1962 Belgian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jim Clark scored his first World Championship victory at Spa, giving the Lotus 25 its breakthrough win. Graham Hill finished second and Phil Hill third.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Graham Hill	BRM
Pole time	3:57.0
Fastest lap	Jim Clark	Lotus
Fastest-lap time	3:55.600 on lap 15
First	Jim Clark	Lotus
Second	Graham Hill	BRM
Third	Phil Hill	Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
15 June 1962	Friday timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
16 June 1962	Saturday final qualifying	15:00; finish unconfirmed
17 June 1962	Race	Start time unconfirmed

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

Championship background

Graham Hill arrived at round 3 leading the 1962 F1 World Championship on 10 points, with Phil Hill on 10. Cooper – Climax headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 11 points.

Race entries

Porsche’s works team withdrew amid disruption at the factory. Gurney tried a privately entered Lotus–BRM but did not start. Ferrari entered four cars, while Maggs received Cooper’s second V8 machine. Bowmaker brought only Surtees’s Lola, and several late substitutions completed the field.

Friday timed practice

Mechanical problems limited the pace. Clark’s engine failed, Surtees’s engine tightened up and Maggs stopped with ignition trouble. BRM attended to brakes and fuel lines. Taylor adapted impressively on his first visit and ended fastest, narrowly ahead of Phil Hill. The expected high-speed contest was delayed by repeated repairs.

Saturday final qualifying

Hill took pole as BRM’s preparation improved. Baghetti crashed when an unsecured engine cover lifted and destabilised his Ferrari. Clark’s replacement engine had not arrived, so he borrowed Taylor’s car for a few laps. Gurney judged his hurriedly prepared Lotus unsuitable to race. Taylor then needed gearbox repairs, leaving Lotus a busy night.

Qualifying Classification

Two timed sessions set the grid. Withdrawals removed the need to eliminate further entrants, but the qualifying order still determined starting positions.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Timed session 1	Timed session 2	Best Time
1	1	Graham Hill	BRM	4:01.2	3:57.0	3:57.0
2	25	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	4:04.7	3:58.8	3:58.8
3	17	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	3:59.3	4:00.5	3:59.3
4	9	Phil Hill	Ferrari	3:59.8	3:59.6	3:59.6
5	20	Innes Ireland	Lotus	4:05.1	3:59.8	3:59.8
6	10	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	4:01.4	3:59.8	3:59.8
7	12	Ricardo Rodríguez	Ferrari	4:05.1	4:01.0	4:01.0
8	21	Masten Gregory	Lotus	4:05.7	4:01.0	4:01.0
9	2	Richie Ginther	BRM	4:04.3	4:01.4	4:01.4
10	26	Tony Maggs	Cooper	4:22.6	4:03.6	4:03.6
11	5	John Surtees	Lola	4:29.0	4:04.4	4:04.4
12	16	Jim Clark	Lotus	4:09.2	4:04.9	4:04.9
13	7	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	4:12.6	4:07.7	4:07.7
14	11	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	4:08.0	No time	4:08.0
15	15	Jack Brabham	Lotus	No time	4:08.2	4:08.2
16	18	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus	4:35.5	4:09.2	4:09.2
17	22	Jo Siffert	Lotus	4:11.6	4:17.1	4:11.6
18	19	Lucien Bianchi	Lotus	4:25.4	4:18.0	4:18.0
19	4	John Campbell-Jones	Lotus	No time	4:26.9	4:26.9
20	23	Dan Gurney	Lotus	No time	6:42.2	6:42.2

What happened in the 1962 Belgian Grand Prix?

An early group fought closely before Clark moved clear. Once established in front, he combined speed with consistency to pull away from the opposition.

Taylor and Mairesse collided while battling, sending both cars off the road in a violent accident. Both drivers survived, although the incident ended their races and disrupted the fight behind Clark.

Clark won ahead of Graham Hill and Phil Hill. Rodriguez finished fourth, becoming the youngest championship points scorer at the time, with Surtees and Brabham next. The Lotus 25 had converted its technical promise into victory.

After the race, Graham Hill headed the drivers’ standings with 16 points, followed by Phil Hill on 14. BRM led the constructors’ table on 16, with Lotus – Climax on 15.

