1963 Mexican Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jim Clark dominated Mexico’s first World Championship Grand Prix, winning well clear of Jack Brabham and Richie Ginther. It was his sixth victory of an exceptional season.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jim Clark	Lotus
Pole time	1:58.8
Fastest lap	Jim Clark	Lotus
Fastest-lap time	1:58.100 on lap
First	Jim Clark	Lotus
Second	Jack Brabham	Brabham
Third	Richie Ginther	BRM

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
25 October 1963	Friday timed practice	13:00–17:00
26 October 1963	Saturday final qualifying	13:00–17:00
27 October 1963	Race	14:30

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 9 leading the 1963 F1 World Championship on 51 points, with Richie Ginther on 28. Lotus – Climax headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 51 points.

Race entries

Rodriguez again drove for Lotus, while Solana joined the field in a Centro Sud BRM and Dochnal entered an older Cooper. Amon returned after his Monza injuries. Ferrari supplied Bandini with a new chassis, and ATS faced extensive preparation work after a storm disrupted its engine installation.

Friday timed practice

The altitude left most teams adjusting fuel mixtures to recover missing engine speed. Clark eventually set a clear benchmark. Rodriguez suffered a timing-chain failure, Dochnal crashed and damaged his suspension, and ATS struggled with oil circulation. Dogs on the circuit also interrupted concentration. Rain arrived before the end, cutting short some programmes.

Saturday final qualifying

Heavy rain dominated the session. Solana gained useful experience with sustained running, while Clark briefly demonstrated strong wet-weather pace. Taylor damaged first gear, Maggs suffered an oil-pump problem and ATS continued repairs. A drying spell near the end allowed Brabham to improve, but Clark’s Friday time remained comfortably secure.

Qualifying Classification

The fastest lap across the two official sessions set the grid. This was the first Mexican Grand Prix to count towards the World Championship; the earlier non-championship edition is not included in the season calendar.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Timed session 1	Timed session 2	Best Time
1	8	Jim Clark	Lotus	1:58.8	2:07.3	1:58.8
2	23	John Surtees	Ferrari	2:00.5	2:05.4	2:00.5
3	1	Graham Hill	BRM	2:00.6	2:05.7	2:00.6
4	6	Dan Gurney	Brabham	2:01.6	2:07.6	2:01.6
5	2	Richie Ginther	BRM	2:01.8	2:14.4	2:01.8
6	3	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	2:02.3	2:08.7	2:02.3
7	24	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	2:02.4	2:11.3	2:02.4
8	11	Jo Bonnier	Cooper	2:02.6	2:10.5	2:02.6
9	14	Jo Siffert	Lotus	2:03.3	2:29.4	2:03.3
10	5	Jack Brabham	Brabham	2:04.3	2:03.6	2:03.6
11	13	Moisés Solana	BRM	2:04.1	2:20.6	2:04.1
12	9	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	2:04.9	2:17.0	2:04.9
13	4	Tony Maggs	Cooper	2:05.2	2:09.3	2:05.2
14	17	Masten Gregory	Lola	2:05.5	2:11.7	2:05.5
15	16	Jim Hall	Lotus	2:06.1	2:18.4	2:06.1
16	22	Hap Sharp	Lotus	2:07.7	2:23.2	2:07.7
17	25	Phil Hill	ATS	No time	2:13.6	2:13.6
18	12	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	2:14.1	2:23.6	2:14.1
19	18	Chris Amon	Lotus	2:14.7	2:24.0	2:14.7
20	10	Pedro Rodríguez	Lotus	2:15.3	No time	2:15.3
21	26	Giancarlo Baghetti	ATS	2:22.3	3:00.5	2:22.3
22	20	Frank Dochnal	Cooper	No time	No time	No time

What happened in the 1963 Mexican Grand Prix?

Clark took the lead immediately as Hill lost time when his BRM jumped out of gear. The Lotus driver quickly established an advantage and continued pulling away from the field.

Brabham emerged as the nearest challenger, while Ginther maintained a strong position for BRM. Clark’s pace remained beyond reach, and he lapped everyone outside the eventual podium places.

Clark won ahead of Brabham and Ginther, with Hill, Bonnier and Gurney completing the points. Pole, fastest lap and victory reinforced his command of the championship season.

After the race, Jim Clark headed the drivers’ standings with 54 points, followed by Richie Ginther on 29. Lotus – Climax led the constructors’ table on 54, with BRM on 36.

