1962 British Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jim Clark dominated the British Grand Prix at Aintree, leading throughout ahead of John Surtees and Bruce McLaren. It was the circuit’s final appearance on the championship calendar.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jim Clark	Lotus
Pole time	1:53.6
Fastest lap	Jim Clark	Lotus
Fastest-lap time	1:55.000 on lap 36
First	Jim Clark	Lotus
Second	John Surtees	Lola
Third	Bruce McLaren	Cooper

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
19 July 1962	Thursday opening timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
19 July 1962	Thursday afternoon timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
20 July 1962	Friday opening timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
20 July 1962	Friday final qualifying	Start time unconfirmed
21 July 1962	Pre-race preparations	Morning; start unconfirmed
21 July 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 5 leading the 1962 F1 World Championship on 16 points, with Phil Hill on 14. BRM headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 20 points.

Race entries

Ferrari managed to send one car for Phil Hill despite continuing industrial disruption. Brabham’s own car was not ready, so he retained his Lotus. Lola brought a new spare for Surtees to assess, while several four-cylinder private entries joined the leading V8 machines.

Thursday opening timed practice

A strong headwind limited lap times. Gurney and Ireland looked competitive, while Hill’s BRM engine failed. Surtees tried the new Lola but struggled to select gears. Maggs missed the session because a transporter breakdown delayed his Cooper, and Lotus initially lacked its usual pace.

Thursday afternoon timed practice

Clark found his rhythm and equalled the existing lap record. Surtees switched cars after stopping in his regular Lola, and Maggs finally joined the running. Phil Hill remained unhappy with Ferrari’s handling. Ireland tried Gregory’s Lotus and matched his own pace, helping the team assess its two cars.

Friday opening timed practice

Hill’s replacement engine leaked oil onto the circuit, temporarily preventing fast laps. Clark struggled with fouled plugs, while Surtees, Ireland and McLaren improved. Greene borrowed a car to complete qualifying laps while awaiting the new Gilby, and Seidel arrived near the end with his Lotus–BRM.

Friday final qualifying

Cooler air and a fading wind helped Clark secure pole with a late improvement. Several leading drivers continued finding time, while others concentrated on preparation. Lewis became the quickest of the four-cylinder entrants. The whole available field could start, so the session decided positions rather than eliminating drivers.

Qualifying Classification

Four one-hour sessions across Thursday and Friday determined the grid for Saturday’s race. This differs from the three-session British programme used in some other years.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Timed session 1	Timed session 2	Timed session 3	Timed session 4	Best Time
1	20	Jim Clark	Lotus	1:55.6	1:54.0	1:55.0	1:53.6	1:53.6
2	24	John Surtees	Lola	1:55.8	1:55.0	1:54.2	1:58.8	1:54.2
3	32	Innes Ireland	Lotus	1:55.2	1:55.8	1:54.4	No time	1:54.4
4	16	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	2:02.0	1:56.6	1:54.6	1:54.6	1:54.6
5	12	Graham Hill	BRM	1:55.8	No time	1:55.0	1:54.6	1:54.6
6	8	Dan Gurney	Porsche	1:55.2	1:54.8	1:56.8	1:55.8	1:54.8
7	10	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	1:56.0	1:55.2	2:00.6	1:55.4	1:55.2
8	14	Richie Ginther	BRM	1:55.2	1:55.6	1:55.2	1:56.8	1:55.2
9	30	Jack Brabham	Lotus	No time	1:55.8	1:56.0	1:55.4	1:55.4
10	22	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	1:56.8	1:56.4	1:56.0	1:56.4	1:56.0
11	26	Roy Salvadori	Lola	1:57.4	1:57.4	1:56.2	1:59.0	1:56.2
12	2	Phil Hill	Ferrari	1:58.6	1:57.8	1:56.6	1:56.2	1:56.2
13	18	Tony Maggs	Cooper	No time	2:06.0	1:59.0	1:57.0	1:57.0
14	34	Masten Gregory	Lotus	1:58.0	1:57.2	1:58.6	1:57.4	1:57.2
15	42	Jackie Lewis	Cooper	2:08.6	2:02.4	2:00.4	1:59.4	1:59.4
16	36	Ian Burgess	Cooper	No time	2:01.6	2:01.6	2:00.6	2:00.6
17	54	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	2:02.0	2:01.4	No time	2:01.4	2:01.4
18	48	Tony Shelly	Lotus	2:03.6	2:02.4	2:08.2	No time	2:02.4
19	40	Tony Settember	Emeryson	2:06.0	2:03.2	2:02.4	2:03.6	2:02.4
20	46	Jay Chamberlain	Lotus	No time	2:05.6	2:04.6	2:03.4	2:03.4
21	44	Wolfgang Seidel	Lotus	No time	No time	2:25.6	2:11.6	2:11.6

Pre-race preparations

Ireland’s rebuilt gearbox failed on the warm-up lap, leaving the team hurriedly removing broken parts. He then could not engage a gear on the grid and began only after further repairs.

