1962 Italian Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Italy
Grand Prix:Italian
Date:16 September
Year:1962
Official Name:XXXIII Gran Premio d'Italia
Location:Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
Monza, Italy
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:3.573
Course Km:5.750
Distance Laps:86
Distance Mi:307.268
Distance Km:494.500
Weather:Dry, with rain later
Pole Driver:Jim Clark
Pole Team:Lotus-Climax
Pole Time:1:40.35
Pole Country:UK
Fast Driver:Graham Hill
Fast Team:BRM
Fast Time:1:42.30
Fast Lap:3
Fast Country:UK
First Driver:Graham Hill
First Team:BRM
First Country:UK
Second Driver:Richie Ginther
Second Team:BRM
Second Country:USA
Third Driver:Bruce McLaren
Third Team:Cooper-Climax
Third Country:NZ

The 1962 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 16 September 1962. It was race 7 of 9 in both the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 86-lap race was won by BRM driver Graham Hill after he started from second position. His teammate Richie Ginther finished second and Cooper driver Bruce McLaren came in third.

Race report

Jim Clark started on pole position, but the Lotus team still looked worried as the team had gone through all of their gearboxes over the weekend. Two crates of spare parts were flown down, but nonetheless Clark and Trevor Taylor started with no more spares available. After only two laps Clark pitted with the expected transmission trouble; he made it back onto the track for another ten laps but that was it.[1] Teammate Taylor managed 25 laps before his race ended. Hill kept stretching his lead out and finished nearly a half minute before Richie Ginther in the other BRM. Ginther had been duelling with Surtees throughout the race, but on lap 38 Surtees slowed down and five laps later he retired with engine troubles.[1] Behind these two, there was a race long three-way fight between Dan Gurney's Porsche and the Coopers of McLaren and Maggs. The cars swapped positions constantly, coming down the straight on the fiftieth lap three abreast. Maggs had to stop for more fuel, unlike McLaren whose car had been fitted with 170L fuel tanks to enable him to run the entire distance. Meanwhile, Willy Mairesse in the new non-sharknose Ferrari 156 had caught up to the third-place contenders and brought Jo Bonnier and Giancarlo Baghetti with him.[2]

Gurney's car was pressed too hard and he retired on the 66th lap with a broken rear differential. After this, the positions stabilized a bit, although not until after Baghetti had briefly led the pack to the appreciation of local fans.[2] Bonnier's clutch began slipping and Baghetti also fell back. Mairesse took third on the eightieth lap, and built up a three-second lead over McLaren. Stirling Moss, who was watching from the speaker tower, began betting people that McLaren would take third and he was right: in the first curve of the last lap, McLaren passed Mairesse and he took third by only 0.4 seconds.[2] Bonnier's clutch troubles allowed Baghetti to pass him for fifth place near the end of the race. Phil Hill had to suffer being lapped before half of the race was over, and had to make a long pit stop with engine troubles and finished twelfth. Rodríguez' Ferrari lost oil pressure, Innes Ireland had a good race until something snapped in the steering, and Masten Gregory's car was overheating and then only ran in fourth gear for the last laps. The fire extinguisher in Roy Salvadori's Bowmaker-Yeoman Lola exploded in his face during practice.[2]

