1968 Belgian Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Belgium
Grand Prix:Belgian
Date:9 June
Year:1968
Official Name:XXVIII Grand Prix de Belgique
Location:Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:8.761
Course Km:14.100
Distance Laps:28
Distance Mi:245.317
Distance Km:394.800
Weather:Overcast, Dry
Pole Driver:Chris Amon
Pole Team:Ferrari
Pole Time:3:28.6
Pole Country:New Zealand
Fast Driver:John Surtees
Fast Team:Honda
Fast Time:3:30.5
Fast Lap:5
Fast Country:United Kingdom
First Driver:Bruce McLaren
First Team:McLaren-Ford
First Country:New Zealand
Second Driver:Pedro Rodríguez
Second Team:BRM
Second Country:Mexico
Second Flag Suffix:1934
Third Driver:Jacky Ickx
Third Team:Ferrari
Third Country:Belgium

The 1968 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit on 9 June 1968. It was race 4 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 28-lap race was won by McLaren driver Bruce McLaren after he started from sixth position. Pedro Rodríguez finished second for the BRM team and Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx came in third.

On the seventh lap Brian Redman went off the circuit when his suspension failed and he crashed into and over a concrete barrier and into a parked car. His Cooper caught fire but Redman escaped with a severely broken right arm and a few minor burns.

Background

After the introduction of 'dive plane' wings on the nosecone on a Formula One car by Lotus at the previous race, the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, Ferrari added a strut mounted negative incidence wing - to their lead driver Chris Amon's car[1] and he nabbed pole position, and was 4 seconds faster in qualifying than the next fastest car of Jackie Stewart, though Amon claimed to have performed similar lap times without the wings.[2] Amon's teammate Jacky Ickx did not have wings on his car.[3] The Brabham team also fitted a rear wing to Jack Brabham's car, paired with dive planes on the nose to counteract lift; he qualified 10th.[4] Wings were added to Ickx's car (and many other teams copied the idea for their cars) for the next race, the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. As 1968 season progressed many F1 teams utilized strut mounted wings attached directly to suspension elements - copying Chaparral sports car practice - to increase cornering speeds, reducing lap times. Ferrari never utilized strut mounted wings attached to suspension, as Enzo Ferrari considered it far too dangerous,[5] continuing with strut mounted wings mounted directly to the chassis.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
122 Chris AmonFerrari3:28.6
27 Jackie StewartMatra-Ford3:32.3+3.7
323 Jacky IckxFerrari3:34.3+5.7
420 John SurteesHonda3:35.0+6.4
56 Denny HulmeMcLaren-Ford3:35.4+6.8
65 Bruce McLarenMcLaren-Ford3:37.1+8.5
714 Piers CourageBRM3:37.2+8.6
811 Pedro RodríguezBRM3:37.8+9.2
93 Jo SiffertLotus-Ford3:39.0+10.4
1016 Brian RedmanCooper-BRM3:41.4+12.8
1112 Richard AttwoodBRM3:45.2+16.6
1215 Lucien BianchiCooper-BRM3:45.9+17.3
1310 Jean-Pierre BeltoiseMatra3:52.9+24.3
141 Graham HillLotus-Ford4:06.1+37.5
152 Jackie OliverLotus-Ford4:30.8+1:02.2
1617 Jo BonnierMcLaren-BRM4:34.3+1:05.7
1719 Jochen RindtBrabham-Repco4:46.7+1:18.1
1818 Jack BrabhamBrabham-Repco
Source:[6] [7]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
15 Bruce McLarenMcLaren-Ford281:40:02.169
211 Pedro RodríguezBRM28+ 12.186
323 Jacky IckxFerrari28+ 39.634
47 Jackie StewartMatra-Ford27Out of fuel23
52 Jackie OliverLotus-Ford26Transmission152
615 Lucien BianchiCooper-BRM26+ 2 Laps121
73 Jo SiffertLotus-Ford25Oil pressure9 
810 Jean-Pierre BeltoiseMatra25+ 3 Laps13 
Ret14 Piers CourageBRM22Engine7 
Ret6 Denny HulmeMcLaren-Ford18Halfshaft5 
Ret20 John SurteesHonda11Suspension4 
Ret22 Chris AmonFerrari8Radiator1 
Ret16 Brian RedmanCooper-BRM6Spun Off10 
Ret12 Richard AttwoodBRM6Oil Pipe11 
Ret18 Jack BrabhamBrabham-Repco6Throttle18 
Ret1 Graham HillLotus-Ford5Halfshaft14 
Ret19 Jochen RindtBrabham-Repco5Engine17 
Ret17 Jo BonnierMcLaren-BRM1Wheel16 

Notes

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Graham Hill24
2 Denny Hulme10
143 Bruce McLaren9
14 Jim Clark9
105 Pedro Rodríguez6
Source:[8]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Lotus-Ford29
2 McLaren-Ford17
13 BRM12
14 Cooper-BRM9
15 Ferrari7
Source:

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Roebuck. Nigel. Nigel Roebuck. October 1998. Legends. https://web.archive.org/web/20160809222259/http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-1998/18/legends. 9 August 2016. 9 August 2016. Motor Sport magazine archive. 18.
  2. Web site: 23 August 2011. Looking back: 1968 - Chris Amon's unluckiest year. 8 July 2020. talkingaboutf1.com.
  3. Lawrence (1999) p.100
  4. Nye (1986) p.72
  5. Web site: 23 August 2011. Looking back: 1968 - Chris Amon's unluckiest year. 8 July 2020. talkingaboutf1.com.
  6. Web site: 1966 ACF GP Qualification. www.chicanef1.com. 26 August 2020.
  7. Web site: 1966 French Grand Prix. Motor Sport Magazine. 26 August 2020.
  8. Web site: Belgium 1968 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 12 March 2019.