1963 British Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jim Clark won the British Grand Prix for a second successive year, recovering from a poor start to dominate at Silverstone. John Surtees finished second, with Graham Hill third.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jim Clark	Lotus
Pole time	1:34.4
Fastest lap	John Surtees	Ferrari
Fastest-lap time	1:36.000 on lap 3
First	Jim Clark	Lotus
Second	John Surtees	Ferrari
Third	Graham Hill	BRM

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
18 July 1963	Thursday opening timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
18 July 1963	Thursday afternoon timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
19 July 1963	Friday final qualifying	Start time unconfirmed
20 July 1963	Race	14:00

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

Championship background

Jim Clark arrived at round 5 leading the 1963 F1 World Championship on 27 points, with Dan Gurney on 12. Lotus – Climax headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 28 points.

Race entries

Ferrari entered only Surtees, although it brought two cars for him. ATS withdrew after trouble in testing. Hailwood, Anderson and Raby joined the championship field, and Scirocco prepared a second car. BRM relied on its established models while development continued on the newer design.

Thursday opening timed practice

Hill and Brabham shared the fastest time. Clark lost running after a water-pipe problem, while Ireland was unhappy with the revised BRP’s handling. Hall and Bonnier showed encouraging pace among the independent teams. Surtees compared two Ferraris, but times in the designated training car did not count towards his grid position.

Thursday afternoon timed practice

Clark returned with the Lotus working properly and set a clear benchmark. Hill and McLaren followed, with Gurney and Surtees also improving. Bandini and the Sciroccos joined the running. Hall’s engine suffered a tappet failure, ending a promising session and creating repair work for BRP.

Friday final qualifying

Clark’s previous time survived the final challenge. Hill and the Brabham drivers improved, while Surtees remained close. Taylor lost time to a gearbox assembly problem, Ireland’s engine failed, and Ginther also suffered engine trouble. Bandini impressed in the independently entered BRM, matching Ginther’s best time.

Qualifying Classification

Three timed sessions ran on Thursday and Friday before Saturday’s race. The quickest eligible lap determined the grid.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Timed session 1	Timed session 2	Timed session 3	Best Time
1	4	Jim Clark	Lotus	1:39.6	1:34.4	1:34.6	1:34.4
2	9	Dan Gurney	Brabham	1:42.0	1:35.8	1:34.6	1:34.6
3	1	Graham Hill	BRM	1:36.0	1:35.4	1:34.8	1:34.8
4	8	Jack Brabham	Brabham	1:36.0	1:39.0	1:35.0	1:35.0
5	10	John Surtees	Ferrari	1:37.4	1:35.8	1:35.2	1:35.2
6	6	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	1:38.8	1:35.6	1:35.4	1:35.4
7	7	Tony Maggs	Cooper	1:41.2	1:38.0	1:36.0	1:36.0
8	3	Lorenzo Bandini	BRM	No time	1:38.0	1:36.0	1:36.0
9	2	Richie Ginther	BRM	1:39.6	1:36.8	1:36.0	1:36.0
10	5	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	1:39.8	1:36.8	1:37.0	1:36.8
11	11	Innes Ireland	BRP	1:45.4	1:38.0	1:36.8	1:36.8
12	14	Jo Bonnier	Cooper	1:38.0	1:37.6	1:36.8	1:36.8
13	12	Jim Hall	Lotus	1:38.0	1:37.0	No time	1:37.0
14	19	Chris Amon	Lola	1:44.6	1:38.4	1:37.2	1:37.2
15	25	Jo Siffert	Lotus	1:45.2	1:39.4	1:38.4	1:38.4
16	22	Bob Anderson	Lola	1:43.2	1:39.0	1:39.4	1:39.0
17	20	Mike Hailwood	Lotus	1:42.0	1:41.0	1:39.8	1:39.8
18	15	Tony Settember	Scirocco	No time	1:45.0	1:40.8	1:40.8
19	26	Ian Raby	Gilby	No time	No time	1:42.4	1:42.4
20	16	Ian Burgess	Scirocco	No time	1:49.4	1:42.6	1:42.6
21	23	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	1:45.6	1:44.0	1:43.4	1:43.4
22	21	Masten Gregory	Lotus	No time	1:44.2	1:47.4	1:44.2
23	24	John Campbell-Jones	Lola	No time	No time	1:48.8	1:48.8

What happened in the 1963 British Grand Prix?

The Brabhams made the strongest start, with McLaren also ahead of Clark. The Lotus driver quickly recovered, passing the cars in front to take the lead within the opening laps.

Clark then steadily extended his advantage. McLaren and Brabham retired with engine trouble, while Gurney’s challenge also ended. Ireland and Taylor were disqualified after receiving push starts during their troubled races.