1962 Belgian Grand Prix race results

The 1962 Belgian Grand Prix was held on 17 June 1962.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	16	Jim Clark	Lotus	32	2:07:32.3	9
2	1	Graham Hill	BRM	32	+ 44.1	6
3	9	Phil Hill	Ferrari	32	+ 2:06.5	4
4	12	Ricardo Rodríguez	Ferrari	32	+ 2:06.6	3
5	5	John Surtees	Lola	31	+ 1 Lap	2
6	15	Jack Brabham	Lotus	30	+ 2 Laps	1
7	7	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	30	+ 2 Laps	0
8	18	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus	30	+ 2 Laps	0
9	19	Lucien Bianchi	Lotus	29	+ 3 Laps	0
10	22	Jo Siffert	Lotus	29	+ 3 Laps	0
11	4	John Campbell-Jones	Lotus	16	+ 16 Laps	0
Ret	17	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	25	Accident	0
Ret	10	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	25	Accident	0
Ret	2	Richie Ginther	BRM	22	Gearbox	0
Ret	26	Tony Maggs	Cooper	22	Gearbox	0
Ret	25	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	19	Wheel bearing	0
Ret	21	Masten Gregory	Lotus	13	Withdrew	0
Ret	20	Innes Ireland	Lotus	8	Suspension	0
Ret	11	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	3	Ignition	0
DNS	23	Dan Gurney	Lotus		Car unraceworthy	0
WD	3	Tony Marsh	BRM		Car not ready	0
WD	4	Jackie Lewis	BRM			0
WD	4	Gerry Ashmore	BRM			0
WD	6	Roy Salvadori	Lola			0
WD	8	Heinz Schiller	Porsche			0
WD	24	Jo Bonnier	Porsche			0

1962 Belgian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	16	Jim Clark	Lotus	15	3:55.600

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

1962 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1962 Belgian Grand Prix.

1962 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Graham Hill	British	BRM	16
2	Phil Hill	American	Ferrari	14
3	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	9
4	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	9
5	Trevor Taylor	British	Lotus	6
6	John Surtees	British	Lola	5
7	Lorenzo Bandini	Italian	Ferrari	4
8	Ricardo Rodríguez	Mexican	Ferrari	3
9	Giancarlo Baghetti	Italian	Ferrari	3
10	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Porsche	2
11	Tony Maggs	South African	Cooper	2
12	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Porsche	1
13	Jack Brabham	Australian	Lotus	1
–	Willy Mairesse	Belgian	Ferrari	0
–	Maurice Trintignant	French	Lotus	0
–	Jackie Lewis	British	Cooper / BRM	0
–	Lucien Bianchi	Belgian	Lotus	0
–	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Lotus	0
–	John Campbell-Jones	British	Lotus	0
–	Innes Ireland	British	Lotus	0
–	Richie Ginther	American	BRM	0
–	Roy Salvadori	British	Lola	0
–	Masten Gregory	American	Lotus / Lotus	0
–	Dan Gurney	American	Porsche / Lotus	0
–	Wolfgang Seidel	German	Emeryson	0
–	Ben Pon	Dutch	Porsche	0
–	Tony Marsh	British	BRM	0
–	Rob Slotemaker	Dutch	Porsche	0
–	Roberto Bussinello	Italian	De Tomaso	0
–	Gerry Ashmore	British	BRM	0
–	Heinz Schiller	Swiss	Porsche	0

1962 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	BRM	16
2	Lotus – Climax	15
3	Ferrari	14
4	Cooper – Climax	11
5	Lola – Climax	5
6	Porsche	3
—	Emeryson – Climax	0
—	Lotus – BRM	0

Drivers and constructors counted their best 5 results. Only the highest-placed eligible car for each constructor could score constructor points.

1962 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1962 Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	20 May
2	1962 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	3 June
3	1962 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	17 June
4	1962 French Grand Prix	Rouen-les-Essarts, Rouen	8 July
5	1962 British Grand Prix	Aintree Motor Racing Circuit, Liverpool	21 July
6	1962 German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	5 August
7	1962 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	16 September
8	1962 United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	7 October
9	1962 South African Grand Prix	Prince George Circuit, East London	29 December