1961 British Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Wolfgang von Trips led a Ferrari sweep of the podium at Aintree. Rain made the early stages demanding, but the Italian team emerged with another emphatic victory.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Phil Hill	Ferrari
Pole time	1:58.8
Fastest lap	Tony Brooks	BRM
Fastest-lap time	1:57.800 on lap 72
First	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari
Second	Phil Hill	Ferrari
Third	Richie Ginther	Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
13 July 1961	Thursday opening timed practice	13:00–14:00
13 July 1961	Thursday afternoon timed practice	16:00–17:00
14 July 1961	Friday opening timed practice	13:00–14:00
14 July 1961	Friday final qualifying	16:00–17:00
15 July 1961	Race	Start time unconfirmed

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Phil Hill arrived at round 5 leading the 1961 F1 World Championship on 19 points, with Wolfgang von Trips on 18. Ferrari headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 30 points.

Race entries

The experimental four-wheel-drive Ferguson joined the field, entered by Rob Walker for Jack Fairman. Stirling Moss also tested it alongside his regular Lotus. Tony Maggs made his championship debut, while Baghetti returned after his Reims victory and Gilby brought its own car.

Thursday opening timed practice

Ferrari quickly adapted despite its drivers’ unfamiliarity with Aintree. Bonnier matched the leading pace in the Porsche, while Surtees compared two Coopers. Strong winds affected the session, but the track remained dry. The crowded entry gave private drivers an opportunity to establish themselves alongside the works teams.

Thursday afternoon timed practice

Times fell after teams adjusted their cars. Ferrari and Bonnier shared the fastest recorded time, with Brooks and Moss close behind. Moss also tried the Ferguson and demonstrated encouraging speed, learning how its four-wheel-drive system changed cornering technique. Fairman concentrated on steady development running.

Friday opening timed practice

Rain arrived within minutes, leaving standing water across the circuit. Baghetti spun onto the horse-racing course, while several cars struggled for traction. The Ferguson looked especially composed: Fairman ran well before Moss took over and went faster than he could in his Lotus under the same conditions.

Friday final qualifying

Intermittent rain prevented the circuit drying sufficiently for improvements. The Ferguson team skipped the final session to alter its gearing after the encouraging wet test. Thursday’s times therefore settled the grid, with Phil Hill on pole and Bonnier joining the Ferraris at the front.