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorGap
Q1Q2
120 Jim ClarkLotus-Climax1:41.51:40.35
214 Graham HillBRM1:40.71:40.38+0.03
312 Richie GintherBRM1:42.81:41.1+0.75
428 Bruce McLarenCooper-Climax1:41.81:41.8+1.45
540 Innes IrelandLotus-Climax1:42.01:41.8+1.45
638 Masten GregoryLotus-BRM1:41.9No time+1.55
716 Dan GurneyPorsche1:42.21:41.9+1.55
846 John SurteesLola-Climax1:42.4No time+2.05
918 Jo BonnierPorsche1:43.01:42.6+2.25
108 Willy MairesseFerrari1:42.91:42.8+2.45
114 Ricardo RodríguezFerrari1:43.1No time+2.75
1230 Tony MaggsCooper-Climax1:46.21:43.2+2.85
1344 Roy SalvadoriLola-Climax1:43.91:43.3+2.95
1424 Nino VaccarellaLotus-Climax1:50.81:43.4+3.05
1510 Phil HillFerrari1:43.4No time+3.05
1622 Trevor TaylorLotus-Climax1:45.41:44.2+3.85
176 Lorenzo BandiniFerrari1:44.41:44.3+3.95
182 Giancarlo BaghettiFerrari1:45.11:44.4+4.05
1936 Maurice TrintignantLotus-Climax1:44.4No time+4.05
2032 Carel Godin de BeaufortPorsche1:47.41:46.8+6.45
2148 Tony SettemberEmeryson-Climax1:49.1No time+8.75
2260 Tony ShellyLotus-BRMNo time1:51.6+11.25
2356 Keith GreeneGilby-BRM1:52.0No time+11.65
2452 Gerry AshmoreLotus-Climax1:54.21:52.9+12.55
2562 Ian BurgessCooper-Climax1:53.1No time+12.75
2642 Jo SiffertLotus-BRM1:55.8No time+15.45
2754 Ernesto PrinothLotus-Climax1:57.7No time+17.35
2850 Roberto LippiDe Tomaso-O.S.C.A.1:58.6No time+18.25
2926 Jay ChamberlainLotus-Climax1:59.7No time+19.35
3034 Nasif EstéfanoDe Tomaso6:18.4No time+4:38.05
Source:[3]

* Grid limited to 22 cars, provided their time was within 110% of 2nd place. As only 19 drivers managed to be fulfilled the requirements, the grid was reduced to 21 cars.

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
114 Graham HillBRM862:29:08.429
212 Richie GintherBRM86+ 29.836
328 Bruce McLarenCooper-Climax86+ 57.844
48 Willy MairesseFerrari86+ 58.2103
52 Giancarlo BaghettiFerrari86+ 1:31.3182
618 Jo BonnierPorsche85+ 1 Lap91
730 Tony MaggsCooper-Climax85+ 1 Lap12 
86 Lorenzo BandiniFerrari84+ 2 Laps17 
924 Nino VaccarellaLotus-Climax84+ 2 Laps14 
1032 Carel Godin de BeaufortPorsche81+ 5 Laps20 
1110 Phil HillFerrari81+ 5 Laps15 
1238 Masten GregoryLotus-BRM77+ 9 Laps6 
1316 Dan GurneyPorsche66Differential7 
144 Ricardo RodríguezFerrari63Ignition11 
Ret40 Innes IrelandLotus-Climax45Suspension5 
Ret46 John SurteesLola-Climax42Engine8 
Ret44 Roy SalvadoriLola-Climax41Engine13 
Ret22 Trevor TaylorLotus-Climax25Gearbox16 
Ret48 Tony SettemberEmeryson-Climax18Engine21 
Ret36 Maurice TrintignantLotus-Climax17Electrical19 
Ret20 Jim ClarkLotus-Climax12Gearbox1 
DNQ60 Tony ShellyLotus-BRM  
DNQ56 Keith GreeneGilby-BRM  
DNQ52 Gerry AshmoreLotus-Climax  
DNQ62 Ian BurgessCooper-Climax  
DNQ42 Jo SiffertLotus-BRM  
DNQ54 Ernesto PrinothLotus-Climax  
DNQ50 Roberto LippiDe Tomaso-O.S.C.A.  
DNQ26 Jay ChamberlainLotus-Climax  
DNQ34 Nasif EstéfanoDe Tomaso    
WD58 Kurt KuhnkeLotus-Borgward Car not ready  

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Graham Hill36 (37)
22 Bruce McLaren22
13 Jim Clark21
14 John Surtees19
5 Phil Hill14
Source: [4]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 BRM37 (41)
2 Lotus-Climax27
3 Cooper-Climax25 (27)
4 Lola-Climax19
15 Ferrari18
Source:

Notes and References

  1. IMS10 . Skyfall över Tysklands GP . Deluge on German GP . 4 . sv . Björklund . Bengt . Lerum, Sweden . Illustrerad Motor Sport . 10 . October 1962 .
  2. [#IMS10|''Skyfall...'']
  3. Web site: 1962 Italian GP Qualification. www.chicanef1.com. 6 August 2020.
  4. Web site: Italy 1962 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 1 March 2019.