The 1961 Belgian 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 held on 18 June 1961 at

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...

. It was race 3 of 8 in both the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The organizers of the race invited 25 entries, but were only going to pay starting money to 19: sixteen pre-selected cars plus the 3 fastest of the remaining 9. Three of the cars without starting money decided not to race after practicing. A fourth entry was a single car for

Cliff Allison Henry Clifford "Cliff" Allison (8 February 1932 – 7 April 2005) was a British racing driver from England, who participated in Formula One during seasons to for the Lotus, Scuderia Centro Sud, Ferrari and UDT Laystall teams. He was bo ...

and Henry Taylor.

UDT Laystall British Racing Partnership (BRP) was a racing team, and latterly constructor, from the United Kingdom. It was established by Alfred Moss and Ken Gregory – Stirling Moss's father and former manager, respectively – in 1957 to run cars for Stir ...

decided to let the fastest driver in practice compete, but Allison wrecked the car on his first practice lap. The

Emeryson Emeryson 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). T ...

cars were also discarded by Equipe Nationale Belge after discovering terminal chassis damage on one of them, although

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 ...

gained the use of a

Team Lotus Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. More ...

spare machine to post a better time on Saturday. The team eventually reached a deal for Mairesse and

Lucien Bianchi Lucien Bianchi (10 November 1934 – 30 March 1969), born Luciano Bianchi, was an Italian-born Belgian racing driver who raced for the Cooper, ENB, UDT Laystall and Scuderia Centro Sud teams in Formula One. He entered a total of 19 Formula One ...

to compete in the race with the older, yet proven, Lotus 18s of non-starters Marsh and Seidel. The race was completely dominated by the Ferrari team, with the four works drivers finishing 1-2-3-4. This was the last time any constructor achieved this score in a F1 race. Of the four works Ferraris, three cars were painted red in the tradition of

rosso corsa Rosso corsa is the red international motor racing colour of cars entered by teams from Italy. Since the 1920s Italian race cars of Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Lancia, and later Ferrari and Abarth have been painted in ''rosso corsa'' ("racing red"). ...

, the national racing colour of Italy, and Gendebien's car was painted in a Belgian racing yellow. Apart from two

NART The Nart sagas ( Abkhaz: Нарҭаа ражәабжьқәа; ''Nartaa raƶuabƶkua''; ady, Нарт тхыдэжъхэр, translit=Nart txıdəĵxər; os, Нарты кадджытæ; ''Narty kaddžytæ''; ''Nartı kadjıtæ'') are a series of ...

entries in the season this was the last time a Ferrari car wore other than the traditional red colour in Formula One. While

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 ...

took the lead at the start from sixth on the grid, he could not hold off the Italian cars and all had passed him by the end of the first lap. Hill fought with

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 ...

for fifth place until he retired with an oil leak on the 24th lap.

Classification

Qualifying

Drivers that were not guaranteed full starting money: only the top 3 non-guaranteed drivers would receive it. Despite this, Godin de Beaufort and Bandini chose to compete anyway.

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.

References

{{F1GP 60-69

Belgian Grand Prix The Belgian Grand Prix (French language, French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch language, Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German language, German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula O ...

Belgian Grand Prix

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...