1963 French Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jim Clark won at Reims despite an engine problem that forced him to manage his pace. Tony Maggs finished second, while Graham Hill recovered to third after a push-start penalty.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jim Clark	Lotus
Pole time	2:20.2
Fastest lap	Jim Clark	Lotus
Fastest-lap time	2:21.600 on lap 12
First	Jim Clark	Lotus
Second	Tony Maggs	Cooper
Third	Graham Hill	BRM

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
26 June 1963	Wednesday timed practice	18:30; finish unconfirmed
27 June 1963	Thursday timed practice	18:00; finish unconfirmed
28 June 1963	Friday final qualifying	Start time unconfirmed
30 June 1963	Race	Start time unconfirmed

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 4 leading the 1963 F1 World Championship on 18 points, with Richie Ginther on 11. Lotus – Climax headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 19 points.

Race entries

The short journey from the Dutch round left little preparation time before Wednesday practice. ATS withdrew, freeing Phil Hill to drive a Filipinetti Lotus–BRM. Ferrari retained Surtees and Scarfiotti, while Bandini was entered in a BRM. Arundell’s proposed Lotus appearance conflicted with his Formula Junior commitments.

Wednesday timed practice

Clark quickly established a commanding benchmark, with Taylor also fast. Hill’s new BRM suffered engine damage from a broken spark-plug component. McLaren again encountered gearbox-selection trouble, and Ferrari compared exhaust arrangements. The newly delivered Filipinetti Lotus was not ready to run properly when Clark briefly tested it.

Thursday timed practice

Persistent rain made improvements impossible. Several established teams kept their cars in the garage, while newly arrived entrants used the wet running for preparation. Surtees was fastest in the conditions. Scarfiotti crashed heavily on a fast section, damaging the Ferrari and injuring his knees, which ended his weekend.

Friday final qualifying

Dry conditions allowed a final attack. Clark improved again and retained pole, while Hill recovered from further clutch trouble to take second. Bandini’s BRM was started only just in time for his minimum practice laps. Brabham investigated fuel-feed problems, and Surtees continued searching for speed. Arundell was not permitted to combine the Grand Prix and Junior races.

Qualifying Classification

Three evening sessions ran from Wednesday to Friday. Saturday was left clear for preparation. Hill’s race penalty and exclusion from championship points are separate from his qualifying position.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Timed session 1	Timed session 2	Timed session 3	Best Time
1	18	Jim Clark	Lotus	2:21.0	No time	2:20.2	2:20.2
2	2	Graham Hill	BRM	3:13.4	2:36.4	2:20.9	2:20.9
3	8	Dan Gurney	Brabham	No time	3:02.4	2:21.7	2:21.7
4	16	John Surtees	Ferrari	2:24.4	2:33.8	2:21.9	2:21.9
5	6	Jack Brabham	Brabham	No time	2:39.2	2:21.9	2:21.9
6	10	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	2:25.1	No time	2:22.5	2:22.5
7	20	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	2:23.7	No time	2:25.1	2:23.7
8	12	Tony Maggs	Cooper	2:24.5	No time	2:24.4	2:24.4
9	32	Innes Ireland	BRP	No time	2:41.8	2:25.1	2:25.1
10	36	Jo Siffert	Lotus	2:26.9	No time	2:25.2	2:25.2
11	44	Jo Bonnier	Cooper	2:26.5	2:40.5	2:25.7	2:25.7
12	4	Richie Ginther	BRM	2:26.8	2:40.0	2:25.9	2:25.9
13	14	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari	2:27.0	2:41.6	No time	2:27.0
14	42	Phil Hill	Lotus	No time	No time	2:27.7	2:27.7
15	28	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus	No time	2:49.5	2:28.3	2:28.3
16	22	Peter Arundell	Lotus	2:28.5	—	—	2:28.5
17	30	Chris Amon	Lola	No time	2:53.1	2:30.5	2:30.5
18	34	Jim Hall	Lotus	No time	3:25.2	2:30.9	2:30.9
19	48	Masten Gregory	Lotus	No time	No time	2:33.2	2:33.2
20	38	Tony Settember	Scirocco	No time	2:54.5	2:36.7	2:36.7
21	46	Lorenzo Bandini	BRM	No time	No time	2:37.8	2:37.8

What happened in the 1963 French Grand Prix?

