1967 Monaco Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Monaco
Grand Prix:Monaco
Date:May 7
Year:1967
Official Name:XXV 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
Pole Driver:Jack Brabham
Pole Team:Brabham-Repco
Pole Time:1:27.6
Pole Country:Australia
Fast Driver:Jim Clark
Fast Team:Lotus-Climax
Fast Time:1:29.5
Fast Country:UK
First Driver:Denny Hulme
First Team:Brabham-Repco
First Country:New Zealand
Second Driver:Graham Hill
Second Team:Lotus-BRM
Second Country:UK
Third Driver:Chris Amon
Third Team:Ferrari
Third Country:New Zealand

The 1967 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on May 7, 1967. It was race 2 of 11 in both the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers, albeit four months after Pedro Rodríguez's unexpected victory at Kyalami. The 100-lap race was won by Brabham driver Denny Hulme after he started from fourth position. Graham Hill finished second for the Lotus team and Ferrari driver Chris Amon came in third.

The race was overshadowed by the fatal accident suffered by Ferrari driver Lorenzo Bandini in the late stages of the race.

Between these races, the usual pre-season races had produced some unusual results, with Dan Gurney winning at Brands Hatch, in the Race of Champions in his Eagle-Weslake, and Mike Parkes taking the BRDC International Trophy for Ferrari.

The straight after the Gasworks hairpin was lengthened by moving the 'Start and Finish' closer to Ste-Devote.[1]

Report

Entry

A total of 17 Formula One cars were entered for the event. The field was bolstered by a pair of Formula Two Matras. The Monaco circuit with its tight layout, gave the 3-litre cars no advantage, thus many top teams entered their drivers in 2 or 2.5-litre cars. In fact the Formula Two Matras were powered by 1.6-litre Cosworth engines. Honda was back with John Surtees, with a V12 engine and the Anglo American Racers were at Monaco for the first time, with their Eagle-Weslake.[1]

Qualifying

Jack Brabham took pole position for Brabham Racing Organisation, in their Brabham-Repco BT19, averaging a speed of 80.779 mph, around the 1.954 miles (3.145 km) course. Brabham was joined on the front row by Ferrari's Lorenzo Bandini. The next row featured Surtees in the Honda and Denny Hulme in the second Brabham. The third row was an all Scottish affair, with Jim Clark (Lotus-Climax) ahead of Jackie Stewart's BRM.[2]

Race start through lap 81

The opening few laps were eventful – Bandini going into the lead. Brabham's Repco engine blew up almost immediately, at Spélugues cruve, and he spun in front of Bruce McLaren and Jo Siffert who collided taking avoiding action. Only Siffert damaged his car and had to pit for repairs. Brabham continued, but was losing oil from Mirabeau to the port, whilst Clark had to take to the escape road after slipping on Brabham's oil.[1] [3] [4] (Brabham retired at Mirabeau with a blown engine as a result.)

On lap two Clark went off and dropped to the rear of the field, while Hulme and Stewart managed to pass Bandini into the lead after he too slipped on Brabham's oil. Hulme stayed in front until the sixth lap when Stewart swept past, until his crownwheel and pinion broke on lap 14. Hulme re-took the lead. The race settled down with Bandini second, McLaren third, after the departure of Surtees, with an engine failure. Clark's heroic battle from 14th up to fourth ended with broken shock absorber on lap 43. This promoted Chris Amon to fourth.[3] [4]

In the second half of the race, Bandini began to close in on Hulme. McLaren was holding Amon at bay until he was forced into the pits to change a battery. This dropped him behind Amon and Graham Hill.[3] [4] Piers Courage in the BRM had spun out on the hill just out of Sainte Devote by lap 65 and retired immediately after pulling off the track.

Lap 82 accident and finish

On lap 82 disaster struck. Bandini's chase ended in horror when he clipped the chicane and hit a hidden mooring head, with the car turning over and exploding into flames amongst the straw bales. Bandini was trapped in his car while it burned. The rescue operation was hopelessly inadequate, the intervention was very slow and precious minutes passed before the fire was extinguished and Bandini was rescued and rushed to hospital. The rescue was not helped by a helicopter carrying a television camera crew, as it hovered at low level, the downdraught from the rotor blades fanned what remained of the fire, which reignited with a new ferocity.[1] [3] [4] [5]

Meanwhile, Hulme continued to lead the race to the finish unchallenged. With just eight laps to go, Amon suffered a puncture and dropped to third, with second going to Hill.[3] [4] Three of the top four finishers (Hulme, Amon and McLaren) were New Zealand drivers - 30% of the total number of New Zealand drivers (10) who have started a Formula 1 World Championship Grand Prix.[6]

Post-race

Bandini suffered horrendous burns and died of these injuries three days later - the tragedy overshadowing Hulme's first victory on one of the world's most difficult circuits. When the news broke, many of the star drivers were travelling to the United States to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.[1] [3] [4] [7] This was the last Monaco Grand Prix that was to run for 100 laps.

