1963 German Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

John Surtees scored his first World Championship victory at the Nürburgring, ending Jim Clark’s winning run. Clark finished second despite engine trouble, with Richie Ginther third.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jim Clark	Lotus
Pole time	8:45.8
Fastest lap	John Surtees	Ferrari
Fastest-lap time	8:47.000 on lap 9
First	John Surtees	Ferrari
Second	Jim Clark	Lotus
Third	Richie Ginther	BRM

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
2 August 1963	Friday morning timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
2 August 1963	Friday afternoon timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
3 August 1963	Saturday final qualifying	Start time unconfirmed
4 August 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 6 leading the 1963 F1 World Championship on 36 points, with Richie Ginther on 14. Lotus – Climax headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 37 points.

Race entries

Mairesse returned to Ferrari after injury, while ATS’s journey was disrupted by a transporter accident. The organisers accepted a core invited field and used practice to select additional entrants. Mitter again drove a Porsche, and BRM brought its newer car alongside the established machines.

Friday morning timed practice

Surtees immediately set a formidable pace, with Bandini also quick in the Centro Sud BRM. Ireland crashed the BRP on his first lap and switched to its spare Lotus. Amon suffered an engine failure in a borrowed Lola. The circuit’s rough surface demanded attention to spring and damper settings as cars became airborne over bumps.

Friday afternoon timed practice

Scattered rain prevented improvements. Clark was quickest in the wet conditions, but his engine was showing signs of wear and was replaced afterwards. Hill alternated between BRMs, while McLaren’s engine also failed. The teams used the evening for major repairs, and the delayed ATS cars still had not joined the session.

Saturday final qualifying

Clark took pole with his replacement engine and gearbox, narrowly ahead of Surtees. Bandini retained an impressive third. Surtees’s chassis cracked and required welding, while McLaren suffered a wishbone failure. Taylor continued struggling with his gearbox. ATS could not complete the necessary preparation and was refused a start without practice.

Qualifying Classification

Three timed sessions decided the grid, with practice also selecting drivers from the supplementary entry list. The long circuit and minimum running requirements made mechanical delays particularly costly.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Timed session 1	Timed session 2	Timed session 3	Best Time
1	3	Jim Clark	Lotus	9:02.0	9:44.0	8:45.8	8:45.8
2	7	John Surtees	Ferrari	8:53.7	9:46.6	8:53.4	8:53.4
3	15	Lorenzo Bandini	BRM	8:59.3	10:28.0	8:54.3	8:54.3
4	1	Graham Hill	BRM	9:11.8	10:13.8	8:57.2	8:57.2
5	5	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	10:01.5	10:09.9	8:57.3	8:57.3
6	2	Richie Ginther	BRM	9:02.8	9:55.0	Unknown	9:02.8
7	8	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	9:05.5	10:41.2	9:03.5	9:03.5
8	9	Jack Brabham	Brabham	9:04.2	11:17.8	Unknown	9:04.2
9	18	Jo Siffert	Lotus	9:23.3	9:59.3	9:11.1	9:11.1
10	6	Tony Maggs	Cooper	9:45.0	10:04.4	9:11.6	9:11.6
11	14	Innes Ireland	Lotus	9:48.1	10:37.9	9:14.6	9:14.6
12	16	Jo Bonnier	Cooper	9:24.3	9:58.6	9:16.0	9:16.0
13	10	Dan Gurney	Brabham	9:38.2	10:41.4	9:17.2	9:17.2
14	21	Chris Amon	Lola	No time	No time	9:20.1	9:20.1
15	26	Gerhard Mitter	Porsche	9:34.8	10:58.8	9:20.9	9:20.9
16	20	Jim Hall	Lotus	9:50.1	11:19.0	9:22.7	9:22.7
17	17	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	9:34.9	10:21.5	9:25.1	9:25.1
18	4	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	9:33.8	10:34.2	Unknown	9:33.8
19	24	Ian Burgess	Scirocco	No time	No time	9:52.2	9:52.2
20	22	Mário de Araújo Cabral	Cooper	14:20.3	No time	9:53.1	9:53.1
21	28	Bernard Collomb	Lotus	10:11.4	No time	10:01.0	10:01.0
22	23	Tony Settember	Scirocco	No time	No time	10:02.0	10:02.0
23	29	André Pilette	Lotus	11:16.9	11:20.1	10:20.0	10:20.0
24	25	Ian Raby	Gilby	10:44.7	11:37.1	Unknown	10:44.7
25	30	Tim Parnell	Lotus	11:07.2	12:02.2	No time	11:07.2
26	27	Kurt Kuhnke	Lotus	14:48.1	12:53.1	11:23.5	11:23.5

What happened in the 1963 German Grand Prix?

