The 1963 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Reims on 30 June 1963. It was race 4 of 10 in both the 1963 World Championship of Drivers and the 1963 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was won by Jim Clark driving a Lotus 25-Climax 1.5 litre V8.[1]
| 1963 French Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 30 June 1963 | ||
| Official name | XLIX Grand Prix de l'A.C.F. | ||
| Location | Reims, France | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 8.302 km (5.159 miles) | ||
| Distance | 53 laps, 440.006 km (273.407 miles) | ||
| Weather | Sunny, then rain | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Lotus-Climax | ||
| Time | 2:20.2 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Jim Clark | Lotus-Climax | |
| Time | 2:21.6 on lap 12 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Lotus-Climax | ||
| Second | Cooper-Climax | ||
| Third | BRM | ||
|
Lap leaders | |||
Race report
editJim Clark took the lead at the start from Richie Ginther in the BRM. All Graham Hill's hard work in qualifying second despite mechanical problems in practice came to nothing when his engine died on the grid and his car had to be push started. The subsequent one-minute penalty dropped him well back. Clark led dominantly, his lead being extended when a stone pierced Ginther's radiator, forcing him into the pits. Jack Brabham took second place after a strong fight with Trevor Taylor, who also suffered mechanical problems.
Brabham then began to gain significantly on Clark as the Scot's Climax engine started to splutter, however this proved to be a sporadic fault and he had enough of a lead to maintain the position. Brabham himself was delayed when an ignition lead came loose,[2] handing second and third to Tony Maggs and a delighted Hill. Clark was over a minute ahead of them after yet another start-to-finish victory. Graham Hill was push started, incurring a one-minute penalty from the organisers, and was awarded no championship points for his third place. By finishing 7th, at 19 years and 345 days old, Chris Amon became the youngest driver to finish a world championship race. This record would hold for another 38 years, until it was broken by Fernando Alonso at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.
Classification
editQualifying
edit| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Gap | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | |||||
| 1 | 18 | Jim Clark | Lotus-Climax | 2:21.0 | No time | 2:20.2 | — |
| 2 | 2 | Graham Hill | BRM | 3:13.4 | 2:36.4 | 2:20.9 | +0.7 |
| 3 | 8 | Dan Gurney | Brabham-Climax | No time | 3:02.4 | 2:21.7 | +1.5 |
| 4 | 16 | John Surtees | Ferrari | 2:24.4 | 2:33.8 | 2:21.9 | +1.7 |
| 5 | 6 | Jack Brabham | Brabham-Climax | No time | 2:39.2 | 2:21.9 | +1.7 |
| 6 | 10 | Bruce McLaren | Cooper-Climax | 2:25.1 | No time | 2:22.5 | +2.3 |
| 7 | 20 | Trevor Taylor | Lotus-Climax | 2:23.7 | No time | 2:25.1 | +3.5 |
| 8 | 12 | Tony Maggs | Cooper-Climax | 2:24.5 | No time | 2:24.4 | +4.2 |
| 9 | 32 | Innes Ireland | BRP-BRM | No time | 2:41.8 | 2:25.1 | +4.9 |
| 10 | 36 | Jo Siffert | Lotus-BRM | 2:26.9 | No time | 2:25.2 | +5.0 |
| 11 | 44 | Jo Bonnier | Cooper-Climax | 2:26.5 | 2:40.5 | 2:25.7 | +5.5 |
| 12 | 4 | Richie Ginther | BRM | 2:26.8 | 2:40.0 | 2:25.9 | +5.7 |
| 13 | 14 | Ludovico Scarfiotti | Ferrari | 2:27.0 | 2:41.6 | No time | +6.8 |
| 14 | 42 | Phil Hill | Lotus-BRM | No time | No time | 2:27.7 | +7.5 |
