The I Gran Premio de Mexico (or 1st Mexican Grand Prix) was held on 4 November 1962 at the
Magdalena Mixhuca
Magdalena may refer to:
* Magdalena (given name), a given name derived from Mary Magdalene (including a list of people with the name)
Entertainment
* Magdalena (comics), an American comic book superheroine
* ''Magdalena'' (film), a 1920 Czech ...
circuit,
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
. The race was a non-championship event run to
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, ...
rules and attracted a large entry, including many top teams and drivers. The race was run over 60 laps of the main circuit, and was eventually won by
Jim Clark and
Trevor Taylor, sharing a drive in a
Lotus 25
The Lotus 25 was a racing car designed by Colin Chapman for the 1962 Formula One season. It was a revolutionary design, the first fully stressed monocoque chassis to appear in Formula One. In the hands of Jim Clark it took 14 World Championship ...
. The race meeting was marred by the death during practice of local driving prodigy
Ricardo Rodríguez. The circuit would later be renamed the ''Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez'' to honour him and his brother
Pedro
Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter.
The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, mean ...
.
Race summary
Pole-sitter Clark suffered a flat battery, so his
Lotus 25
The Lotus 25 was a racing car designed by Colin Chapman for the 1962 Formula One season. It was a revolutionary design, the first fully stressed monocoque chassis to appear in Formula One. In the hands of Jim Clark it took 14 World Championship ...
-
Climax got a replacement, but still failed to start; mechanics gave it a push start to get the engine going. However, due to a lack of communication between the starting officials, the start flag was waved while marshals were still on the track. For
John Surtees
John Surtees, (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. On his way to become a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, he won his first title in 1956, and followed with ...
, the delay caused a cylinder to burn out and his race was over before it even started. The race stewards decided the push start had been illegal (despite it being done by race officials) and
black-flagged Clark's car (leaking oil in addition, to unlikely to survive full distance in any case) on lap 10.
Clark took over the second works Lotus of
Lotus team-mate,
Trevor Taylor, during a pit stop, dropping him to third, behind
Jack Brabham
Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in , , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.
Brabham was a R ...
's Brabham and
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, ...
in the
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 ...
. The Scot put in a superb drive to claw back the 57 second deficit on the leaders, passing both with over one third of the race distance still remaining. McLaren's engine blew after half-distance, and as the Brabham was also having trouble, Clark completed the remainder of the race with very little opposition, scoring an easy win. This would prove to be the final time that a ''Grand Prix'' victory would be shared by two drivers.
Also notable was the participation of German driver
Wolfgang Seidel, who competed despite having had his
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backs ...
licence suspended over two months previously. The
Porsche works team did not attend, Porsche having withdrawn from motor sport at the end of the 1962 World Championship season.
Despite the starting confusion, the race earned the
Mexican Grand Prix
The Mexican Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de México), currently held under the name Mexico City Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de la Ciudad de México), is a motor racing event held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. It first a ...
full World Championship status from 1963, which it would retain until 1970.
Results
*
Moisés Solana
Moisés Solana Arciniega (December 26, 1935 – July 27, 1969) was a Mexican racing driver. He participated in eight Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on October 27, 1963, and scoring no championship points. He also participat ...
withdrew from the event during practice, complaining that his car was too slow.
His fastest recorded time was faster than those of Seidel, Connell, Rader, Chamberlain and Hansgen.
References
*
* Note that the track length and race distance seem to be incorrectly quoted, while times/speed imply correct numbers (5.000 km/300.000 km) which agree with MotorSport source.
*
{{F1 NC race report
, Name_of_race =
Mexican Grand Prix
The Mexican Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de México), currently held under the name Mexico City Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de la Ciudad de México), is a motor racing event held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. It first a ...
, Year_of_race = 1962
, Previous_race_in_season =
1962 International Gold Cup
, Next_race_in_season =
1962 Rand Grand Prix
, Previous_year's_race = None
, Next_year's_race =
1963 Mexican Grand Prix
The 1963 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca in Mexico City on October 27, 1963. It was race 9 of 10 in both the 1963 World Championship of Drivers and the 1963 International Cup for For ...
Mexican Grand Prix
The Mexican Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de México), currently held under the name Mexico City Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de la Ciudad de México), is a motor racing event held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. It first a ...
Mexican Grand Prix
Grand
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
* Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist
* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and c ...
November 1962 sports events in Mexico