1962 Belgian Grand Prix

1962 Belgian Grand Prix
Race details
Date	17 June 1962
Official name	XXII Grand Prix de Belgique
Location	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Spa, Belgium
Course	Temporary road circuit
Course length	14.100 km (8.761 miles)
Distance	32 laps, 451.200 km (280.363 miles)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Graham Hill	BRM
Time	3:57.0
Fastest lap
Driver	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax
Time	3:55.6 on lap 15
Podium
First	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax
Second	Graham Hill	BRM
Third	Phil Hill	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 1962 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 17 June 1962. It was race 3 of 9 in both the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. This race was notable for being the first Grand Prix win for Jim Clark, and the first of four consecutive victories at Spa for the Scotsman (despite thoroughly disliking the circuit) and Team Lotus. It was also the first win for the famous Lotus 25, and the beginning of the famous 6-year-long rivalry between Clark and Graham Hill. This race was held the same day as the 1962 FIFA World Cup Final in Santiago, Chile, but that event took place later in the day from this Grand Prix.

The Porsche factory team skipped this race due to large metal workers' union strikes in (West) Germany. ^[1] While Carel Godin de Beaufort raced his private 718, Jo Bonnier remained absent and Dan Gurney practised with a private Lotus-BRM, but did not start.

Ricardo Rodríguez became the youngest driver to score championship points (20 years, 123 days), a record which stood for 38 years before Jenson Button, aged 20 years, 67 days, broke it at the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix. Trevor Taylor and Willy Mairesse were fighting for 2nd place until the 2 cars touched, crashed into a ditch and Mairesse's car landed upside down and caught fire. Both drivers were thrown out of their cars, but were unhurt.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times		Gap
				Q1	Q2
1	1	Graham Hill	BRM	4:01.2	3:57.0	—
2	25	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	4:04.7	3:58.8	+1.8
3	17	Trevor Taylor	Lotus-Climax	3:59.3	4:00.5	+2.3
4	9	Phil Hill	Ferrari	3:59.8	3:59.6	+2.6
5	20	Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	4:05.1	3:59.8	+2.8
6	10	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	4:01.4	3:59.8	+2.8
7	12	Ricardo Rodríguez	Ferrari	4:05.1	4:01.0	+4.0
8	21	Masten Gregory	Lotus-BRM	4:05.7	4:01.0	+4.0
9	2	Richie Ginther	BRM	4:04.3	4:01.4	+4.4
10	26	Tony Maggs	Cooper-Climax	4:22.6	4:03.6	+6.6
11	5	John Surtees	Lola-Climax	4:29.0	4:04.4	+7.4
12	16	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	4:09.2	4:04.9	+7.9
13	7	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	4:12.6	4:07.7	+10.7
14	11	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	4:08.0	No time	+11.0
15	15	Jack Brabham	Lotus-Climax	No time	4:08.2	+11.2
16	18	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus-Climax	4:35.5	4:09.2	+12.2
17	22	Jo Siffert	Lotus-Climax	4:11.6	4:17.1	+14.6
18	19	Lucien Bianchi	Lotus-Climax	4:25.4	4:18.0	+21.0
19	4	John Campbell-Jones	Lotus-Climax	No time	4:26.9	+29.9
20	23	Dan Gurney	Lotus-BRM	No time	6:42.2	+2:45.2
Source: [2]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	16	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	32	2:07:32.3	12	9
2	1	Graham Hill	BRM	32	+ 44.1	1	6
3	9	Phil Hill	Ferrari	32	+ 2:06.5	4	4
4	12	Ricardo Rodríguez	Ferrari	32	+ 2:06.6	7	3
5	5	John Surtees	Lola-Climax	31	+ 1 Lap	11	2
6	15	Jack Brabham	Lotus-Climax	30	+ 2 Laps	15	1
7	7	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	30	+ 2 Laps	13
8	18	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus-Climax	30	+ 2 Laps	16
9	19	Lucien Bianchi	Lotus-Climax	29	+ 3 Laps	18
10	22	Jo Siffert	Lotus-Climax	29	+ 3 Laps	17
11	4	John Campbell-Jones	Lotus-Climax	16	+ 16 Laps	19
Ret	17	Trevor Taylor	Lotus-Climax	25	Accident	3
Ret	10	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	25	Accident	6
Ret	2	Richie Ginther	BRM	22	Gearbox	9
Ret	26	Tony Maggs	Cooper-Climax	22	Gearbox	10
Ret	25	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	19	Wheel bearing	2
Ret	21	Masten Gregory	Lotus-BRM	13	Withdrew	8
Ret	20	Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	8	Suspension	5
Ret	11	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	3	Ignition	14
DNS	23	Dan Gurney	Lotus-BRM		Car unraceworthy
WD	3	Tony Marsh	BRM		Car not ready
WD	4	Jackie Lewis	BRM
WD	4	Gerry Ashmore	BRM
WD	6	Roy Salvadori	Lola-Climax
WD	8	Heinz Schiller	Porsche
WD	24	Jo Bonnier	Porsche
Source: [3]

• Dan Gurney practiced in a Lotus-BRM owned by Wolfgang Seidel, but after a few laps he deemed the car unraceworthy. Gurney was also entered by the works Porsche team, along with Jo Bonnier, but the team withdrew after the factory was hit by strike action.
• The #4 entry was originally allocated to Lewis, then to Ashmore on Lewis' withdrawal. After Ashmore also withdrew, the slot was filled by John Campbell-Jones.
• Lucien Bianchi was originally entered as #14, in a Porsche prepared by Scuderia SSS Republica di Venezia, but withdrew. He later took #19 and drove Equipe National Belge's Lotus.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Graham Hill 16 2 Phil Hill 14 11 3 Jim Clark 9 1 4 Bruce McLaren 9 1 5 Trevor Taylor 6 Source: [4]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 1 BRM 16 2 2 Lotus-Climax 15 3 Ferrari 14 3 4 Cooper-Climax 11 5 Lola-Climax 5 Source: [4]

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

1. https://www.nytimes.com/1962/02/04/archives/west-german-strike-in-metal-jobs-voted.html
2. "1962 Belgian GP". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
3. "1962 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
4. "Belgium 1962 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.

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