Clark led initially, but incidents quickly disrupted the field. Bandini spun and was collected by Ireland, Mairesse crashed, and Amon was injured after a steering failure. Hill also retired.

Surtees pressed Clark as the Lotus began running on seven cylinders. The Ferrari driver moved ahead and maintained control, while Clark preserved second rather than risk losing the result altogether.

Surtees won ahead of Clark and Ginther. Mitter took a notable fourth in his Porsche, followed by Hall and Bonnier. Ferrari had returned to the top step, and Surtees had become a Grand Prix winner.

After the race, Jim Clark headed the drivers’ standings with 42 points, followed by John Surtees on 22. Lotus – Climax led the constructors’ table on 43, with BRM on 22.

1963 German Grand Prix race results

The 1963 German Grand Prix was held on 4 August 1963.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	7	John Surtees	Ferrari	15	2:13:06.8	9
2	3	Jim Clark	Lotus	15	+ 1:17.5	6
3	2	Richie Ginther	BRM	15	+ 2:44.9	4
4	26	Gerhard Mitter	Porsche	15	+ 8:11.5	3
5	20	Jim Hall	Lotus	14	+ 1 lap	2
6	16	Jo Bonnier	Cooper	14	+ 1 lap	1
7	9	Jack Brabham	Brabham	14	+ 1 lap	0
8	4	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	14	+ 1 lap	0
9	18	Jo Siffert	Lotus	10	Differential	0
10	28	Bernard Collomb	Lotus	10	+ 5 laps	0
Ret	17	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	9	Wheel	0
Ret	6	Tony Maggs	Cooper	7	Engine	0
Ret	10	Dan Gurney	Brabham	6	Gearbox	0
Ret	22	Mário de Araújo Cabral	Cooper	6	Gearbox	0
Ret	24	Ian Burgess	Scirocco	5	Steering	0
Ret	23	Tony Settember	Scirocco	5	Accident	0
Ret	5	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	3	Accident	0
Ret	1	Graham Hill	BRM	2	Gearbox	0
Ret	21	Chris Amon	Lola	1	Accident	0
Ret	8	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	1	Accident	0
Ret	14	Innes Ireland	Lotus	1	Accident	0
Ret	15	Lorenzo Bandini	BRM	0	Accident	0
DNQ	29	André Pilette	Lotus			0
DNQ	25	Ian Raby	Gilby			0
DNQ	30	Tim Parnell	Lotus			0
DNQ	27	Kurt Kuhnke	Lotus			0
WD	11	Phil Hill	ATS		Car damaged in transit	0
WD	12	Giancarlo Baghetti	ATS		Car damaged in transit	0
WD	19	Masten Gregory	Lotus		Car not ready	0

1963 German Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	7	John Surtees	Ferrari	9	8:47.000

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 German Grand Prix.

1963 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	42
2	John Surtees	British	Ferrari	22
3	Richie Ginther	American	BRM	18
4	Graham Hill	British	BRM	13
5	Dan Gurney	American	Brabham	12
6	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	10
7	Tony Maggs	South African	Cooper	8
8	Jack Brabham	Australian	Lotus / Brabham	3
9	Innes Ireland	British	Lotus / BRP	3
10	Gerhard Mitter	German	Porsche	3
11	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Cooper	3
12	Jim Hall	American	Lotus	3
13	Lorenzo Bandini	Italian	BRM	2
14	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Lotus	1
15	Trevor Taylor	British	Lotus	1
16	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Porsche	1
17	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
–	Bernard Collomb	French	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
–	Mário de Araújo Cabral	Portuguese	Cooper	0
–	Ian Burgess	British	Scirocco	0
–	Giancarlo Baghetti	Italian	ATS	0
–	Ian Raby	British	Gilby	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	43
2	BRM	22
3	Ferrari	22
4	Cooper – Climax	17
5	Brabham – Climax	13
6	Porsche	4
7	Lotus – BRM	4
8	BRP – BRM	3
—	Lola – Climax	0
—	Scirocco – BRM	0
—	ATS	0
—	Gilby – BRM	0
—	Lotus – Borgward	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