The 1962 Italian Grand Prix was a
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
motor race
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...
held at
Monza
Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...
on 16 September 1962. It was race 7 of 9 in both the
1962 World Championship of Drivers
The 1962 Formula One season was the 16th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for F1 ManufacturersFIA Yearbook 1974, Grey Section, pages 118–121 which were cont ...
and the
1962 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers
The 1962 Formula One season was the 16th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for F1 ManufacturersFIA Yearbook 1974, Grey Section, pages 118–121 which were cont ...
. The 86-lap race was won by
BRM
British Racing Motors (BRM) was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945 and based in the market town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, it participated from 1951 to 1977, competing in 197 grands prix and winning seventeen. BRM wo ...
driver
Graham Hill
Norman Graham Hill (15 February 1929 – 29 November 1975) was a British racing driver and team owner, who was the Formula One World Champion twice, winning in and as well as being runner up on three occasions (1963, 1964 and 1965). Despite ...
after he started from second position. His teammate
Richie Ginther
Paul Richard "Richie" Ginther (Hollywood,''Richie Ginther Enters Times Grand Prix'', Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1960, Page C1 California, August 5, 1930 – September 20, 1989 in France) was a racecar driver from the United States. During a ...
finished second and
Cooper
Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to:
* Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels
Arts and entertainment
* Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads
* Cooper (video game character), in ...
driver
Bruce McLaren
Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor.
His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, ...
came in third.
Race report
Jim Clark
James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianapol ...
started on pole position, but the Lotus team still looked worried as the team had gone through all of their gearboxes over the weekend. Two crates of spare parts were flown down, but nonetheless Clark and
Trevor Taylor started with no more spares available. After only two laps Clark pitted with the expected transmission trouble; he made it back onto the track for another ten laps but that was it.
Teammate Taylor managed 25 laps before his race ended. Hill kept stretching his lead out and finished nearly a half minute before
Richie Ginther
Paul Richard "Richie" Ginther (Hollywood,''Richie Ginther Enters Times Grand Prix'', Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1960, Page C1 California, August 5, 1930 – September 20, 1989 in France) was a racecar driver from the United States. During a ...
in the other BRM. Ginther had been duelling with
Surtees
The Surtees Racing Organisation was a race team that spent nine seasons (1970 to 1978) as a constructor in Formula One, Formula 2, and Formula 5000.
History
The team was formed by John Surtees, a four-time 500cc motorcycle champion and the ...
throughout the race, but on lap 38 Surtees slowed down and five laps later he retired with engine troubles.
[ Behind these two, there was a race long three-way fight between ]Dan Gurney
Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, ...
's Porsche and the Coopers of McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
and Maggs. The cars swapped positions constantly, coming down the straight on the fiftieth lap three abreast. Maggs had to stop for more fuel, unlike McLaren whose car had been fitted with fuel tanks to enable him to run the entire distance. Meanwhile, Willy Mairesse
Willy Mairesse (1 October 1928 – 2 September 1969) was a Formula One and sports-car driver from Belgium. He participated in 13 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 19 June 1960. He achieved one podium and scored a total of seven champio ...
in the new non-sharknose Ferrari 156
The Ferrari 156 was a racing car made by Ferrari in 1961 to comply with then-new Formula One regulations that reduced engine displacement from 2.5- to 1.5-litres, similar to the pre-1961 Formula Two class for which Ferrari had developed a mid-eng ...
had caught up to the third-place contenders and brought Jo Bonnier
Joakim Bonnier (31 January 1930 – 11 June 1972) was a Swedish sportscar racing and Formula One driver who raced for various teams. He was the first Swede to both enter and win a Formula One Grand Prix.
Early life
Jo Bonnier was born in Stockh ...
and Giancarlo Baghetti
Giancarlo Baghetti (25 December 1934 – 27 November 1995) was a Formula One driver who raced for the Ferrari, Automobili Turismo e Sport, BRM, Brabham and Lotus teams.
Baghetti is one of only three drivers to have won his first World Champions ...
with him.[ ''Skyfall...'', p. 5]
Gurney's car was pressed too hard and he retired on the 66th lap with a broken rear differential. After this, the positions stabilized a bit, although not until after Baghetti had briefly led the pack to the appreciation of local fans.[ Bonnier's clutch began slipping and Baghetti also fell back. Mairesse took third on the eightieth lap, and built up a three-second lead over McLaren. ]Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of comp ...
, who was watching from the speaker tower, began betting people that McLaren would take third and he was right: in the first curve of the last lap, McLaren passed Mairesse and he took third by only 0.4 seconds.[ Bonnier's clutch troubles allowed Baghetti to pass him for fifth place near the end of the race. ]Phil Hill
Philip Toll Hill Jr. (April 20, 1927 – August 28, 2008) was an American automobile racing driver. He was one of two American drivers to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, and the only one who was born in the United States ( ...
had to suffer being lapped before half of the race was over, and had to make a long pit stop with engine troubles and finished twelfth. Rodríguez' Ferrari lost oil pressure, Innes Ireland
Lieutenant Robert McGregor Innes Ireland (12 June 1930 – 22 October 1993), was a British military officer, engineer, and motor racing driver, with 1 Championship and 8 non-Championship Formula 1 race victories, and several sports car wins inclu ...
had a good race until something snapped in the steering, and Masten Gregory
Masten Gregory (February 29, 1932 − November 8, 1985) was an American racing driver. He raced in Formula One between and , participating in 43 World Championship races, and numerous non-Championship races.
He was also a successful sports car r ...
's car was overheating and then only ran in fourth gear for the last laps. The fire extinguisher in Roy Salvadori
Roy Francesco Salvadori (12 May 1922 – 3 June 2012) was a British racing driver and team manager. He was born in Dovercourt, Essex, to parents of Italian descent. He graduated to Formula One by 1952 and competed regularly until 1962 for a su ...
's Bowmaker-Yeoman Lola exploded in his face during practice.[
]
Classification
Qualifying
* Positions in red indicate entries that failed to qualify.
Race
Championship standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
;Constructors' Championship standings
* Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 5 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
References
{{F1GP 60-69
Italian Grand Prix
The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...
Italian Grand Prix
1962 in Italian motorsport
September 1962 sports events in Europe