1963 Mexican Grand Prix race results

The 1963 Mexican Grand Prix was held on 27 October 1963, with a scheduled start of 14:30 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	8	Jim Clark	Lotus	65	2:09:52.1	9
2	5	Jack Brabham	Brabham	65	+ 1:41.1	6
3	2	Richie Ginther	BRM	65	+ 1:54.7	4
4	1	Graham Hill	BRM	64	+ 1 lap	3
5	11	Jo Bonnier	Cooper	62	+ 3 laps	2
6	6	Dan Gurney	Brabham	62	+ 3 laps	1
7	22	Hap Sharp	Lotus	61	+ 4 laps	0
8	16	Jim Hall	Lotus	60	+ 4 laps	0
9	14	Jo Siffert	Lotus	59	+ 6 laps	0
10	12	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	58	+ 7 laps	0
11	13	Moisés Solana	BRM	57	Engine	0
Ret	25	Phil Hill	ATS	40	Suspension	0
Ret	24	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	36	Ignition	0
Ret	3	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	30	Engine	0
Ret	10	Pedro Rodríguez	Lotus	26	Suspension	0
Ret	17	Masten Gregory	Lola	23	Suspension	0
DSQ	23	John Surtees	Ferrari	19	Push start	0
Ret	9	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	19	Engine	0
Ret	26	Giancarlo Baghetti	ATS	12	Engine	0
Ret	18	Chris Amon	Lotus	9	Gearbox	0
Ret	4	Tony Maggs	Cooper	7	Engine	0
DNQ	20	Frank Dochnal	Cooper		Practice accident	0
WD	7	Walt Hansgen	Lotus			0
WD	15	Innes Ireland	Lotus		Driver injured	0
WD	19	Thomas Monarch	Lotus			0

1963 Mexican Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	8	Jim Clark	Lotus		1:58.100

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 Mexican Grand Prix.

1963 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	54
2	Richie Ginther	American	BRM	29
3	Graham Hill	British	BRM	25
4	John Surtees	British	Ferrari	22
5	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	14
6	Jack Brabham	Australian	Lotus / Brabham	14
7	Dan Gurney	American	Brabham	13
8	Tony Maggs	South African	Cooper	9
9	Innes Ireland	British	Lotus / BRP	6
10	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Cooper	5
11	Lorenzo Bandini	Italian	BRM / Ferrari	4
12	Gerhard Mitter	German	Porsche	3
13	Jim Hall	American	Lotus	3
14	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Porsche	2
15	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Lotus	1
16	Trevor Taylor	British	Lotus	1
17	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Italian	Ferrari	1
–	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Lola / Lotus	0
–	Hap Sharp	American	Lotus	0
–	Peter Broeker	Canadian	Stebro	0
–	Maurice Trintignant	French	Lola / Lotus / BRM	0
–	Mike Hailwood	British	Lotus / Lola	0
–	Tony Settember	American	Scirocco	0
–	Bernard Collomb	French	Lotus	0
–	Phil Hill	American	ATS / Lotus	0
–	Masten Gregory	American	Lotus / Lola	0
–	Moisés Solana	Mexican	BRM	0
–	Bob Anderson	British	Lola	0
–	John Campbell-Jones	British	Lotus / Lola	0
–	Mike Spence	British	Lotus	0
–	Giancarlo Baghetti	Italian	ATS	0
–	Willy Mairesse	Belgian	Ferrari	0
–	Lucien Bianchi	Belgian	Lola	0
–	Mário de Araújo Cabral	Portuguese	Cooper	0
–	Rodger Ward	American	Lotus	0
–	Pedro Rodríguez	Mexican	Lotus	0
–	Ian Burgess	British	Scirocco	0
–	Ian Raby	British	Gilby	0
–	Peter Arundell	British	Lotus	0
–	Walt Hansgen	American	Lotus / Lotus	0
–	Frank Dochnal	American	Cooper	0
–	Nasif Estéfano	Argentine	De Tomaso	0
–	Ernie de Vos	Dutch	Stebro	0
–	Thomas Monarch	American	Lotus	0
–	Günther Seiffert	German	Lotus	0
–	Carlo Abate	Italian	Porsche	0
–	Gaetano Starrabba	Italian	Lotus	0

1963 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Lotus – Climax	54
2	BRM	36
3	Ferrari	24
4	Brabham – Climax	24
5	Cooper – Climax	23
6	BRP – BRM	6
7	Porsche	5
8	Lotus – BRM	4
—	Lola – Climax	0
—	Stebro – Ford	0
—	Scirocco – BRM	0
—	ATS	0
—	Gilby – BRM	0
—	Lotus – Borgward	0
—	Cooper – Maserati	0
—	De Tomaso – Ferrari	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