Following the sad events of this race, straw bales were banned from Grand Prix circuits. The development of fire-retardant fuel systems and flameproof clothing for drivers and marshals was accelerated, and never again would a TV camera crew be allowed to fly a helicopter low over a burning car.[5]

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
18 Jack BrabhamBrabham-Repco1:27.6
218 Lorenzo BandiniFerrari1:28.3+0.7
37 John SurteesHonda1:28.4+0.8
49 Denny HulmeBrabham-Repco1:28.8+1.2
512 Jim ClarkLotus-Climax1:28.8+1.2
64 Jackie StewartBRM1:29.0+1.4
723 Dan GurneyEagle-Weslake1:29.3+1.7
814 Graham HillLotus-BRM1:29.9+2.3
917 Jo SiffertCooper-Maserati1:30.0+2.4
1016 Bruce McLarenMcLaren-BRM1:30.0+2.4
112 Johnny Servoz-GavinMatra-Ford1:30.4+2.8
125 Mike SpenceBRM1:30.6+3.0
136 Piers CourageBRM1:30.6+3.0
1420 Chris AmonFerrari1:30.7+3.1
1510 Jochen RindtCooper-Maserati1:30.8+3.2
1611 Pedro RodríguezCooper-Maserati1:32.4+4.8
DNQ15 Bob AndersonBrabham-Climax1:30.6+3.0
DNQ1 Jean-Pierre BeltoiseMatra-Ford1:31.0+3.4
DNQ22 Richie GintherEagle-Weslake1:31.1+3.5

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
19 Denny HulmeBrabham-Repco1002:34:34.349
214 Graham HillLotus-BRM99+ 1 Lap86
320 Chris AmonFerrari98+ 2 Laps144
416 Bruce McLarenMcLaren-BRM97+ 3 Laps103
511 Pedro RodríguezCooper-Maserati96+ 4 Laps162
65 Mike SpenceBRM96+ 4 Laps121
Ret18 Lorenzo BandiniFerrari81Fatal Accident2 
Ret6 Piers CourageBRM64Spun Off13 
Ret12 Jim ClarkLotus-Climax42Suspension5 
Ret7 John SurteesHonda32Engine3 
Ret17 Jo SiffertCooper-Maserati31Oil Pressure9 
Ret4 Jackie StewartBRM14Differential6 
Ret10 Jochen RindtCooper-Maserati14Gearbox15 
Ret23 Dan GurneyEagle-Weslake4Fuel Pump7 
Ret2 Johnny Servoz-GavinMatra-Ford4Injection11 
Ret8 Jack BrabhamBrabham-Repco0Engine1 
DNQ15 Bob AndersonBrabham-Climax  
DNQ1 Jean-Pierre BeltoiseMatra-Ford  
DNQ22 Richie GintherEagle-Weslake    

Notes

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
31 Denny Hulme12
12 Pedro Rodríguez11
63 Graham Hill6
24 John Love6
25 John Surtees4
Source:[8]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
31 Brabham-Repco12
12 Cooper-Maserati11
33 Lotus-BRM6
24 Cooper-Climax6
25 Honda4
Source:

Notes and References

  1. http://monaco-grandprix.org/pagesE/1967.html{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
  2. Web site: 1967 Monaco GP . ChicaneF1.com . 2014-02-22.
  3. Web site: 1967 Monaco Grand Prix . Formula1.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20140219074046/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1967/562/ . 19 February 2014 . 26 September 2015.
  4. Web site: 1967 Monaco Grand Prix - WOI Encyclopedia Italia . Wheelsofitaly.com . 2014-02-06 . 2014-02-24.
  5. Richard Williams, “Enzo Ferrari A Life" (Yellow Jersey Press,, 2002)
  6. Web site: Parkes . Ian . And Lawson makes it 10 – New Zealand’s history in F1 . www.speedcafe.com . 9 October 2023.
  7. Web site: Monaco Grand Prix | Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo | ESPN F1 . Espn.co.uk . 2014-02-24.
  8. Web site: Monaco 1967 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 19 March 2019.