1962 French Grand Prix

1962 French Grand Prix
Race details
Date 8 July 1962
Official name XLVIII Grand Prix de l'A.C.F.
Location Rouen-Les-Essarts
Rouen, France
Course Temporary road circuit
Course length 6.542 km (4.065 miles)
Distance 54 laps, 353.268 km (219.511 miles)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Climax
Time 2:14.8
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Graham Hill BRM
Time 2:16.9 on lap 32
Podium
First Porsche
Second Cooper-Climax
Third BRM
Lap leaders

The 1962 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Rouen-Les-Essarts on 8 July 1962. It was race 4 of 9 in both the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was won by Dan Gurney, his first Formula One victory, driving a Porsche, that company's only win as a constructor in a Formula One championship race coming after three years of racing. It was the third time that the French Grand Prix was held at Rouen, the previous time being 1957.[1]

Race

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Phil Hill, running second in the championship, was in the stands with a camera around his neck; a metalworkers' strike in Italy meant that Ferrari could not take part. This left Graham Hill the fastest on track, taking the lead at the start and also setting a new lap record. The leading pack also included John Surtees (Lola), Jim Clark (Lotus), and Bruce McLaren (Cooper). These four pulled steadily away from Jack Brabham (Lotus) and Dan Gurney (Porsche). After only nine laps Brabham was out of the race with a broken rear suspension, while McLaren lost fourth gear and spun off the track, rejoining the race far down the field. Surtees retired four laps later with ignition problems, but was later back on the track in eighth place.[1] Hill had pulled out a twenty-second lead ahead of Clark, but on the thirtieth lap he made contact with Jackie Lewis' Cooper when lapping him, allowing Clark to pass. Hill gave chase, netting the lap record, and re-took the lead on lap 33. On the next lap, Clark retired with a broken front suspension. Hill and BRM looked sure to win, but on lap 42 he retired in the hairpin with fuel injection and throttle linkage troubles; he lost several laps and ended up in last place after also having stopped in the hairpin to pick up the engine cover that he had left behind during his earlier visit there.[1]

All of a sudden Gurney found himself in the lead, he made no mistakes and gained what was to be Porsche's only Grand Prix victory with their own car. Tony Maggs had second-place handed to him in what was only his second race in a V8 Cooper, while Surtees' Lola kept giving him trouble. With only fourth gear left, he was passed by Richie Ginther on the 43rd lap.[2] Ginther's car had refused to start, setting him a half lap back at the start, but as cars ahead of him all began to break he drove harder and harder. His troubles were not over, however, with five laps left his throttle wire snapped and he had to control it with his hand - rather troublesome since his BRM's gear shifter was also on the right hand side.[3] McLaren was forced to make another pit stop, but managed to get by the troubled Surtees on the last lap. The last points-scoring position went to the ever-steady Carel Godin de Beaufort in his uncompetitive Porsche 718 from 1961.[2]

Other contenders were Jo Bonnier, who had gearbox and engine troubles. He later retired with fuel starvation, but got the car started and was classified as the last finisher, in tenth. Maurice Trintignant had to make a number of pit stops in his Rob Walker Lotus 24. Trevor Taylor had not been able to practice and was taking it comparatively easy when his throttle return spring broke, leaving it fully open. After a pit stop, he finished eighth, six laps down.[2] A rather confusing race ended even worse - Surtees was trying to eke his crippled car into the pits but was hindered by a wall of gendarmes, who were refusing to move. Trintignant moved over to the left, but Taylor arrived at a high speed and rear-ended Trintignant. Both cars ended up in the hay bales, badly damaged, but amazingly no one was injured.[4]

At the end, Phil Hill took his countryman Gurney aside and thanked him for "driving so well for him", as both of his closest competitors ended the race without any points.[4]

