The 1963 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held at Spa-Francorchamps on 9 June 1963. It was race 2 of 10 in both the 1963 World Championship of Drivers and the 1963 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. Jim Clark won the race in extremely wet and rainy conditions. After starting eighth on the grid, Clark passed all the cars in front of him, including early leader Graham Hill. At the end of the race, Clark had not only lapped the entire field except for Bruce McLaren, but the margin to the second-placed Cooper driver was almost five minutes. The Scot's performance was made even more impressive by the fact that gearbox issues meant that he had to hold his gear lever in place, thus driving one-handed, whenever fifth gear was selected on this high-speed circuit. Given the rainy conditions, Clark eventually chose not to engage fifth gear at all, leaving him with only four gears.[1] This would be the first of seven victories for Clark and Team Lotus that year.
| 1963 Belgian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 9 June 1963 | ||
| Official name | XXIII Grote Prijs van Belgie | ||
| Location |
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Spa, Belgium | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 14.100 km (8.761 miles) | ||
| Distance | 32 laps, 451.200 km (280.363 miles) | ||
| Weather | Wet and overcast | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | BRM | ||
| Time | 3:54.1 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Jim Clark | Lotus-Climax | |
| Time | 3:58.1 on lap 16 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Lotus-Climax | ||
| Second | Cooper-Climax | ||
| Third | Brabham-Climax | ||
|
Lap leaders | |||
Classification
editQualifying
edit| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Gap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | |||||
| 1 | 7 | Graham Hill
|
BRM | 4:01.6 | 3:54.1 | — |
| 2 | 18 |  Dan Gurney
|
Brabham-Climax | 4:28.8 | 3:55.0 | +0.9 |
| 3 | 10 |  Willy Mairesse
|
Ferrari | 3:56.2 | 3:55.3 | +1.2 |
| 4 | 15 |  Tony Maggs
|
Cooper-Climax | 3:57.1 | 3:56.0 | +1.9 |
| 5 | 14 |  Bruce McLaren
|
Cooper-Climax | 3:58.3 | 3:56.2 | +2.1 |
| 6 | 17 |  Jack Brabham
|
Brabham-Climax | 3:56.6 | 4:00.7 | +2.5 |
| 7 | 4 | Innes Ireland
|
BRP-BRM | 4:05.3 | 3:56.9 | +2.8 |
| 8 | 1 | Jim Clark
|
Lotus-Climax | 4:06.7 | 3:57.1 | +3.0 |
| 9 | 8 | Richie Ginther
|
BRM | 4:04.5 | 3:57.6 | +3.5 |
| 10 | 9 | John Surtees
|
Ferrari | 3:57.9 | 3:57.9 | +3.8 |
| 11 | 2 | Trevor Taylor
|
Lotus-Climax | 4:02.7 | 3:58.1 | +4.0 |
| 12 | 5 | Jim Hall
|
Lotus-BRM | 4:05.4 | 4:00.1 | +6.0 |
| 13 | 12 |  Jo Bonnier
|
Cooper-Climax | 4:01.4 | 4:00.1 | +6.0 |
| 14 | 28 |  Jo Siffert
|
Lotus-BRM | 4:03.9 | 4:02.3 | +8.2 |
| 15 | 21 | Chris Amon
|
Lola-Climax | 4:17.2 | 4:04.9 | +10.8 |
| 16 | 22 | Lucien Bianchi
|
Lola-Climax | 4:08.5 | 4:06.5 | +12.4 |
| 17 | 26 | Phil Hill
|
ATS | 4:26.1 | 4:06.7 | +12.6 |
| 18 | 29 |  Carel Godin de Beaufort
|
Porsche | 4:14.6 | 6:55.2 | +20.5 |
| 19 | 24 | Tony Settember
|
Scirocco-BRM | 4:31.7 | 4:25.2 | +31.1 |
| 20 | 27 |  Giancarlo Baghetti
|
ATS | 8:34.8 | 4:33.6 | +39.5 |
| Source:[2] | ||||||
Race
edit| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Jim Clark
|
Lotus-Climax | 32 | 2:27:47.6 | 8 | 9 |
| 2 | 14 | Bruce McLaren
|
Cooper-Climax | 32 | + 4:54.0 | 5 | 6 |
| 3 | 18 | Dan Gurney
|
Brabham-Climax | 31 | + 1 lap | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | 8 | Richie Ginther
|
BRM | 31 | + 1 lap | 9 | 3 |
| 5 | 12 | Jo Bonnier
|
Cooper-Climax | 30 | + 2 laps | 13 | 2 |
| 6 | 29 | Carel Godin de Beaufort
|
Porsche | 30 | + 2 laps | 18 | 1 |
| 7 | 15 | Tony Maggs
|
Cooper-Climax | 27 | Accident | 4 | |
| 8 | 24 | Tony Settember
|
Scirocco-BRM | 25 | Accident | 19 | |
| Ret | 9 | John Surtees
|
Ferrari | 19 | Injection | 10 | |
| Ret | 7 | Graham Hill
|
BRM | 17 | Gearbox | 1 | |
| Ret | 22 | Lucien Bianchi
|
Lola-Climax | 17 | Accident | 16 | |
| Ret | 5 | Jim Hall
|
Lotus-BRM | 16 | Accident | 12 | |
| Ret | 28 | Jo Siffert
|
Lotus-BRM | 16 | Accident | 14 | |
| Ret | 26 | Phil Hill
|
ATS | 13 | Gearbox | 17 | |
| Ret | 17 | Jack Brabham
|
Brabham-Climax | 12 | Injection | 6 | |
| Ret | 21 | Chris Amon
|
Lola-Climax | 10 | Oil Leak | 15 | |
| Ret | 4 | Innes Ireland
|
BRP-BRM | 9 | Gearbox | 7 | |
| Ret | 10 | Willy Mairesse
|
Ferrari | 7 | Injection | 3 | |
| Ret | 27 | Giancarlo Baghetti
|
ATS | 7 | Gearbox | 20 | |
| Ret | 2 | Trevor Taylor
|
Lotus-Climax | 5 | Physical | 11 | |
| WD | 3 | Peter Arundell
|
Lotus-Climax | No car | |||
| WD | 11 | Ludovico Scarfiotti
|
Ferrari | No car | |||
| WD | 19 | Lorenzo Bandini
|
BRM | Car retained by BRM | |||
| WD | 25 | Ian Burgess
|
Scirocco-BRM | Car not ready | |||
Source:[3]
| |||||||
Notes
edit- This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British constructors Scirocco and BRP and for Italian constructor ATS.
- It was also the first podium finish for the Brabham team.
- This marked the 50th race for a Coventry Climax-powered car.
Championship standings after the race
edit
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- Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
edit- ^ "Jim Clark's 1963 victory at Spa in the Belgian Grand Prix". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ "1963 Belgian GP Qualification". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "1963 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ a b "Belgium 1963 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.