Hill needed a push start, while Clark led away and built a substantial advantage. Ginther’s challenge faded after a stone damaged his radiator. Brabham and Taylor contested the next places before further mechanical problems intervened.

Clark’s engine lost top-end performance, allowing Brabham to close. The Lotus driver adapted by changing gear earlier and stabilised the gap. Brabham then lost time with an ignition lead problem.

Clark won ahead of Maggs and Hill, with Brabham fourth. Hill received a one-minute penalty for the push start and no championship points. The result gave Clark a third successive victory despite a far from trouble-free afternoon.

After the race, Jim Clark headed the drivers’ standings with 27 points, followed by Dan Gurney on 12. Lotus – Climax led the constructors’ table on 28, with Cooper – Climax on 16.

1963 French Grand Prix race results

The 1963 French Grand Prix was held on 30 June 1963.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	18	Jim Clark	Lotus	53	2:10:54.3	9
2	12	Tony Maggs	Cooper	53	+ 1:04.9	6
3	2	Graham Hill	BRM	53	+ 1:13.9	0
4	6	Jack Brabham	Brabham	53	+ 2:15.2	3
5	8	Dan Gurney	Brabham	53	+ 2:33.4	2
6	36	Jo Siffert	Lotus	52	+ 1 lap	1
7	30	Chris Amon	Lola	51	+ 2 laps	0
8	28	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus	50	+ 3 laps	0
9	32	Innes Ireland	BRP	49	+ 4 laps	0
10	46	Lorenzo Bandini	BRM	45	+ 8 laps	0
11	34	Jim Hall	Lotus	45	+ 8 laps	0
12	10	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	42	Ignition	0
13	20	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	41	Suspension	0
NC	42	Phil Hill	Lotus	34	Not Classified	0
NC	44	Jo Bonnier	Cooper	32	Not Classified	0
Ret	48	Masten Gregory	Lotus	30	Gearbox	0
Ret	16	John Surtees	Ferrari	12	Fuel Pump	0
Ret	38	Tony Settember	Scirocco	5	Wheel Bearing	0
Ret	4	Richie Ginther	BRM	4	Radiator	0
DNS	14	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari		Practice Accident	0
DNS	22	Peter Arundell	Lotus		Entry denied; support race	0
WD	26	Giancarlo Baghetti	ATS			0
WD	40	Ian Burgess	Scirocco		Car not ready	0
WD	50	Nasif Estéfano	De Tomaso		Car not ready	0

1963 French Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	18	Jim Clark	Lotus	12	2:21.600

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 French Grand Prix.

1963 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	27
2	Dan Gurney	American	Brabham	12
3	Richie Ginther	American	BRM	11
4	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	10
5	Graham Hill	British	BRM	9
6	Tony Maggs	South African	Cooper	8
7	John Surtees	British	Ferrari	7
8	Innes Ireland	British	Lotus / BRP	3
9	Jack Brabham	Australian	Lotus / Brabham	3
10	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Cooper	2
11	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Lotus	1
12	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Porsche	1
13	Trevor Taylor	British	Lotus	1
14	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Italian	Ferrari	1
–	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Lola	0
–	Jim Hall	American	Lotus	0
–	Maurice Trintignant	French	Lola / Lotus	0
–	Tony Settember	American	Scirocco	0
–	Lorenzo Bandini	Italian	BRM	0
–	Willy Mairesse	Belgian	Ferrari	0
–	Lucien Bianchi	Belgian	Lola	0
–	Phil Hill	American	ATS / Lotus	0
–	Giancarlo Baghetti	Italian	ATS	0
–	Masten Gregory	American	Lotus	0
–	Gerhard Mitter	German	Porsche	0
–	John Campbell-Jones	British	Lotus	0
–	Ian Burgess	British	Scirocco	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	28
2	Cooper – Climax	16
3	BRM	14
4	Brabham – Climax	13
5	Ferrari	7
6	BRP – BRM	3
7	Lotus – BRM	1
8	Porsche	1
—	Lola – Climax	0
—	Scirocco – BRM	0
—	ATS	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