Classification

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Qualifying

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Pos No Driver Constructor Qualifying times Gap
Q1 Q2
1 12 United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 2:16.7 2:14.8
2 8 United Kingdom Graham Hill BRM 2:15.9 2:15.0 +0.2
3 22 New Zealand Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 2:52.0 2:15.4 +0.6
4 26 Australia Jack Brabham Lotus-Climax 2:17.5 2:16.1 +1.3
5 18 United Kingdom John Surtees Lola-Climax 2:16.3 2:16.3 +1.5
6 30 United States Dan Gurney Porsche 2:16.5 2:17.1 +1.7
7 34 United States Masten Gregory Lotus-BRM 2:19.4 2:17.3 +2.5
8 36 United Kingdom Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 2:19.1 2:17.5 +2.7
9 32 Sweden Jo Bonnier Porsche 2:21.1 2:17.9 +3.1
10 10 United States Richie Ginther BRM 2:18.2 2:19.9 +3.4
11 24 South Africa Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax 2:18.6 No time +3.8
12 14 United Kingdom Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax 2:19.1 No time +4.3
13 28 France Maurice Trintignant Lotus-Climax 2:23.1 2:20.8 +6.0
14 20 United Kingdom Roy Salvadori Lola-Climax 2:21.3 No time +6.5
15 40 Switzerland Jo Siffert Lotus-BRM 2:27.9 2:23.4 +8.6
16 42 United Kingdom Jackie Lewis Cooper-Climax 2:25.5 2:26.5 +10.7
17 38 Netherlands Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 2:27.2 2:26.5 +11.7
Source:[5]

Race

[edit]
This race was the only victory the Porsche 804 would see
This race was the first win for Dan Gurney in Formula One
Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 30 United States Dan Gurney Porsche 54 2:07:05.5 6 9
2 24 South Africa Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax 53 + 1 Lap 11 6
3 10 United States Richie Ginther BRM 52 + 2 Laps 10 4
4 22 New Zealand Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 51 + 3 Laps 3 3
5 18 United Kingdom John Surtees Lola-Climax 51 + 3 Laps 5 2
6 38 Netherlands Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 51 + 3 Laps 17 1
7 28 France Maurice Trintignant Lotus-Climax 50 + 4 Laps 13  
8 14 United Kingdom Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax 48 + 6 laps 12  
9 8 United Kingdom Graham Hill BRM 44 + 10 Laps 2  
10 32 Sweden Jo Bonnier Porsche 43 Gearbox 9  
Ret 12 United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 34 Suspension 1  
Ret 42 United Kingdom Jackie Lewis Cooper-Climax 28 Accident 16  
Ret 20 United Kingdom Roy Salvadori Lola-Climax 21 Oil Pressure 14  
Ret 34 United States Masten Gregory Lotus-BRM 15 Overheating 7  
Ret 26 Australia Jack Brabham Lotus-Climax 11 Suspension 4  
Ret 40 Switzerland Jo Siffert Lotus-BRM 6 Clutch 15  
Ret 36 United Kingdom Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 1 Puncture 8  
WD 16 United Kingdom Peter Arundell Lotus No Car
WD - United Kingdom Tony Marsh BRM No Car
WD - United Kingdom Colin Davis Porsche
WD - Italy Carlo Abate Lotus-Climax
WD - United Kingdom Ian Burgess Cooper-Climax
Source:[6]
  • Scuderia Ferrari withdrew from the event, and their allocated numbers of 2, 4 and 6 were not used. No drivers were named by the team as having been entered.

Notes

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  • This was the first Formula One World Championship podium for South African driver Tony Maggs, and the first for a South African driver.
  • This was the first Formula One World Championship Grand Prix win for Porsche as a constructor and as an engine supplier.

Championship standings after the race

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

References

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  1. ^ a b c Blunsden, John (September 1962). "Porsche-sensation i Frankrikes G.P." [Porsche Sensation in French G.P.]. Illustrerad Motor Sport (in Swedish). No. 9. Lerum, Sweden. p. 15.
  2. ^ a b c Blunsden, p. 16
  3. ^ Blunsden, p. 14
  4. ^ a b Blunsden, p. 17
  5. ^ "1962 ACF GP Qualification". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  6. ^ "1962 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  7. ^ a b "France 1962 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.


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