1962 Italian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Graham Hill led a BRM one-two at Monza, with Richie Ginther completing a commanding afternoon for the team. Bruce McLaren snatched third after a wonderfully close battle behind them.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jim Clark	Lotus
Pole time	1:40.35
Fastest lap	Graham Hill	BRM
Fastest-lap time	1:42.300 on lap 3
First	Graham Hill	BRM
Second	Richie Ginther	BRM
Third	Bruce McLaren	Cooper

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
14 September 1962	Friday timed practice	15:00–18:30
15 September 1962	Saturday final qualifying	15:00–18:30
16 September 1962	Race	15:00

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 7 leading the 1962 F1 World Championship on 28 points, with Jim Clark on 21. BRM headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 31 points.

Race entries

Ferrari brought five drivers, including the returning Willy Mairesse. Jack Brabham stayed away after failing to agree terms with the organisers. De Tomaso briefly appeared with its new flat-eight, while Lotus brought two monocoque cars and a conventional spare.

Friday timed practice

Hill quickly established BRM as the team to beat. Lotus endured a troubled afternoon: Clark’s gearing was unsuitable, a replacement gearbox failed and Taylor suffered a rear suspension problem. Mairesse struck the back of Gregory’s car during practice, fortunately without serious damage. McLaren showed encouraging speed, while De Tomaso managed only a brief appearance with clutch trouble.

Saturday final qualifying

Lotus suffered further gearbox trouble and a broken engine tappet before Clark borrowed Taylor’s car for a late attack. He narrowly beat Hill to pole, the timekeepers separating them by hundredths. Ginther improved in BRM’s spare, but Ferrari struggled with understeer. Taylor then stopped with another locked gearbox, leaving Lotus facing a long night of repairs.

Qualifying Classification

The race used the road circuit alone. Admission was intended for twenty-two cars within 110% of the second-fastest time; nineteen met that speed threshold, and twenty-one cars were ultimately admitted.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Timed session 1	Timed session 2	Best Time
1	20	Jim Clark	Lotus	1:41.5	1:40.35	1:40.35
2	14	Graham Hill	BRM	1:40.7	1:40.38	1:40.38
3	12	Richie Ginther	BRM	1:42.8	1:41.1	1:41.1
4	28	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	1:41.8	1:41.8	1:41.8
5	40	Innes Ireland	Lotus	1:42.0	1:41.8	1:41.8
6	38	Masten Gregory	Lotus	1:41.9	No time	1:41.9
7	16	Dan Gurney	Porsche	1:42.2	1:41.9	1:41.9
8	46	John Surtees	Lola	1:42.4	No time	1:42.4
9	18	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	1:43.0	1:42.6	1:42.6
10	8	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	1:42.9	1:42.8	1:42.8
11	4	Ricardo Rodríguez	Ferrari	1:43.1	No time	1:43.1
12	30	Tony Maggs	Cooper	1:46.2	1:43.2	1:43.2
13	44	Roy Salvadori	Lola	1:43.9	1:43.3	1:43.3
14	24	Nino Vaccarella	Lotus	1:50.8	1:43.4	1:43.4
15	10	Phil Hill	Ferrari	1:43.4	No time	1:43.4
16	22	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	1:45.4	1:44.2	1:44.2
17	6	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	1:44.4	1:44.3	1:44.3
18	2	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	1:45.1	1:44.4	1:44.4
19	36	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus	1:44.4	No time	1:44.4
20	32	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	1:47.4	1:46.8	1:46.8
21	48	Tony Settember	Emeryson	1:49.1	No time	1:49.1
22	60	Tony Shelly	Lotus	No time	1:51.6	1:51.6
23	56	Keith Greene	Gilby	1:52.0	No time	1:52.0
24	52	Gerry Ashmore	Lotus	1:54.2	1:52.9	1:52.9
25	62	Ian Burgess	Cooper	1:53.1	No time	1:53.1
26	42	Jo Siffert	Lotus	1:55.8	No time	1:55.8
27	54	Ernesto Prinoth	Lotus	1:57.7	No time	1:57.7
28	50	Roberto Lippi	De Tomaso	1:58.6	No time	1:58.6
29	26	Jay Chamberlain	Lotus	1:59.7	No time	1:59.7
30	34	Nasif Estéfano	De Tomaso	6:18.4	No time	6:18.4

What happened in the 1962 Italian Grand Prix?

Clark’s gearbox troubles returned almost immediately, and Taylor also retired. Hill pulled clear while Ginther and Surtees disputed second. The Lola eventually succumbed to engine trouble, leaving BRM in control.

Behind them, Gurney, McLaren and Maggs repeatedly exchanged places. Maggs needed fuel, Gurney retired with differential trouble, and Mairesse brought Ferrari into contention. Baghetti and Bonnier also joined the contest, keeping the home crowd involved.

