Rounds 1 to 3 (
BRM) won the season opener, the
Dutch Grand Prix. The
Dutch Grand Prix hosted the season opener for the first time and was granted the honorary designation of
European Grand Prix for this year.
Lotus turned up with a revolutionary new chassis, the
Lotus 25 being the first car built around an
aluminium monocoque instead of a
space frame. However, it was
John Surtees who took
pole position in the privately run
Lola, ahead of
Graham Hill for
BRM. Lotus's
Jim Clark qualified third, but this meant he had the inside line to the first corner and he managed to take the lead.
Dan Gurney in the
Porsche had a wonderful start from eighth to take third behind Hill and ahead of Surtees. The top three were steady in the opening phase, but then, both Clark and Gurney ran into technical troubles. Around the same time, the front
wishbone broke on Surtees's Lola and he had a heavy crash but escaped unhurt. Graham Hill led away and scored the victory.
Bruce McLaren (
Cooper) was running second before he retired with a broken
gearbox. Reigning champion
Phil Hill (
Ferrari) was running third at the time, inheriting second but later being overtaken by
Trevor Taylor (Lotus). Jim Clark scored his first career
pole in the
Monaco Grand Prix, ahead of Graham Hill and Bruce McLaren. But due to a confusing start procedure, it was
Willy Mairesse in the Ferrari who went by, touching wheels with Clark and Hill in the process and locking up his wheels into the first corner. A chain reaction led to an accident with six drivers, three of whom retired on the spot. Mairesse took the lead but spun his car in the second
hairpin, making the order at the end of the first lap: McLaren, Graham Hill, Phil Hill. McLaren was relegated back to second by lap 7, and then third by Clark, who was recovering from a bad start, was setting multiple fastest laps and started challenging Hill for the lead. On lap 55, however, his
clutch gave out and he had to retire. But Hill was not yet out of the woods, with his BRM engine starting to smoke and McLaren, back in second, getting ever closer. On lap 93, Hill's engine gave up with a bang, although he still scored a point, as he was classified in sixth. McLaren was challenged by Phil Hill but held on to score his first win in two years.
Lorenzo Bandini finished third in his first race for Ferrari. The
Belgian Grand Prix saw Graham Hill
qualify on pole, ahead of McLaren, Taylor and home hero Mairesse. In the first phase of the race, those four were fighting over the lead in close combat and their relative positions changed all the while. Clark had started in twelfth, but joined the leading group. On lap 11, Clark set the fastest lap and took the lead, with teammate Taylor holding back their rivals. Clark held on to take the win, but getting up to the final corner of lap 26, Taylor crashed with Mairesse, the Lotus cutting down a
telegraph pole and the Ferrari landing upside down on fire. Both drivers were flung out and suffered minor injuries. Graham Hill finished second, Phil Hill third.
Ricardo Rodríguez came home in fourth, becoming the youngest F1 driver ever to score points. This record stood until
Jenson Button broke it in the
2000 Brazilian Grand Prix. In the Drivers' Championship,
Graham Hill (
BRM) was leading with 16 points, ahead of champion
Phil Hill (
Ferrari) with 14 and
Jim Clark (
Lotus) with 9. In the Manufacturers' Championship, BRM went ahead with 16 points, ahead of Lotus (15) and Ferrari (14).
Rounds 4 to 6 The
French Grand Prix saw
Jim Clark qualify on
pole position in his
Lotus, ahead of championship leader
Graham Hill for
BRM and
Bruce McLaren for
Cooper. Although
Ferrari had withdrawn from the event due to
strike actions, the first three rows were occupied by seven different teams and five different constructors. Fifth-starting
John Surtees was in second after the first lap and challenged Hill for the lead, but had to pit when his engine had trouble picking up fuel.
Jackie Lewis was lapped by Hill but then suddenly lost his
brakes and
rear-ended the leader. Clark took the lead, but was caught by Hill within three laps, confirming to the Lotus team that their car was not running well, and they decided to retire from the race. Further drama ensued when Hill's BRM
engine had jammed with ten laps to go, paving the way for
Dan Gurney taking his first and
Porsche's only win.
South African
Tony Maggs was second for Cooper, scoring his first podium, and
Richie Ginther third for BRM. During the
British Grand Prix, Clark scored his third pole position of the year, this time ahead of Surtees and
Ireland. The latter, however, could not get his Lotus to fire up and was passed at by everyone at the start. McLaren took over third place. The top three remained unchanged throughout the race, with Clark taking an unchallenged win and even getting close to lapping championship leader Hill, who came home in fourth. , the top three (
Hill,
Surtees,
Gurney) finished within five seconds of each other. The
German Grand Prix saw the debut of
Brabham's first F1 chassis, designed by
Ron Tauranac.
Scuderia Ferrari, having recovered from
strikes in
Italy, In the Drivers' Championship,
Graham Hill (
BRM) was still holding onto the lead with 28 points, ahead of
Jim Clark (
Lotus) with 21 and
John Surtees (
Lola) with 19. In the Manufacturers' Championship, BRM were leading with 31, ahead of Lotus (27) and
Cooper (23).
Rounds 7 to 9 entered five cars in their
home race, two of which, including
Giancarlo Baghetti (pictured), finished in the points. The
Italian Grand Prix was run on the
road circuit of
Monza, abandoning the fearsome
banked oval.
Jim Clark, second in the championship,
qualified on
pole position, ahead of championship leader
Graham Hill and his teammate
Richie Ginther. Hill took the lead at the start and led a group eight cars.
Ferrari had brought five cars to their home race but they were all down in the second group. Clark pitted with
transmission problems, while Hill managed to create some space between him and the rest. BRM scored a comfortable 1–2, while close fighting and a light rain shower provided exciting battles, from which
Bruce McLaren came up to complete the podium. F1 moved overseas for the
United States Grand Prix at
Watkins Glen. In repeat of this year's
French GP and last year's
US GP, Ferrari withdrew from this race and the next because of ongoing
strikes in
Italy. Coming to the season finale, the
South African Grand Prix, Clark had a nine-point deficit to Hill. If Clark would manage to win the race, then Hill could finish second at best, which meant that his result would not count - only the five best results of the season counted towards the championship. This would result in a tie on points, and Clark would win the title on countback - he would have four wins against Hill's three. Clark started off well, scoring his sixth pole position of the season, with Hill starting alongside him. He held the lead at the start and then pulled away by a second per lap. He had an immense lead of half a minute when, suddenly, blue
smoke started pouring from his engine. After stopping in the
pits, it was found that a bolt was missing from the
crankcase, which had allowed
oil to leak out. The smoke was caused by the oil leaking on the
exhaust. The Lotus mechanics did not have a fix, which meant Clark had to retire and give up the championship. Hill could cruise to the finish but still won the race almost 50 seconds ahead of McLaren and home hero
Tony Maggs. The Drivers' Championship was settled with
Graham Hill (
BRM) on 42 points, winning his first title, ahead of
Jim Clark (
Lotus) on 30 and
Bruce McLaren (
Cooper) on 27. The Manufacturers' Championship was won by BRM with 42 points, ahead of Lotus (36) and Cooper (29). ==Results and standings==