| 15 | 28 | Maurice Trintignant | Lotus-Climax | No time | 2:49.5 | 2:28.3 | +8.1 |
| 16 | 22 | Peter Arundell | Lotus-Climax | 2:28.5 | — | — | +8.3 |
| 17 | 30 | Chris Amon | Lola-Climax | No time | 2:53.1 | 2:30.5 | +10.3 |
| 18 | 34 | Jim Hall | Lotus-BRM | No time | 3:25.2 | 2:30.9 | +10.7 |
| 19 | 48 | Masten Gregory | Lotus-BRM | No time | No time | 2:33.2 | +13.0 |
| 20 | 38 | Tony Settember | Scirocco-BRM | No time | 2:54.5 | 2:36.7 | +16.5 |
| 21 | 46 | Lorenzo Bandini | BRM | No time | No time | 2:37.8 | +17.6 |
| Source:[3] | |||||||
Race
edit| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | Jim Clark | Lotus-Climax | 53 | 2:10:54.3 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 12 | Tony Maggs | Cooper-Climax | 53 | + 1:04.9 | 8 | 6 |
| 3 | 2 | Graham Hill | BRM | 53 | + 1:13.9 | 2 | |
| 4 | 6 | Jack Brabham | Brabham-Climax | 53 | + 2:15.2 | 5 | 3 |
| 5 | 8 | Dan Gurney | Brabham-Climax | 53 | + 2:33.4 | 3 | 2 |
| 6 | 36 | Jo Siffert | Lotus-BRM | 52 | + 1 lap | 10 | 1 |
| 7 | 30 | Chris Amon | Lola-Climax | 51 | + 2 laps | 17 | |
| 8 | 28 | Maurice Trintignant | Lotus-Climax | 50 | + 3 laps | 15 | |
| 9 | 32 | Innes Ireland | BRP-BRM | 49 | + 4 laps | 9 | |
| 10 | 46 | Lorenzo Bandini | BRM | 45 | + 8 laps | 21 | |
| 11 | 34 | Jim Hall | Lotus-BRM | 45 | + 8 laps | 18 | |
| 12 | 10 | Bruce McLaren | Cooper-Climax | 42 | Ignition | 6 | |
| 13 | 20 | Trevor Taylor | Lotus-Climax | 41 | Suspension | 7 | |
| NC | 42 | Phil Hill | Lotus-BRM | 34 | Not Classified | 14 | |
| NC | 44 | Jo Bonnier | Cooper-Climax | 32 | Not Classified | 11 | |
| Ret | 48 | Masten Gregory | Lotus-BRM | 30 | Gearbox | 19 | |
| Ret | 16 | John Surtees | Ferrari | 12 | Fuel Pump | 4 | |
| Ret | 38 | Tony Settember | Scirocco-BRM | 5 | Wheel Bearing | 20 | |
| Ret | 4 | Richie Ginther | BRM | 4 | Radiator | 12 | |
| DNS | 14 | Ludovico Scarfiotti | Ferrari | Practice Accident | |||
| DNS | 22 | Peter Arundell | Lotus-Climax | Entry denied; support race | |||
| WD | 26 | Giancarlo Baghetti | ATS | ||||
| WD | 40 | Ian Burgess | Scirocco-BRM | Car not ready | |||
| WD | 50 | Nasif Estéfano | De Tomaso | Car not ready | |||
Source:[4]
| |||||||
- Phil Hill was originally entered as car #24, to drive the ATS. When the ATS team withdrew, he switched to drive the Scuderia Filipinetti Lotus-BRM.
Notes
edit- This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British driver Peter Arundell.
- This was the 100th Formula One World Championship race where a British driver participated. By 1963, Great Britain was the most successful nation in Formula One. Of those 100 races, British drivers had won 39, had 95 podiums, 38 pole positions, 43 fastest laps and 3 World Championships. Only Argentinians had more World Championships - by courtesy of Juan Manuel Fangio's five titles - but by the end of 1965 the British drivers would surpass that record as well.
Championship standings after the race
edit
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- Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
edit- ^ Small, Steve (1994). The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 109. ISBN 0851127029.
- ^ Mike Lang, Grand Prix!, Volume 1 1950 to 1965, page 222
- ^ "1963 French Grand Prix". Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "1963 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ a b "France 1963 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.