I nearly went out of the race," he said. "I went into a whirl, a 360-degree spin, cars were whipping past."[ citation needed ] He recovered and continued in eleventh.

By lap 10, Ireland had already moved up to fourth, behind McLaren's Cooper, as Moss and Brabham continued to draw away at a second a lap, swapping the lead back and forth. At about one-third distance, on lap 34, Brabham's V8 began to leak water and overheat. With puffs of smoke appearing from the left-side exhaust, the Cooper dropped back from Moss and finally entered the pits on lap 45. After taking on water and returning to the race, Brabham completed only seven more laps before retiring.

Leading now by over 40 seconds, Moss seemed on his way to a comfortable victory. However, his oil pressure was dropping, and on lap 59, the dark blue Lotus peeled off and retired suddenly, handing the lead to Ireland. Hill was right on the tail of the Scot, hounding him for 15 laps, until he, too, suddenly coasted down the pit lane with a loose magneto wire. The next challenger was Roy Salvadori, who began trimming the lead from 20 seconds down to five with only five laps left. But it was Ireland's day. With just over three laps remaining, Salvadori's privately entered Cooper blew its engine, just as his teammate John Surtees' car had done on the first lap.

Ireland came home under the waving checkered flag of Tex Hopkins, less than five seconds ahead of American Dan Gurney, as Britain's Tony Brooks finished the last GP of his career in third. "I was lucky," said Ireland. "I could not take Moss or Brabham. Their cars were too fast. I had no fuel pressure in the last ten laps, and ended up with a thimbleful of gas at the finish."[ citation needed ]

It was Ireland's only World Championship win, the first World Championship win for Team Lotus, and the first American Grand Prix to turn a profit, ensuring its return in 1962. It was Moss's last World Championship race, as his career was ended by a heavy accident during the 1962 Glover Trophy race at Goodwood the following April.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorQualifying timesGap
Q1Q2
11 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 1:17.31:17.0
24 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill BRM-Climax 1:18.81:18.1+1.1
37 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 1:18.71:18.2†+1.2
42 Flag of New Zealand.svg Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 1:18.71:18.2+1.2
55 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tony Brooks BRM-Climax 1:19.41:18.3+1.3
614 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 1:20.61:18.3+1.3
712 Flag of the United States.svg Dan Gurney Porsche 1:19.01:18.6+1.6
815 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 1:20.01:18.8+1.8
918 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Surtees Cooper-Climax 1:19.01:18.9+1.9
1011 Flag of Sweden.svg Jo Bonnier Porsche 1:19.41:18.9+1.9
1122 Flag of the United States.svg Masten Gregory Lotus-Climax 1:19.11:20.5+2.1
1219 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax 1:19.61:19.2+2.2
1316 Canadian Red Ensign (1957-1965).svg Peter Ryan Lotus-Climax 1:26.01:20.0+3.0
1460 Flag of the United States.svg Walt Hansgen Cooper-Climax 1:22.91:20.4+3.4
1521 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Olivier Gendebien Lotus-Climax 1:22.71:20.5+3.5
166 Flag of the United States.svg Roger Penske Cooper-Climax 1:22.61:20.6+3.6
173 Flag of the United States.svg Hap Sharp Cooper-Climax No time1:21.0+4.0
1817 Flag of the United States.svg Jim Hall Lotus-Climax 1:22.31:21.8+4.8
1926 Flag of the United States.svg Lloyd Ruby Lotus-Climax 1:22.51:21.8+4.8
Source: [3]

† Moss registered a laptime of 1:17.2 in Q2 using a car with a 4-cylinder engine, but decided to race with his V8-powered machine, and was placed on the grid with his best time in the V8..

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
115 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 1002:13:45.889
212 Flag of the United States.svg Dan Gurney Porsche 100+4.3 secs76
35 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tony Brooks BRM-Climax 100+49.0 secs54
42 Flag of New Zealand.svg Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 100+58.0 secs43
54 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill BRM-Climax 99+1 Lap22
611 Flag of Sweden.svg Jo Bonnier Porsche 98+2 Laps101
714 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 96+4 Laps6
86 Flag of the United States.svg Roger Penske Cooper-Climax 96+4 Laps16
916 Canadian Red Ensign (1957-1965).svg Peter Ryan Lotus-Climax 96+4 Laps13
103 Flag of the United States.svg Hap Sharp Cooper-Climax 93+7 Laps17
1121 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Olivier Gendebien
Flag of the United States.svg Masten Gregory
Lotus-Climax 92+8 Laps15
Ret19 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax 96Engine12
Ret17 Flag of the United States.svg Jim Hall Lotus-Climax 76Fuel Leak18
Ret26 Flag of the United States.svg Lloyd Ruby Lotus-Climax 76Magneto19
Ret7 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 58Engine3
Ret1 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 57Overheating1
Ret22 Flag of the United States.svg Masten Gregory Lotus-Climax 23Gearbox11
Ret60 Flag of the United States.svg Walt Hansgen Cooper-Climax 14Accident14
Ret18 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Surtees Cooper-Climax 0Engine9
WD8 Flag of the United States.svg Phil Hill Ferrari Team withdrew
WD9 Flag of the United States.svg Richie Ginther Ferrari Team withdrew
WD10 Flag of Mexico (1934-1968).svg Pedro Rodríguez Ferrari Team withdrew
DNA23 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ken Miles Lotus-Climax Not present
Source: [4]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. "Weather information for the "1961 United States Grand Prix"". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  2. "Rear View Mirror". Autosport. Archived from the original on August 20, 2008. Retrieved April 26, 2009.
  3. "1961 United States GP Qualification". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  4. "1961 United States Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  5. "United States 1961 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved March 21, 2019.

Further reading

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