1961 German Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Stirling Moss mastered changing conditions at the Nürburgring to defeat Ferrari. It was his final World Championship victory, with Wolfgang von Trips second and Phil Hill third.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Phil Hill	Ferrari
Pole time	8:55.2
Fastest lap	Phil Hill	Ferrari
Fastest-lap time	8:57.800 on lap 10
First	Stirling Moss	Lotus
Second	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari
Third	Phil Hill	Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
4 August 1961	Friday morning timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
4 August 1961	Friday afternoon timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
5 August 1961	Saturday early unofficial practice	Start time unconfirmed
5 August 1961	Saturday final qualifying	Start time unconfirmed
6 August 1961	Pre-race preparations	Morning; start unconfirmed
6 August 1961	Race	14:00

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

Championship background

Wolfgang von Trips arrived at round 6 leading the 1961 F1 World Championship on 27 points, with Phil Hill on 25. Ferrari headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 38 points.

Race entries

The championship returned to the Nordschleife, where Brabham debuted the Coventry-Climax V8 in his Cooper. A large entry joined the regular teams. Ferrari retained its three leading drivers, while the British opposition hoped the new engine would narrow the power gap.

Friday morning timed practice

Brabham’s new V8 immediately suffered a broken distributor drive, forcing him into the four-cylinder spare. Bonnier used his recent circuit experience to set the early pace. Von Trips damaged an engine before settling into a rhythm, while the rest of the field worked through the demanding circuit’s many corners.

Friday afternoon timed practice

Phil Hill produced an exceptional lap below nine minutes despite Ferrari’s suspension bottoming over the bumps. Brabham finally tried the V8, but its sump struck the road and required the engine mounting to be raised. Von Trips missed the session during an engine change, and Seidel stopped with suspension damage.

Saturday early unofficial practice

Ferrari and Cooper received an additional opportunity to run after their lost track time. Brabham’s revised V8 installation worked much better and his hand-timed laps encouraged the team. This was preparation rather than a separate grid-setting session.

Saturday final qualifying

Brabham went fastest on the day, although Phil Hill’s Friday lap retained pole. Moss challenged despite gearbox trouble. Clark crashed after a steering failure and switched to the spare Lotus; Michael May also crashed heavily. Neither was seriously injured, but both incidents complicated the final preparations.

Qualifying Classification

Three official timed sessions set the grid, with additional unofficial running for Ferrari and Cooper. Phil Hill’s Friday time earned pole ahead of Brabham and Moss. The championship’s previous German round had been in 1959; the 1960 Formula Two event was not a championship race.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Timed session 1	Timed session 2	Timed session 3	Best Time
1	4	Phil Hill	Ferrari	9:10.2	8:55.2	9:07.9	8:55.2
2	1	Jack Brabham	Cooper	9:10.6	9:10.6	9:01.4	9:01.4
3	7	Stirling Moss	Lotus	9:10.5	9:11.4	9:01.7	9:01.7
4	8	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	9:06.6	9:04.8	9:11.3	9:04.8
5	3	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	9:23.5	No time	9:05.5	9:05.5
6	17	Graham Hill	BRM	9:18.6	9:13.5	9:06.4	9:06.4
7	9	Dan Gurney	Porsche	9:13.3	9:06.6	9:16.9	9:06.6
8	14	Jim Clark	Lotus	9:20.9	9:08.1	9:37.9	9:08.1
9	16	Tony Brooks	BRM	9:50.2	9:10.5	9:09.3	9:09.3
10	18	John Surtees	Cooper	9:39.9	9:11.2	9:19.8	9:11.2
11	11	Hans Herrmann	Porsche	9:19.2	9:12.7	9:24.6	9:12.7
12	2	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	9:22.4	9:13.0	9:14.4	9:13.0
13	6	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	9:32.7	9:15.9	9:23.5	9:15.9
14	5	Richie Ginther	Ferrari	9:23.8	9:16.6	9:20.1	9:16.6
15	19	Roy Salvadori	Cooper	9:41.1	9:22.0	9:25.2	9:22.0
16	15	Innes Ireland	Lotus	9:22.9	9:38.1	9:23.2	9:22.9
17	31	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	9:39.8	9:28.4	9:29.7	9:28.4
18	28	Jackie Lewis	Cooper	9:42.3	9:35.0	9:31.4	9:31.4
19	32	Lorenzo Bandini	Cooper	9:43.2	9:35.4	9:40.9	9:35.4
20	37	Tony Marsh	Lotus	9:52.3	9:37.7	No time	9:37.7
21	20	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper	10:08.6	10:04.6	9:38.5	9:38.5
22	33	Tony Maggs	Lotus	16:21.9	10:04.4	9:45.5	9:45.5
23	26	Wolfgang Seidel	Lotus	9:59.9	No time	No time	9:59.9
24	30	Ian Burgess	Cooper	11:00.7	10:22.6	10:01.4	10:01.4
25	27	Gerry Ashmore	Lotus	10:37.9	10:18.2	10:06.0	10:06.0
26	38	Bernard Collomb	Cooper	10:41.8	10:23.0	10:30.8	10:23.0
27	25	Michael May	Lotus	17:00.9	No time	10:37.5	10:37.5

Pre-race preparations

A pre-race shower prompted widespread tyre changes. When sunshine returned, Ferrari and Porsche reverted to ordinary tyres, while Moss and Lotus kept the rain tyres they believed could survive the conditions.

What happened in the 1961 German Grand Prix?

Brabham led away but crashed on the opening lap after his throttle stuck. Moss took command and exploited his wet-weather tyres on the damp circuit, keeping the Ferraris behind him.

