1964 Austrian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Lorenzo Bandini claimed his only World Championship victory in a punishing Austrian Grand Prix. Richie Ginther finished second and Bob Anderson third as Zeltweg’s rough airfield surface took a heavy mechanical toll.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Graham Hill	BRM
Pole time	1:09.84
Fastest lap	Dan Gurney	Brabham
Fastest-lap time	1:10.560 on lap 32
First	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari
Second	Richie Ginther	BRM
Third	Bob Anderson	Brabham

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
21 August 1964	Friday timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
22 August 1964	Saturday final qualifying	Start time unconfirmed
23 August 1964	Race	Start time unconfirmed

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 1964 F1 World Championship on 32 points, with Jim Clark on 30. Lotus – Climax headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 34 points.

Race entries

Austria joined the championship at Zeltweg Airfield. Rindt made his debut in a Rob Walker Brabham, while Bonnier used another newly assembled Brabham-Climax. BRP returned, and Parnell borrowed a works Lotus for Amon. Brabham introduced a new chassis of his own.

Friday timed practice

The corrugated concrete immediately troubled cars and drivers. Phil Hill damaged his Cooper on his first lap, Bandini lost time to an oil leak, and Clark broke a steering arm. Ginther suffered a wheel failure. Hill was credited with the quickest time, although a timing-system fault meant the organisers could not guarantee the hand-recorded figures.

Saturday final qualifying

Clark ran in a new gearbox before another steering-arm failure interrupted his progress. Gurney’s front suspension upright also broke, and Amon suffered similar steering trouble. Hill and Surtees proved fastest while their cars survived the rough surface. Brief rain interrupted the running, and teams faced extensive inspections and improvised repairs before the start.

Qualifying Classification

Two afternoon sessions set the grid. All twenty available cars were eventually accepted, rather than the initially proposed eighteen. This was the first World Championship Austrian Grand Prix.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	3	Graham Hill	BRM	1:09.84
2	7	John Surtees	Ferrari	1:10.12
3	1	Jim Clark	Lotus	1:10.21
4	5	Dan Gurney	Brabham	1:10.40
5	4	Richie Ginther	BRM	1:10.40
6	6	Jack Brabham	Brabham	1:10.57
7	8	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	1:10.63
8	2	Mike Spence	Lotus	1:11.00
9	9	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	1:11.25
10	11	Jo Bonnier	Brabham	1:11.59
11	14	Innes Ireland	BRP	1:11.60
12	20	Jo Siffert	Brabham	1:11.82
13	12	Jochen Rindt	Brabham	1:12.00
14	22	Bob Anderson	Brabham	1:12.04
15	18	Giancarlo Baghetti	BRM	1:12.10
16	15	Trevor Taylor	BRP	1:12.23
17	16	Chris Amon	Lotus	1:12.28
18	17	Mike Hailwood	Lotus	1:12.40
19	19	Tony Maggs	BRM	1:12.40
20	10	Phil Hill	Cooper	1:13.15

What happened in the 1964 Austrian Grand Prix?

Gurney and Surtees led the early contest while Clark recovered from a poor start. Hill retired with ignition trouble, and Surtees’s rear suspension collapsed. Clark then chased Gurney until a driveshaft failure ended the Lotus challenge.

Gurney soon stopped with a suspension mounting problem, handing the lead to Bandini. Further failures removed or delayed McLaren, Spence and Bonnier, while Phil Hill escaped a burning Cooper after crashing.

Bandini managed the gap to Ginther and brought the Ferrari home for his first championship win. Anderson secured third despite his own car showing signs of damage, with Maggs, Ireland and Bonnier completing the points. Survival had been decisive on the demanding surface.

After the race, Graham Hill headed the drivers’ standings with 32 points, followed by Jim Clark on 30. BRM led the constructors’ table on 36, with Lotus – Climax on 34.