Hill won comfortably from Ginther. McLaren passed Mairesse on the final lap to take third by just four tenths, with Baghetti fifth and Bonnier sixth. BRM had strengthened both championship campaigns while Lotus was left counting the cost of its transmission failures.

After the race, Graham Hill headed the drivers’ standings with 36 points, followed by Bruce McLaren on 22. BRM led the constructors’ table on 37, with Lotus – Climax on 27.

1962 Italian Grand Prix race results

The 1962 Italian Grand Prix was held on 16 September 1962, with a scheduled start of 15:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	14	Graham Hill	BRM	86	2:29:08.4	9
2	12	Richie Ginther	BRM	86	+ 29.8	6
3	28	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	86	+ 57.8	4
4	8	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	86	+ 58.2	3
5	2	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	86	+ 1:31.3	2
6	18	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	85	+ 1 Lap	1
7	30	Tony Maggs	Cooper	85	+ 1 Lap	0
8	6	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	84	+ 2 Laps	0
9	24	Nino Vaccarella	Lotus	84	+ 2 Laps	0
10	32	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	81	+ 5 Laps	0
11	10	Phil Hill	Ferrari	81	+ 5 Laps	0
12	38	Masten Gregory	Lotus	77	+ 9 Laps	0
13	16	Dan Gurney	Porsche	66	Differential	0
14	4	Ricardo Rodríguez	Ferrari	63	Ignition	0
Ret	40	Innes Ireland	Lotus	45	Suspension	0
Ret	46	John Surtees	Lola	42	Engine	0
Ret	44	Roy Salvadori	Lola	41	Engine	0
Ret	22	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	25	Gearbox	0
Ret	48	Tony Settember	Emeryson	18	Engine	0
Ret	36	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus	17	Electrical	0
Ret	20	Jim Clark	Lotus	12	Gearbox	0
DNQ	60	Tony Shelly	Lotus			0
DNQ	56	Keith Greene	Gilby			0
DNQ	52	Gerry Ashmore	Lotus			0
DNQ	62	Ian Burgess	Cooper			0
DNQ	42	Jo Siffert	Lotus			0
DNQ	54	Ernesto Prinoth	Lotus			0
DNQ	50	Roberto Lippi	De Tomaso			0
DNQ	26	Jay Chamberlain	Lotus			0
DNQ	34	Nasif Estéfano	De Tomaso			0
WD	58	Kurt Kuhnke	Lotus		Car not ready	0

1962 Italian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	14	Graham Hill	BRM	3	1:42.300

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 Italian Grand Prix.

1962 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Graham Hill	British	BRM	36
2	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	22
3	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	21
4	John Surtees	British	Lola	19
5	Phil Hill	American	Ferrari	14
6	Dan Gurney	American	Porsche / Lotus	13
7	Richie Ginther	American	BRM	10
8	Tony Maggs	South African	Cooper	9
9	Trevor Taylor	British	Lotus	6
10	Giancarlo Baghetti	Italian	Ferrari	5
11	Lorenzo Bandini	Italian	Ferrari	4
12	Ricardo Rodríguez	Mexican	Ferrari	4
13	Willy Mairesse	Belgian	Ferrari	3
14	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Porsche	3
15	Jack Brabham	Australian	Lotus / Brabham	3
16	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Porsche	2
–	Maurice Trintignant	French	Lotus	0
–	Masten Gregory	American	Lotus / Lotus	0
–	Jackie Lewis	British	Cooper / BRM / Cooper	0
–	Nino Vaccarella	Italian	Lotus / Porsche	0
–	Lucien Bianchi	Belgian	Lotus / ENB	0
–	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Lotus / Lotus	0
–	Ian Burgess	British	Cooper	0
–	Tony Settember	American	Emeryson	0
–	John Campbell-Jones	British	Lotus / Emeryson	0
–	Heini Walter	Swiss	Porsche	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
–	Keith Greene	British	Lotus / Gilby	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 / Lotus	0
–	Roberto Bussinello	Italian	De Tomaso	0
–	Gerry Ashmore	British	BRM / Lotus	0
–	Heinz Schiller	Swiss	Porsche / Lotus	0
–	Bernard Collomb	French	Cooper	0
–	Kurt Kuhnke	German	Lotus	0

1962 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	BRM	37
2	Lotus – Climax	27
3	Cooper – Climax	25
4	Lola – Climax	19
5	Ferrari	18
6	Porsche	17
—	Emeryson – Climax	0
—	Lotus – BRM	0
—	ENB – Maserati	0
—	Gilby – BRM	0
—	Brabham – Climax	0
—	De Tomaso – OSCA	0
—	De Tomaso	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