Von Trips and Phil Hill pursued the Lotus as conditions changed, but Moss maintained his advantage with precise, committed driving. His tyre choice proved crucial when rain returned.

Moss won from von Trips and Phil Hill, with Clark, Surtees and McLaren completing the points. Ferrari remained firmly in control of the manufacturers’ contest, but Moss had interrupted its winning run with another outstanding performance.

After the race, Wolfgang von Trips headed the drivers’ standings with 33 points, followed by Phil Hill on 29. Ferrari led the constructors’ table on 38, with Lotus – Climax on 24.

1961 German Grand Prix race results

The 1961 German Grand Prix was held on 6 August 1961, with a scheduled start of 14:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	7	Stirling Moss	Lotus	15	2:18:12.4	9
2	3	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	15	+21.4 secs	6
3	4	Phil Hill	Ferrari	15	+22.5 secs	4
4	14	Jim Clark	Lotus	15	+1:17.1	3
5	18	John Surtees	Cooper	15	+1:53.1	2
6	2	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	15	+2:41.4	1
7	9	Dan Gurney	Porsche	15	+3:23.1	0
8	5	Richie Ginther	Ferrari	15	+5:23.1	0
9	28	Jackie Lewis	Cooper	15	+5:23.7	0
10	19	Roy Salvadori	Cooper	15	+12:11.5	0
11	33	Tony Maggs	Lotus	14	+1 Lap	0
12	30	Ian Burgess	Cooper	14	+1 Lap	0
13	11	Hans Herrmann	Porsche	14	+1 Lap	0
14	31	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	14	+1 Lap	0
15	37	Tony Marsh	Lotus	13	+2 Laps	0
16	27	Gerry Ashmore	Lotus	13	+2 Laps	0
Ret	6	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	13	Accident	0
Ret	20	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper	12	Engine	0
NC	38	Bernard Collomb	Cooper	11	Not classified	0
Ret	32	Lorenzo Bandini	Cooper	10	Engine	0
Ret	16	Tony Brooks	BRM	6	Engine	0
Ret	8	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	5	Engine	0
Ret	26	Wolfgang Seidel	Lotus	3	Handling	0
Ret	17	Graham Hill	BRM	1	Accident	0
Ret	15	Innes Ireland	Lotus	1	Fire	0
Ret	1	Jack Brabham	Cooper	0	Accident	0
DNS	25	Michael May	Lotus		Practice accident	0
WD	10	Edgar Barth	Porsche		Car unraceworthy	0
DNA	12	Masten Gregory	Cooper		Left the team	0
DNA	21	Giorgio Scarlatti	De Tomaso		Car not ready	0
DNA	29	Piero Monteverdi	MBM		Car destroyed	0
DNA	34	Renato Pirocchi	Cooper		Team withdrawal	0
DNA	35	Geoff Duke	Cooper		Car not ready	0
DNA	39	John Campbell-Jones	Cooper		Not present	0

1961 German Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	4	Phil Hill	Ferrari	10	8:57.800

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 German Grand Prix.

1961 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Wolfgang von Trips	German	Ferrari	33
2	Phil Hill	American	Ferrari	29
3	Stirling Moss	British	Lotus / Ferguson	21
4	Richie Ginther	American	Ferrari	16
5	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	11
6	Giancarlo Baghetti	Italian	Ferrari	9
7	Dan Gurney	American	Porsche	9
8	Jack Brabham	Australian	Cooper	4
9	John Surtees	British	Cooper	4
10	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	4
11	Innes Ireland	British	Lotus	3
12	Olivier Gendebien	Belgian	Emeryson / Ferrari	3
13	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Porsche	2
14	Roy Salvadori	British	Cooper	1
15	Graham Hill	British	BRM	1
–	Maurice Trintignant	French	Cooper	0
–	Cliff Allison	British	Lotus	0
–	Tony Brooks	British	BRM	0
–	Jackie Lewis	British	Cooper	0
–	Hans Herrmann	German	Porsche	0
–	Masten Gregory	American	Cooper	0
–	Henry Taylor	British	Lotus	0
–	Tony Maggs	South African	Lotus	0
–	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Porsche	0
–	Michael May	Swiss	Lotus	0
–	Ian Burgess	British	Lotus / Cooper	0
–	Lorenzo Bandini	Italian	Cooper	0
–	Trevor Taylor	British	Lotus	0
–	Tony Marsh	British	Lotus	0
–	Keith Greene	British	Gilby	0
–	Gerry Ashmore	British	Lotus	0
–	Wolfgang Seidel	German	Lotus	0
–	Willy Mairesse	Belgian	Lotus / Ferrari	0
–	Lucien Bianchi	Belgian	Emeryson / Lotus	0
–	Bernard Collomb	French	Cooper	0
–	Jack Fairman	British	Ferguson	0
–	Giorgio Scarlatti	Italian	De Tomaso	0
–	Tim Parnell	British	Lotus	0
–	Edgar Barth	German	Porsche	0
–	Juan Manuel Bordeu	Argentine	Lotus	0
–	Massimo Natili	Italian	Cooper	0
–	Peter Monteverdi	Swiss	MBM	0
–	Brian Naylor	British	JBW	0
–	Renato Pirocchi	Italian	Cooper	0
–	Geoff Duke	British	Cooper	0
–	John Campbell-Jones	British	Cooper	0

1961 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Ferrari	38
2	Lotus – Climax	24
3	Porsche	11
4	Cooper – Climax	10
5	BRM – Climax	1
—	Cooper – Maserati	0
—	Gilby – Climax	0
—	Emeryson – Maserati	0
—	De Tomaso – OSCA	0
—	JBW – Climax	0
—	Ferguson – Climax	0
—	De Tomaso – Alfa Romeo	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