Qualifying Classification

Four timed sessions over Thursday and Friday established the grid for Saturday’s race. Several leading drivers shared identical recorded times; the final order follows the official grid rather than imposing modern timing precision.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Timed session 1	Timed session 2	Timed session 3	Timed session 4	Best Time
1	2	Phil Hill	Ferrari	2:00.8	1:58.8	2:15.8	2:05.8	1:58.8
2	6	Richie Ginther	Ferrari	2:00.8	1:58.8	2:08.4	2:06.4	1:58.8
3	8	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	2:00.8	1:58.8	2:11.6	2:12.4	1:58.8
4	4	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	2:01.4	1:58.8	2:06.0	2:06.2	1:58.8
5	28	Stirling Moss	Lotus	No time	1:59.0	2:01.6	2:08.0	1:59.0
6	22	Tony Brooks	BRM	2:02.2	1:59.0	2:18.0	2:09.4	1:59.0
7	16	Innes Ireland	Lotus	2:01.2	1:59.2	2:42.2	2:13.8	1:59.2
8	18	Jim Clark	Lotus	2:03.8	1:59.2	2:11.0	2:11.6	1:59.2
9	12	Jack Brabham	Cooper	No time	1:59.4	2:25.0	2:07.6	1:59.4
10	34	John Surtees	Cooper	2:01.2	1:59.6	2:10.2	2:07.4	1:59.6
11	20	Graham Hill	BRM	2:01.4	2:00.0	2:12.0	2:11.2	2:00.0
12	10	Dan Gurney	Porsche	2:01.6	2:00.2	2:18.8	2:10.0	2:00.2
13	36	Roy Salvadori	Cooper	2:02.0	2:00.8	2:05.6	2:07.0	2:00.8
14	14	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	No time	2:01.0	2:15.4	2:09.2	2:01.0
15	46	Jackie Lewis	Cooper	2:03.8	2:01.0	2:29.2	No time	2:01.0
16	42	Masten Gregory	Cooper	2:02.8	2:01.4	2:30.2	2:29.8	2:01.4
17	30	Henry Taylor	Lotus	2:03.2	2:01.8	2:25.6	2:13.6	2:01.8
18	56	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	2:06.2	2:02.0	2:27.0	2:13.0	2:02.0
19	58	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	2:06.0	2:02.0	2:18.6	2:12.8	2:02.0
20	26	Jack Fairman	Ferguson	2:05.8	2:03.4	2:14.6	No time	2:03.4
21	60	Lorenzo Bandini	Cooper	2:05.6	2:03.6	2:23.0	2:12.4	2:03.6
22	52	Wolfgang Seidel	Lotus	2:06.4	2:04.2	No time	2:15.2	2:04.2
23	54	Keith Greene	Gilby	2:07.4	2:06.0	No time	No time	2:06.0
24	50	Tony Maggs	Lotus	2:28.8	2:06.4	2:15.8	2:17.2	2:06.4
25	44	Ian Burgess	Lotus	No time	2:06.6	2:26.2	2:19.0	2:06.6
26	40	Gerry Ashmore	Lotus	No time	2:08.2	2:30.2	No time	2:08.2
27	48	Tony Marsh	Lotus	No time	No time	2:19.8	2:09.6	2:09.6
28	62	Massimo Natili	Cooper	2:51.4	2:10.2	No time	2:38.8	2:10.2
29	38	Tim Parnell	Lotus	2:23.0	No time	2:59.6	2:16.8	2:16.8
30	32	Lucien Bianchi	Lotus	No time	No time	2:29.0	2:18.8	2:18.8

What happened in the 1961 British Grand Prix?

The wet opening stages brought incidents and a strong challenge from Moss. Von Trips moved into the lead, while Phil Hill and Ginther remained in contention. As the track improved, Ferrari’s advantage became increasingly clear.

Moss retired his Lotus with brake trouble and later took over the Ferguson. That car had already received an illegal push start and was disqualified, so its experimental running could not produce a result. Clark also retired late with an oil leak.

Von Trips won from Phil Hill and Ginther. Brabham finished fourth, followed by Bonnier and Salvadori. The result strengthened von Trips’s championship lead and underlined Ferrari’s depth.

After the race, Wolfgang von Trips headed the drivers’ standings with 27 points, followed by Phil Hill on 25. Ferrari led the constructors’ table on 38, with Lotus – Climax on 16.

1961 British Grand Prix race results

The 1961 British Grand Prix was held on 15 July 1961.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	4	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	75	2:40:53.6	9
2	2	Phil Hill	Ferrari	75	+46.0	6
3	6	Richie Ginther	Ferrari	75	+46.8	4
4	12	Jack Brabham	Cooper	75	+1:08.6	3
5	8	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	75	+1:16.2	2
6	36	Roy Salvadori	Cooper	75	+1:26.2	1
7	10	Dan Gurney	Porsche	74	+1 Lap	0
8	14	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	74	+1 Lap	0
9	22	Tony Brooks	BRM	73	+2 Laps	0
10	16	Innes Ireland	Lotus	72	+3 Laps	0
11	42	Masten Gregory	Cooper	71	+4 Laps	0
12	60	Lorenzo Bandini	Cooper	71	+4 Laps	0
13	50	Tony Maggs	Lotus	69	+6 Laps	0
14	44	Ian Burgess	Lotus	69	+6 Laps	0
15	54	Keith Greene	Gilby	69	+6 Laps	0
16	56	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	69	+6 Laps	0
17	52	Wolfgang Seidel	Lotus	58	+17 Laps	0
Ret	18	Jim Clark	Lotus	62	Oil Leak	0
DSQ	26	Jack Fairman / Stirling Moss	Ferguson	56	Push Start In Pits	0
Ret	32	Lucien Bianchi	Lotus	45	Gearbox	0
Ret	28	Stirling Moss	Lotus	44	Brakes	0
Ret	20	Graham Hill	BRM	43	Engine	0
Ret	58	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	27	Accident	0
Ret	48	Tony Marsh	Lotus	25	Ignition	0
Ret	34	John Surtees	Cooper	23	Differential	0
Ret	38	Tim Parnell	Lotus	12	Clutch	0
Ret	46	Jackie Lewis	Cooper	7	Handling	0
Ret	40	Gerry Ashmore	Lotus	7	Ignition	0
Ret	30	Henry Taylor	Lotus	5	Accident	0
Ret	62	Massimo Natili	Cooper	0	Gearbox	0
DNA	24	Olivier Gendebien	Emeryson		Left the team	0

