1968 Belgian Grand Prix

Last updated
1968 Belgian Grand Prix
Spa 1950.jpg
Race details
Date9 June 1968
Official name XXVIII Grand Prix de Belgique
Location Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 14.100 km (8.761 miles)
Distance 28 laps, 394.800 km (245.317 miles)
Weather Overcast, Dry
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 3:28.6
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Surtees Honda
Time 3:30.5 on lap 5
Podium
First McLaren-Ford
Second BRM
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders
  • 1968 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1968 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit on 9 June 1968. It was race 4 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 28-lap race was won by McLaren driver Bruce McLaren after he started from sixth position. Pedro Rodríguez finished second for the BRM team and Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx came in third.

Contents

On the seventh lap Brian Redman went off the circuit when his suspension failed and he crashed into and over a concrete barrier and into a parked car. His Cooper caught fire but Redman escaped with a severely broken right arm and a few minor burns.

Background

After the introduction of 'dive plane' wings on the nosecone on a Formula One car by Lotus at the previous race, the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, Ferrari added a strut mounted negative incidence wing - to their lead driver Chris Amon's car [1] and he nabbed pole position, and was 4 seconds faster in qualifying than the next fastest car of Jackie Stewart, though Amon claimed to have performed similar lap times without the wings. [2] Amon's teammate Jacky Ickx did not have wings on his car. [3] The Brabham team also fitted a rear wing to Jack Brabham's car, paired with dive planes on the nose to counteract lift; he qualified 10th. [4] Wings were added to Ickx's car (and many other teams copied the idea for their cars) for the next race, the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. As 1968 season progressed many F1 teams utilized strut mounted wings attached directly to suspension elements - copying Chaparral sports car practice - to increase cornering speeds, reducing lap times. Ferrari never utilized strut mounted wings attached to suspension, as Enzo Ferrari considered it far too dangerous, [5] continuing with strut mounted wings mounted directly to the chassis.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
122 Flag of New Zealand.svg Chris Amon Ferrari 3:28.6
27 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Stewart Matra-Ford 3:32.3+3.7
323 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jacky Ickx Ferrari 3:34.3+5.7
420 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Surtees Honda 3:35.0+6.4
56 Flag of New Zealand.svg Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 3:35.4+6.8
65 Flag of New Zealand.svg Bruce McLaren McLaren-Ford 3:37.1+8.5
714 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Piers Courage BRM 3:37.2+8.6
811 Flag of Mexico (1934-1968).svg Pedro Rodríguez BRM 3:37.8+9.2
93 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Jo Siffert Lotus-Ford 3:39.0+10.4
1016 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Brian Redman Cooper-BRM 3:41.4+12.8
1112 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Richard Attwood BRM 3:45.2+16.6
1215 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Lucien Bianchi Cooper-BRM 3:45.9+17.3
1310 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra 3:52.9+24.3
141 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 4:06.1+37.5
152 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Oliver Lotus-Ford 4:30.8+1:02.2
1617 Flag of Sweden.svg Jo Bonnier McLaren-BRM 4:34.3+1:05.7
1719 Flag of Austria.svg Jochen Rindt Brabham-Repco 4:46.7+1:18.1
1818 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco
Source: [6] [7]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
15 Flag of New Zealand.svg Bruce McLaren McLaren-Ford 281:40:02.169
211 Flag of Mexico (1934-1968).svg Pedro Rodríguez BRM 28+ 12.186
323 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jacky Ickx Ferrari 28+ 39.634
47 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Stewart Matra-Ford 27Out of fuel23
52 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Oliver Lotus-Ford 26Transmission152
615 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Lucien Bianchi Cooper-BRM 26+ 2 Laps121
73 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Jo Siffert Lotus-Ford 25Oil pressure9 
810 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra 25+ 3 Laps13 
Ret14 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Piers Courage BRM 22Engine7 
Ret6 Flag of New Zealand.svg Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 18Halfshaft5 
Ret20 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Surtees Honda 11Suspension4 
Ret22 Flag of New Zealand.svg Chris Amon Ferrari 8Radiator1 
Ret16 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Brian Redman Cooper-BRM 6Spun Off10 
Ret12 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Richard Attwood BRM 6Oil Pipe11 
Ret18 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 6Throttle18 
Ret1 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 5Halfshaft14 
Ret19 Flag of Austria.svg Jochen Rindt Brabham-Repco 5Engine17 
Ret17 Flag of Sweden.svg Jo Bonnier McLaren-BRM 1Wheel16 
Source: [8]

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. Roebuck, Nigel (October 1998). "Legends". Motor Sport magazine archive. p. 18. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  2. "Looking back: 1968 - Chris Amon's unluckiest year". talkingaboutf1.com. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  3. Lawrence (1999) p.100
  4. Nye (1986) p.72
  5. "Looking back: 1968 - Chris Amon's unluckiest year". talkingaboutf1.com. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  6. "1966 ACF GP Qualification". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  7. "1966 French Grand Prix". Motor Sport Magazine . Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  8. "1968 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Belgium 1968 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.

Further reading

Previous race:
1968 Monaco Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1968 season
Next race:
1968 Dutch Grand Prix
Previous race:
1967 Belgian Grand Prix
Belgian Grand Prix Next race:
1970 Belgian Grand Prix