1966 Monaco Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Monaco
Grand Prix:Monaco
Date:22 May
Year:1966
Official Name:XXIV Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco
Location:Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco
Course:Street Circuit
Course Mi:1.954
Course Km:3.145
Distance Laps:100
Distance Mi:195.400
Distance Km:314.500
Weather:Overcast, Mild, Dry
Pole Driver:Jim Clark
Pole Team:Lotus-Climax
Pole Time:1:29.9
Pole Country:United Kingdom
Fast Driver:Lorenzo Bandini
Fast Team:Ferrari
Fast Time:1:29.8
Fast Country:Italy
First Driver:Jackie Stewart
First Team:BRM
First Country:United Kingdom
Second Driver:Lorenzo Bandini
Second Team:Ferrari
Second Country:Italy
Third Driver:Graham Hill
Third Team:BRM
Third Country:United Kingdom

The 1966 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Monaco on 22 May 1966. It was race 1 of 9 in both the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the first World Championship event of a new era for Formula One, for which engine regulations were altered from 1.5 litres of maximum engine displacement to 3.0 litres. The race was the 24th Monaco Grand Prix.

The race was won by British driver Jackie Stewart driving a BRM P261. He took a forty-second victory over the Ferrari 246 of Italian driver Lorenzo Bandini. It was Stewart's second Grand Prix victory after winning the Italian Grand Prix the previous year. Stewart's team-mate, fellow Briton Graham Hill finished a lap down in third position in his BRM P261. The only other driver to be classified as a finisher was American driver Bob Bondurant driving a BRM P261 entered privately by Team Chamaco Collect.

Race report

The first World Championship race of the new 3-litre engine formula was held in Monaco. Few teams were ready for the new regulations with several teams starting the race with 1965 engines still in place, or had adapted heavier sports car racing engines to suit.

Some sessions were filmed for the movie Grand Prix. It was the debut race of the McLaren racing team, and the Repco V8 in the back of Brabham's new 1966 BT19 chassis. The British-licensed as well as based and New Zealand-owned McLaren team debuted not in British racing green nor in New Zealand's traditional racing colours of green, black and silver, but instead in white and green in order for Grand Prix director John Frankenheimer to be able to use the McLaren as a double for the fictional Yamura cars in the film.[1] John Surtees, though still recovering from a crash at Mosport Park, led for 14 laps from Jackie Stewart, Jochen Rindt and Denny Hulme until his differential broke, handing the lead to Stewart. Hulme retired whilst Graham Hill and Jim Clark disputed third place before Clark's suspension gave out. Meanwhile, Lorenzo Bandini was smashing the lap record before having to ease off to prevent the front brakes wearing out. Stewart won from Bandini with Graham Hill third and Bob Bondurant fourth the only other car past the line in a race of extreme attrition. New rules meant that cars had to complete 90% of the race distance to be classified and eligible for points, meaning that whilst Guy Ligier and Jo Bonnier were still racing, they were considered far enough behind to have actually retired. To this day, this race holds the record for having the fewest classified finishers in a single race in Formula One history.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
14 Jim ClarkLotus-Climax1:29.9 -
217 John SurteesFerrari1:30.1+0.2
312 Jackie StewartBRM1:30.3+0.4
411 Graham HillBRM1:30.4+0.5
516 Lorenzo BandiniFerrari1:30.5+0.6
68 Denny HulmeBrabham-Climax1:31.1+1.2
710 Jochen RindtCooper-Maserati1:32.2+2.3
815 Bob AndersonBrabham-Climax1:32.5+2.6
99 Richie GintherCooper-Maserati1:32.6+2.7
102 Bruce McLarenMcLaren-Ford1:32.8+2.9
117 Jack BrabhamBrabham-Repco1:32.8+2.9
126 Mike SpenceLotus-BRM1:33.5+3.6
1314 Jo SiffertBrabham-BRM1:34.4+4.5
1418 Jo BonnierCooper-Maserati1:35.0+5.1
1521 Guy LigierCooper-Maserati1:35.2+5.3
1619 Bob BondurantBRM1:37.3+7.4
DNS20 Phil HillLotus-Climax1:42.2+12.3

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
112 Jackie StewartBRM1002:33:10.539
216 Lorenzo BandiniFerrari100+ 40.256
311 Graham HillBRM99+ 1 Lap44
419 Bob BondurantBRM95+ 5 Laps163
Ret9 Richie GintherCooper-Maserati80Transmission9
NC21 Guy LigierCooper-Maserati75+ 25 Laps15
NC18 Jo BonnierCooper-Maserati73+ 27 Laps14
Ret4 Jim ClarkLotus-Climax60Suspension1
Ret10 Jochen RindtCooper-Maserati56Engine7
Ret14 Jo SiffertBrabham-BRM35Clutch13
Ret6 Mike SpenceLotus-BRM34Suspension12
Ret7 Jack BrabhamBrabham-Repco17Gearbox11
Ret17 John SurteesFerrari16Transmission2
Ret8 Denny HulmeBrabham-Climax15Transmission6
Ret2 Bruce McLarenMcLaren-Ford9Oil Leak10
Ret15 Bob AndersonBrabham-Climax3Engine8
DNS20 Phil HillLotus-ClimaxCamera car
WD1 Chris AmonMcLaren-Ford
WD3 Peter ArundellLotus-BRM
WD5 Richard AttwoodBRM

Notes

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Jackie Stewart9
2 Lorenzo Bandini6
3 Graham Hill4
4 Bob Bondurant3
Source:[2]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 BRM9
2 Ferrari6
Source:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Action! McLaren at the movies. McLaren. 25 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160525124019/http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/heritage/action-mclaren-at-the-movies-6114785/. 25 May 2016. 23 May 2016.
  2. Web site: Monaco 1966 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 19 March 2019.