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.
Race report Jim 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,Mike Lang, Grand Prix!, Volume 1 1950 to 1965, page 222 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 Qualifying PosNoDriverConstructorGapQ1Q2Q31 18 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax2:21.0No time 2:20.2—2 2 Graham Hill BRM3:13.42:36.4 2:20.9 +0.73 8 Dan Gurney Brabham-ClimaxNo time3:02.4 2:21.7 +1.54 16 John Surtees Ferrari2:24.42:33.8 2:21.9 +1.75 6 Jack Brabham Brabham-ClimaxNo time2:39.2 2:21.9 +1.76 10 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax2:25.1No time 2:22.5 +2.37 20 Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax2:23.7No time 2:25.1 +3.58 12 Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax2:24.5No time 2:24.4 +4.29 32 Innes Ireland BRP-BRMNo time2:41.8 2:25.1 +4.910 36 Jo Siffert Lotus-BRM2:26.9No time 2:25.2 +5.011 44 Jo Bonnier Cooper-Climax2:26.52:40.5 2:25.7 +5.512 4 Richie Ginther BRM2:26.82:40.0 2:25.9 +5.713 14 Ludovico Scarfiotti Ferrari2:27.02:41.6 No time +6.814 42 Phil Hill Lotus-BRMNo timeNo time 2:27.7 +7.515 28 Maurice Trintignant Lotus-ClimaxNo time2:49.5 2:28.3 +8.116 22 Peter Arundell Lotus-Climax2:28.5— — +8.317 30 Chris Amon Lola-ClimaxNo time2:53.1 2:30.5 +10.318 34 Jim Hall Lotus-BRMNo time3:25.2 2:30.9 +10.719 48 Masten Gregory Lotus-BRMNo timeNo time 2:33.2 +13.020 38 Tony Settember Scirocco-BRMNo time2:54.5 2:36.7 +16.521 46 Lorenzo Bandini BRMNo timeNo time 2:37.8 +17.6 Source:
Race 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 42 Phil Hill Lotus-BRM 34 Not Classified 14 44 Jo Bonnier Cooper-Climax 32 Not Classified 11 48 Masten Gregory Lotus-BRM 30 Gearbox 19 16 John Surtees Ferrari 12 Fuel Pump 4 38 Tony Settember Scirocco-BRM 5 Wheel Bearing 20 4 Richie Ginther BRM 4 Radiator 12 14 Ludovico Scarfiotti Ferrari Practice Accident 22 Peter Arundell Lotus-Climax Entry denied; support race 26 Giancarlo Baghetti ATS 40 Ian Burgess Scirocco-BRM Car not ready 50 Nasif Estéfano De Tomaso Car not ready
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
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
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Jim Clark 27 2 2 Dan Gurney 12 1 3 Richie Ginther 11 1 4 Bruce McLaren 10 5 Graham Hill 9Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Lotus-Climax 28 1 2 Cooper-Climax 16 1 3 BRM 14 4 Brabham-Climax 13 5 Ferrari 7Source:
Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References