1964 Austrian Grand Prix race results

The 1964 Austrian Grand Prix was held on 23 August 1964.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	8	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	105	2:06:18.23	9
2	4	Richie Ginther	BRM	105	+6.18	6
3	22	Bob Anderson	Brabham	102	+3 laps	4
4	19	Tony Maggs	BRM	102	+3 laps	3
5	14	Innes Ireland	BRP	102	+3 laps	2
6	11	Jo Bonnier	Brabham	101	+4 laps	1
7	18	Giancarlo Baghetti	BRM	96	+9 laps	0
8	17	Mike Hailwood	Lotus	95	+10 laps	0
9	6	Jack Brabham	Brabham	76	+29 laps	0
Ret	12	Jochen Rindt	Brabham	58	Steering	0
Ret	10	Phil Hill	Cooper	58	Accident/fire	0
Ret	5	Dan Gurney	Brabham	47	Suspension	0
Ret	9	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	43	Engine/valve	0
Ret	2	Mike Spence	Lotus	41	Halfshaft/transmission	0
Ret	1	Jim Clark	Lotus	40	Halfshaft/transmission	0
Ret	15	Trevor Taylor	BRP	21	Suspension	0
Ret	20	Jo Siffert	Brabham	18	Accident	0
Ret	7	John Surtees	Ferrari	8	Suspension	0
Ret	16	Chris Amon	Lotus	7	Engine	0
Ret	3	Graham Hill	BRM	5	Distributor	0

1964 Austrian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	5	Dan Gurney	Brabham	32	1:10.560

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

1964 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1964 Austrian Grand Prix.

1964 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Graham Hill	British	BRM	32
2	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	30
3	John Surtees	British	Ferrari	19
4	Richie Ginther	American	BRM	17
5	Lorenzo Bandini	Italian	Ferrari	15
6	Jack Brabham	Australian	Brabham	11
7	Peter Arundell	British	Lotus	11
8	Dan Gurney	American	Brabham	10
9	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	7
10	Bob Anderson	British	Brabham	5
11	Tony Maggs	South African	BRM	4
12	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Lotus / Brabham / Brabham	3
13	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Cooper / Brabham / Brabham	3
14	Innes Ireland	British	Lotus / BRP	2
15	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Lotus / Lotus	2
16	Maurice Trintignant	French	BRM	2
17	Phil Hill	American	Cooper	1
18	Mike Hailwood	British	Lotus	1
–	Giancarlo Baghetti	Italian	BRM	0
–	Trevor Taylor	British	BRP / Lotus	0
–	Mike Spence	British	Lotus	0
–	Gerhard Mitter	German	Lotus	0
–	Ronnie Bucknum	American	Honda	0
–	Peter Revson	American	Lotus / Lotus	0
–	John Taylor	British	Cooper	0
–	Jochen Rindt	Austrian	Brabham	0
–	André Pilette	Belgian	Scirocco	0
–	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Porsche	0
–	Ian Raby	British	Brabham	0
–	Edgar Barth	German	Cooper	0
–	Frank Gardner	Australian	Brabham	0
–	Richard Attwood	British	BRM	0

1964 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	BRM	36
2	Lotus – Climax	34
3	Ferrari	28
4	Brabham – Climax	21
5	Cooper – Climax	10
6	Brabham – BRM	3
7	Lotus – BRM	3
8	BRP – BRM	2
—	Honda	0
—	Cooper – Ford	0
—	Scirocco – Climax	0
—	Porsche	0
—	Brabham – Ford	0

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

1964 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1964 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	10 May
2	1964 Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	24 May
3	1964 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	14 June
4	1964 French Grand Prix	Reims-Gueux, Reims	28 June
5	1964 British Grand Prix	Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown	11 July
6	1964 German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	2 August
7	1964 Austrian Grand Prix	Zeltweg Airfield, Zeltweg	23 August
8	1964 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	6 September
9	1964 United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	4 October
10	1964 Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	25 October