What happened in the 1962 British Grand Prix?

Clark led away while Ireland remained stranded with a gearbox problem. Surtees initially kept close, but Clark gradually extended the gap. McLaren passed Gurney as the Porsche developed clutch trouble.

Surtees continued despite losing second gear, while Hill could not match the leading cars. Brabham challenged behind him but was hampered by painful burns to his foot. Ferrari’s difficult afternoon ended in retirement.

Clark won ahead of Surtees and McLaren, with Hill, Brabham and Maggs completing the points. The Lotus driver had controlled the race from start to finish.

After the race, Graham Hill headed the drivers’ standings with 19 points, followed by Jim Clark on 18. Lotus – Climax led the constructors’ table on 24, with BRM on 23.

1962 British Grand Prix race results

The 1962 British Grand Prix was held on 21 July 1962.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	20	Jim Clark	Lotus	75	2:26:20.8	9
2	24	John Surtees	Lola	75	+ 49.2	6
3	16	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	75	+ 1:44.8	4
4	12	Graham Hill	BRM	75	+ 1:56.8	3
5	30	Jack Brabham	Lotus	74	+ 1 Lap	2
6	18	Tony Maggs	Cooper	74	+ 1 Lap	1
7	34	Masten Gregory	Lotus	74	+ 1 Lap	0
8	22	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	74	+ 1 Lap	0
9	8	Dan Gurney	Porsche	73	+ 2 Laps	0
10	42	Jackie Lewis	Cooper	72	+ 3 Laps	0
11	40	Tony Settember	Emeryson	71	+ 4 Laps	0
12	36	Ian Burgess	Cooper	71	+ 4 laps	0
13	14	Richie Ginther	BRM	70	+ 5 Laps	0
14	54	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	69	+ 6 Laps	0
15	46	Jay Chamberlain	Lotus	64	+ 11 Laps	0
16	32	Innes Ireland	Lotus	61	+ 14 Laps	0
Ret	2	Phil Hill	Ferrari	46	Engine	0
Ret	26	Roy Salvadori	Lola	34	Battery	0
Ret	10	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	26	Differential	0
Ret	44	Wolfgang Seidel	Lotus	10	Brakes	0
Ret	48	Tony Shelly	Lotus	5	Engine	0
DNS	48	Keith Greene	Lotus		Practice only – Shelly’s car	0
WD	28	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus		Car damaged	0
WD	38	John Campbell-Jones	Emeryson		Driver unfit	0
WD	50	Keith Greene	Gilby		Car not ready	0
WD	52	Jo Siffert	Lotus		Insufficient starting money	0

1962 British Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	20	Jim Clark	Lotus	36	1:55.000

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 British Grand Prix.

1962 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Graham Hill	British	BRM	19
2	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	18
3	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	16
4	Phil Hill	American	Ferrari	14
5	John Surtees	British	Lola	13
6	Dan Gurney	American	Porsche / Lotus	9
7	Tony Maggs	South African	Cooper	9
8	Trevor Taylor	British	Lotus	6
9	Richie Ginther	American	BRM	4
10	Lorenzo Bandini	Italian	Ferrari	4
11	Ricardo Rodríguez	Mexican	Ferrari	3
12	Giancarlo Baghetti	Italian	Ferrari	3
13	Jack Brabham	Australian	Lotus	3
14	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Porsche	2
15	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Porsche	2
–	Maurice Trintignant	French	Lotus	0
–	Masten Gregory	American	Lotus / Lotus	0
–	Willy Mairesse	Belgian	Ferrari	0
–	Jackie Lewis	British	Cooper / BRM / Cooper	0
–	Lucien Bianchi	Belgian	Lotus	0
–	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Lotus / Lotus	0
–	John Campbell-Jones	British	Lotus / Emeryson	0
–	Tony Settember	American	Emeryson	0
–	Ian Burgess	British	Cooper	0
–	Jay Chamberlain	American	Lotus	0
–	Innes Ireland	British	Lotus	0
–	Roy Salvadori	British	Lola	0
–	Wolfgang Seidel	German	Emeryson / Lotus	0
–	Peter Arundell	British	Lotus	0
–	Tony Marsh	British	BRM	0
–	Ben Pon	Dutch	Porsche	0
–	Colin Davis	British	Porsche	0
–	Rob Slotemaker	Dutch	Porsche	0
–	Carlo Abate	Italian	Lotus	0
–	Tony Shelly	New Zealander	Lotus	0
–	Keith Greene	British	Lotus / Gilby	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	Lotus – Climax	24
2	BRM	23
3	Cooper – Climax	21
4	Ferrari	14
5	Lola – Climax	13
6	Porsche	12
—	Emeryson – Climax	0
—	Lotus – BRM	0
—	Gilby – 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