1963 French Grand Prix

Summary

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.[1]

1963 French Grand Prix
Race details
Date 30 June 1963
Official name XLIX Grand Prix de l'A.C.F.
Location Reims, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 8.302 km (5.159 miles)
Distance 53 laps, 440.006 km (273.407 miles)
Weather Sunny, then rain
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Climax
Time 2:20.2
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus-Climax
Time 2:21.6 on lap 12
Podium
First Lotus-Climax
Second Cooper-Climax
Third BRM
Lap leaders

Race report edit

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,[2] 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 edit

Qualifying edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Qualifying times Gap
Q1 Q2 Q3
1 18   Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 2:21.0 No time 2:20.2
2 2   Graham Hill BRM 3:13.4 2:36.4 2:20.9 +0.7
3 8   Dan Gurney Brabham-Climax No time 3:02.4 2:21.7 +1.5
4 16   John Surtees Ferrari 2:24.4 2:33.8 2:21.9 +1.7
5 6   Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax No time 2:39.2 2:21.9 +1.7
6 10   Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 2:25.1 No time 2:22.5 +2.3
7 20   Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax 2:23.7 No time 2:25.1 +3.5
8 12   Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax 2:24.5 No time 2:24.4 +4.2
9 32   Innes Ireland BRP-BRM No time 2:41.8 2:25.1 +4.9
10 36   Jo Siffert Lotus-BRM 2:26.9 No time 2:25.2 +5.0
11 44   Jo Bonnier Cooper-Climax 2:26.5 2:40.5 2:25.7 +5.5
12 4   Richie Ginther BRM 2:26.8 2:40.0 2:25.9 +5.7
13 14   Ludovico Scarfiotti Ferrari 2:27.0 2:41.6 No time +6.8
14 42   Phil Hill Lotus-BRM No time No time 2:27.7 +7.5
15 28   Maurice Trintignant Lotus-Climax No time 2:49.5 2:28.3 +8.1
16 22   Peter Arundell Lotus-Climax 2:28.5 +8.3
17 30   Chris Amon Lola-Climax No time 2:53.1 2:30.5 +10.3
18 34   Jim Hall Lotus-BRM No time 3:25.2 2:30.9 +10.7
19 48   Masten Gregory Lotus-BRM No time No time 2:33.2 +13.0
20 38   Tony Settember Scirocco-BRM No time 2:54.5 2:36.7 +16.5
21 46   Lorenzo Bandini BRM No time No time 2:37.8 +17.6
Source:[3]

Race edit

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
NC 42   Phil Hill Lotus-BRM 34 Not Classified 14
NC 44   Jo Bonnier Cooper-Climax 32 Not Classified 11
Ret 48   Masten Gregory Lotus-BRM 30 Gearbox 19
Ret 16   John Surtees Ferrari 12 Fuel Pump 4
Ret 38   Tony Settember Scirocco-BRM 5 Wheel Bearing 20
Ret 4   Richie Ginther BRM 4 Radiator 12
DNS 14   Ludovico Scarfiotti Ferrari Practice Accident
DNS 22   Peter Arundell Lotus-Climax Entry denied; support race
WD 26   Giancarlo Baghetti ATS
WD 40   Ian Burgess Scirocco-BRM Car not ready
WD 50   Nasif Estéfano De Tomaso Car not ready
Source:[4]
  • 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.

Championship standings after the race edit

  • Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References edit

  1. ^ Small, Steve (1994). The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 109. ISBN 0851127029.
  2. ^ Mike Lang, Grand Prix!, Volume 1 1950 to 1965, page 222
  3. ^ "1963 French Grand Prix". Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  4. ^ "1963 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  5. ^ a b "France 1963 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.


Previous race:
1963 Dutch Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1963 season
Next race:
1963 British Grand Prix
Previous race:
1962 French Grand Prix
French Grand Prix Next race:
1964 French Grand Prix