The 1963 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on 4 August 1963. It was race 6 of 10 in both the 1963 World Championship of Drivers and the 1963 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 15-lap race was won by Ferrari driver John Surtees after he started from second position. Jim Clark finished second for the Lotus team and BRM driver Richie Ginther came in third.
Race report Jim Clark led away from pole in his customary fashion. Behind him Lorenzo Bandini spun in front of Innes Ireland who collected him, Willy Mairesse had an accident, and Chris Amon sustained a knee injury when the steering broke, catapulting him into the trees. Graham Hill retired leaving Clark to battle away with John Surtees and Trevor Taylor before engine problems befell Taylor. When Clark's engine went down to just 7 cylinders, Surtees was able to pass him easily to lead him home to take his first F1 victory. Richie Ginther completed the podium. Gerhard Mitter finished in a superb fourth place in his home race from Jim Hall and Jo Bonnier.
This race was notable for being the only time Jim Clark ever finished second in a World Championship race, as well the only race of the season won by a non-British team.
Classification Qualifying PosNoDriverConstructorGapQ1Q2Q31 3 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax9:02.09:44.0 8:45.8—2 7 John Surtees Ferrari8:53.79:46.68:53.4 +7.63 15 Lorenzo Bandini BRM8:59.310:28.0 8:54.3 +8.54 1 Graham Hill BRM9:11.810:13.8 8:57.2 +11.45 5 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax10:01.510:09.9 8:57.3 +11.56 2 Richie Ginther BRM9:02.89:55.0 Unknown +17.07 8 Willy Mairesse Ferrari9:05.510:41.2 9:03.5 +17.78 9 Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax9:04.211:17.8 Unknown +18.49 18 Jo Siffert Lotus-BRM9:23.39:59.3 9:11.1 +25.310 6 Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax9:45.010:04.4 9:11.6 +25.811 14 Innes Ireland Lotus-BRM9:48.110:37.9 9:14.6 +28.812 16 Jo Bonnier Cooper-Climax9:24.39:58.6 9:16.0 +30.213 10 Dan Gurney Brabham-Climax9:38.210:41.4 9:17.2 +31.414 21 Chris Amon Lola-ClimaxNo timeNo time 9:20.1 +34.315 26 Gerhard Mitter Porsche9:34.810:58.8 9:20.9 +35.116 20 Jim Hall Lotus-BRM9:50.111:19.0 9:22.7 +36.917 17 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche9:34.910:21.5 9:25.1 +39.318 4 Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax9:33.810:34.2 Unknown +48.019 24 Ian Burgess Scirocco-BRMNo timeNo time 9:52.2 +1:06.420 22 Mário de Araújo Cabral Cooper-Climax14:20.3No time 9:53.1 +1:07.321 28 Bernard Collomb Lotus-Climax10:11.4No time 10:01.0 +1:15.222 23 Tony Settember Scirocco-BRMNo timeNo time 10:02.0 +1:16.223 29 André Pilette Lotus-Climax11:16.911:20.1 10:20.0 +1:34.224 25 Ian Raby Gilby-BRM10:44.711:37.1 Unknown +1:58.925 30 Tim Parnell Lotus-Climax11:07.212:02.2 No time +2:21.426 27 Kurt Kuhnke Lotus-Borgward14:48.112:53.1 11:23.5 +2:37.7 Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 7 John Surtees Ferrari 15 2:13:06.8 2 9 2 3 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 15 + 1:17.5 1 6 3 2 Richie Ginther BRM 15 + 2:44.9 6 4 4 26 Gerhard Mitter Porsche 15 + 8:11.5 15 3 5 20 Jim Hall Lotus-BRM 14 + 1 lap 16 2 6 16 Jo Bonnier Cooper-Climax 14 + 1 lap 12 1 7 9 Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax 14 + 1 lap 8 8 4 Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax 14 + 1 lap 18 9 18 Jo Siffert Lotus-BRM 10 Differential 9 10 28 Bernard Collomb Lotus-Climax 10 + 5 laps 21 17 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 9 Wheel 17 6 Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax 7 Engine 10 10 Dan Gurney Brabham-Climax 6 Gearbox 13 22 Mário de Araújo Cabral Cooper-Climax 6 Gearbox 20 24 Ian Burgess Scirocco-BRM 5 Steering 19 23 Tony Settember Scirocco-BRM 5 Accident 22 5 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 3 Accident 5 1 Graham Hill BRM 2 Gearbox 4 21 Chris Amon Lola-Climax 1 Accident 14 8 Willy Mairesse Ferrari 1 Accident 7 14 Innes Ireland Lotus-BRM 1 Accident 11 15 Lorenzo Bandini BRM 0 Accident 3 29 André Pilette Lotus-Climax 25 Ian Raby Gilby-BRM 30 Tim Parnell Lotus-Climax 27 Kurt Kuhnke Lotus-Borgward 11 Phil Hill ATS Car damaged in transit 12 Giancarlo Baghetti ATS Car damaged in transit 19 Masten Gregory Lotus-BRM Car not ready
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for German driver Kurt Kuhnke. This was the 100th race for a Ferrari-powered car. This race marked the 99th and 100th Formula One World Championship podium finish for a British driver.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Jim Clark 42 2 2 John Surtees 22 1 3 Richie Ginther 18 1 4 Graham Hill 13 5 Dan Gurney 12Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Lotus-Climax 43 3 2 Ferrari 22 1 3 BRM 22 1 4 Cooper-Climax 17 1 5 Brabham-Climax 13Source:
Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References