The 1962 South African Grand Prix, formally titled the 9th International RAC Grand Prix of South Africa, was a Formula One motor race held at East London on 29 December 1962. It was the ninth and final race in both the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 82-lap race was won by Graham Hill driving a BRM, the Englishman taking his first Drivers' Championship in the process, with New Zealander Bruce McLaren and local driver Tony Maggs second and third, respectively, in works Cooper-Climaxes.
Hill went into the race with a nine-point lead in the Drivers' Championship over Scotland's Jim Clark, driving a works Lotus-Climax. A Clark win would give him the championship regardless of Hill's performance because only the top 5 results counted for the championship. After taking pole position, Clark led comfortably until an oil leak 20 laps from the finish forced him to retire, handing the championship to Hill. The win also gave BRM their first and only Manufacturers' Cup.
Classification Qualifying PosNoDriverConstructorGapQ1Q2Q31 1 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax1:38.51:29.8 1:29.3†—2 3 Graham Hill BRM1:33.11:30.0 1:29.6 +0.33 10 Jack Brabham Brabham-ClimaxNo time1:32.3 1:31.0 +1.74 11 Innes Ireland Lotus-ClimaxNo time1:33.6 1:31.1 +1.85 6 John Surtees Lola-Climax1:35.51:36.1 1:31.5 +2.26 9 Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax1:39.71:31.7 1:32.7 +2.47 4 Richie Ginther BRM1:34.01:32.8 1:31.7 +2.48 8 Bruce McLaren Cooper-ClimaxNo time1:33.0 1:31.7 +2.49 2 Trevor Taylor Lotus-ClimaxNo time1:32.7 (1:30.9)† +3.410 20 Neville Lederle Lotus-ClimaxNo time1:36.0 1:33.6 +4.311 7 Roy Salvadori Lola-Climax1:37.01:35.4 No time +6.112 18 John Love Cooper-ClimaxNo time1:36.4 1:37.6 +7.113 14 Ernie Pieterse Lotus-ClimaxNo time1:37.3 1:36.8 +7.514 21 Doug Serrurier LDS-Alfa Romeo1:38.71:37.2 1:36.8 +7.515 22 Mike Harris Cooper-Alfa Romeo1:40.2No time 1:39.1 +9.816 15 Carel Godin de Beaufort PorscheNo time1:39.3 1:39.2 +9.917 5 Bruce Johnstone BRM—— — — Source:
– Bruce Johnstone was unable to set a time in qualifying due to engine problems, and consequently had to start from the back of the grid. † — Jim Clark (1:28.9) and Trevor Taylor posted faster times in their back-up machines, fitted with fuel-injection engines, but these cars were discarded for the race due to reliability issues.
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 3 Graham Hill BRM 82 2:08:03.3 2 9 2 8 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 82 + 49.8 8 6 3 9 Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax 82 + 50.3 6 4 4 10 Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax 82 + 53.8 3 3 5 11 Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 81 + 1 Lap 4 2 6 20 Neville Lederle Lotus-Climax 78 + 4 Laps 10 1 7 4 Richie Ginther BRM 78 + 4 Laps 7 8 18 John Love Cooper-Climax 78 + 4 Laps 12 9 5 Bruce Johnstone BRM 76 + 6 Laps 17 10 14 Ernie Pieterse Lotus-Climax 71 + 11 Laps 13 11 15 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 70 Fuel System 16 1 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 62 Oil Leak 1 21 Doug Serrurier LDS-Alfa Romeo 62 Radiator 14 7 Roy Salvadori Lola-Climax 56 Fuel Leak 11 22 Mike Harris Cooper-Alfa Romeo 31 Wheel Bearing 15 6 John Surtees Lola-Climax 26 Engine 5 2 Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax 11 Gearbox 9 12 Gary Hocking Lotus-Climax Driver killed prior to event 16 Syd van der Vyver Lotus-Climax Car damaged 17 Tony Settember Emeryson-Climax 19 Sam Tingle Lotus-Climax Driver competing elsewhere
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for South African drivers Neville Lederle, Ernie Pieterse, Doug Serrurier, Bruce Johnstone and Syd van der Vyver; and for Rhodesian drivers John Love, Mike Harris, Gary Hocking and Sam Tingle. It was also the first race for a Rhodesian driver. LDS also made its debut in the Formula One World Championship in this race, being the first South African constructor. This race was the 100th Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, excluding the eleven Indianapolis 500 races that were held between 1950-1960. In those 100 races: Maurice Trintignant was the most experienced, having raced 75 of them, but also having the most retirements at 35. Juan Manuel Fangio had achieved 29 pole positions, 23 fastest laps, 24 Grands Prix wins, 35 podium places, and 5 World Championships. Ferrari was the most constant constructor and engine supplier, having raced 94 of them (93 as a constructor), BRM had had a record 12 retirements as a constructor. A Maserati-powered car had retired the race a record 13 times. Ferrari also achieved 38 pole positions, 34 fastest laps, 35 Grands Prix wins, 128 podium places and 5 Drivers' World Titles in this timespan. British engine supplier Coventry Climax had achieved 2 Constructors' World Titles.
Final Championship standings
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Graham Hill 42 (52) 2 Jim Clark 30 3 Bruce McLaren 27 (32) 4 John Surtees 19 5 Dan Gurney 15Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 BRM 42 (56) 2 Lotus-Climax 36 (38) 3 Cooper-Climax 29 (37) 4 Lola-Climax 19 5 Porsche 18 (19)Source:
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