Clark won comfortably. Surtees took second ahead of Hill, with Ginther, Bandini and Hall completing the points. Another victory extended Clark’s championship advantage and confirmed the Lotus’s superiority when it ran reliably.

After the race, Jim Clark headed the drivers’ standings with 36 points, followed by Richie Ginther on 14. Lotus – Climax led the constructors’ table on 37, with BRM on 18.

1963 British Grand Prix race results

The 1963 British Grand Prix was held on 20 July 1963, with a scheduled start of 14:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	4	Jim Clark	Lotus	82	2:14:09.6	9
2	10	John Surtees	Ferrari	82	+ 25.8	6
3	1	Graham Hill	BRM	82	+ 37.6	4
4	2	Richie Ginther	BRM	81	+ 1 lap	3
5	3	Lorenzo Bandini	BRM	81	+ 1 lap	2
6	12	Jim Hall	Lotus	80	+ 2 laps	1
7	19	Chris Amon	Lola	80	+ 2 laps	0
8	20	Mike Hailwood	Lotus	78	+ 4 laps	0
9	7	Tony Maggs	Cooper	78	+ 4 laps	0
10	23	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	76	+ 6 laps	0
11	21	Masten Gregory	Lotus	75	+ 7 laps	0
12	22	Bob Anderson	Lola	75	+ 7 laps	0
13	24	John Campbell-Jones	Lola	74	+ 8 laps	0
Ret	25	Jo Siffert	Lotus	66	Gearbox	0
Ret	14	Jo Bonnier	Cooper	65	Oil Pressure	0
Ret	9	Dan Gurney	Brabham	59	Engine	0
Ret	26	Ian Raby	Gilby	59	Gearbox	0
Ret	16	Ian Burgess	Scirocco	36	Ignition	0
Ret	8	Jack Brabham	Brabham	27	Engine	0
Ret	11	Innes Ireland	BRP	26	Ignition	0
Ret	5	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	23	Fuel Pump	0
Ret	15	Tony Settember	Scirocco	20	Ignition	0
Ret	6	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	6	Engine	0
DNP	27	Nasif Estéfano	De Tomaso			0
WD	17	Giancarlo Baghetti	ATS		Car not ready	0
WD	18	Phil Hill	ATS		Car not ready	0

1963 British Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	10	John Surtees	Ferrari	3	1:36.000

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

1963 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1963 British Grand Prix.

1963 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	36
2	Richie Ginther	American	BRM	14
3	Graham Hill	British	BRM	13
4	John Surtees	British	Ferrari	13
5	Dan Gurney	American	Brabham	12
6	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	10
7	Tony Maggs	South African	Cooper	8
8	Innes Ireland	British	Lotus / BRP	3
9	Jack Brabham	Australian	Lotus / Brabham	3
10	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Cooper	2
11	Lorenzo Bandini	Italian	BRM	2
12	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Lotus	1
13	Jim Hall	American	Lotus	1
14	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Porsche	1
15	Trevor Taylor	British	Lotus	1
16	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Italian	Ferrari	1
–	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Lola	0
–	Maurice Trintignant	French	Lola / Lotus	0
–	Tony Settember	American	Scirocco	0
–	Mike Hailwood	British	Lotus	0
–	Masten Gregory	American	Lotus	0
–	Bob Anderson	British	Lola	0
–	John Campbell-Jones	British	Lotus / Lola	0
–	Willy Mairesse	Belgian	Ferrari	0
–	Lucien Bianchi	Belgian	Lola	0
–	Phil Hill	American	ATS / Lotus	0
–	Giancarlo Baghetti	Italian	ATS	0
–	Ian Raby	British	Gilby	0
–	Ian Burgess	British	Scirocco	0
–	Gerhard Mitter	German	Porsche	0
–	Peter Arundell	British	Lotus	0
–	Nasif Estéfano	Argentine	De Tomaso	0

1963 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Lotus – Climax	37
2	BRM	18
3	Cooper – Climax	16
4	Brabham – Climax	13
5	Ferrari	13
6	BRP – BRM	3
7	Lotus – BRM	2
8	Porsche	1
—	Lola – Climax	0
—	Scirocco – BRM	0
—	ATS	0
—	Gilby – BRM	0

Drivers and constructors counted their best 6 results. Only the highest-placed eligible car for each constructor could score constructor points.

1963 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1963 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	26 May
2	1963 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	9 June
3	1963 Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	23 June
4	1963 French Grand Prix	Reims-Gueux, Reims	30 June
5	1963 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	20 July
6	1963 German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	4 August
7	1963 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	8 September
8	1963 United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	6 October
9	1963 Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	27 October
10	1963 South African Grand Prix	Prince George Circuit, East London	28 December