1961 British Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	22	Tony Brooks	BRM	72	1:57.800

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

1961 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1961 British Grand Prix.

1961 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Wolfgang von Trips	German	Ferrari	27
2	Phil Hill	American	Ferrari	25
3	Richie Ginther	American	Ferrari	16
4	Stirling Moss	British	Lotus / Ferguson	12
5	Giancarlo Baghetti	Italian	Ferrari	9
6	Dan Gurney	American	Porsche	9
7	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	8
8	Jack Brabham	Australian	Cooper	4
9	Innes Ireland	British	Lotus	3
10	Olivier Gendebien	Belgian	Emeryson / Ferrari	3
11	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	3
12	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Porsche	2
13	John Surtees	British	Cooper	2
14	Graham Hill	British	BRM	1
15	Roy Salvadori	British	Cooper	1
–	Maurice Trintignant	French	Cooper	0
–	Cliff Allison	British	Lotus	0
–	Tony Brooks	British	BRM	0
–	Hans Herrmann	German	Porsche	0
–	Jackie Lewis	British	Cooper	0
–	Masten Gregory	American	Cooper	0
–	Henry Taylor	British	Lotus	0
–	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Porsche	0
–	Michael May	Swiss	Lotus	0
–	Lorenzo Bandini	Italian	Cooper	0
–	Trevor Taylor	British	Lotus	0
–	Tony Maggs	South African	Lotus	0
–	Ian Burgess	British	Lotus	0
–	Keith Greene	British	Gilby	0
–	Wolfgang Seidel	German	Lotus	0
–	Willy Mairesse	Belgian	Lotus	0
–	Lucien Bianchi	Belgian	Emeryson / Lotus	0
–	Jack Fairman	British	Ferguson	0
–	Giorgio Scarlatti	Italian	De Tomaso	0
–	Tony Marsh	British	Lotus	0
–	Bernard Collomb	French	Cooper	0
–	Tim Parnell	British	Lotus	0
–	Juan Manuel Bordeu	Argentine	Lotus	0
–	Gerry Ashmore	British	Lotus	0
–	Massimo Natili	Italian	Cooper	0
–	Brian Naylor	British	JBW	0

1961 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Ferrari	38
2	Lotus – Climax	16
3	Porsche	11
4	Cooper – Climax	9
5	BRM – Climax	1
—	Cooper – Maserati	0
—	Gilby – Climax	0
—	Emeryson – Maserati	0
—	De Tomaso – OSCA	0
—	JBW – Climax	0
—	Ferguson – Climax	0

Drivers and constructors counted their best 5 results. Only the highest-placed eligible car for each constructor could score constructor points. A victory earned nine driver points but eight constructor points.

1961 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1961 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	14 May
2	1961 Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	22 May
3	1961 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	18 June
4	1961 French Grand Prix	Reims-Gueux, Reims	2 July
5	1961 British Grand Prix	Aintree Motor Racing Circuit, Liverpool	15 July
6	1961 German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	6 August
7	1961 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	10 September
8	1961 United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	8 October