1964 Belgian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jim Clark snatched an extraordinary last-moment victory at Spa after successive problems struck Dan Gurney, Graham Hill and Bruce McLaren. McLaren coasted home second, with Jack Brabham completing the podium.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Dan Gurney	Brabham
Pole time	3:50.9
Fastest lap	Dan Gurney	Brabham
Fastest-lap time	3:49.200 on lap 27
First	Jim Clark	Lotus
Second	Bruce McLaren	Cooper
Third	Jack Brabham	Brabham

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
12 June 1964	Friday timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
13 June 1964	Saturday final qualifying	15:00–17:00
14 June 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 3 leading the 1964 F1 World Championship on 12 points, with Jim Clark on 12. Lotus – Climax headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 13 points.

Race entries

BRP returned with Ireland and Taylor, while Revson replaced the unwell Hailwood in Parnell’s entry. The anticipated Honda appearance did not materialise. Lotus brought two cars for Clark to compare, and BRM also offered Hill a choice of chassis. Centro Sud’s transporter problems delayed its arrival.

Friday timed practice

Gurney was immediately in excellent form, setting a time well clear of the opposition. Hot weather exposed fuel-system difficulties elsewhere, with Ferrari particularly troubled. Clark was dissatisfied with both available Lotus cars, and Brabham lost running to gearbox trouble. BRP compared handling with different fuel loads, while the late Centro Sud cars missed the session.

Saturday final qualifying

Gurney’s Friday time remained secure as rivals continued solving problems. Hill recovered from an ignition failure by switching cars, while Arundell improved with a slipstream behind the BRM. Bonnier crashed the Walker Cooper and had to use its Brabham instead. Phil Hill suffered a small fire, and Ferrari again struggled to complete clean flying laps.

Qualifying Classification

Two timed sessions established the grid. Mechanical problems removed Maggs and Anderson, allowing the remaining eighteen cars to start without further elimination.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Timed session 1	Timed session 2	Best Time
1	15	Dan Gurney	Brabham	3:50.9	3:51.7	3:50.9
2	1	Graham Hill	BRM	3:57.3	3:52.7	3:52.7
3	14	Jack Brabham	Brabham	4:04.9	3:52.8	3:52.8
4	24	Peter Arundell	Lotus	4:04.0	3:52.8	3:52.8
5	10	John Surtees	Ferrari	3:55.2	3:59.6	3:55.2
6	23	Jim Clark	Lotus	3:57.5	3:56.2	3:56.2
7	20	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	3:58.8	3:56.2	3:56.2
8	2	Richie Ginther	BRM	3:57.2	3:58.2	3:57.2
9	11	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	3:59.2	3:58.8	3:58.8
10	29	Peter Revson	Lotus	4:06.9	3:59.9	3:59.9
11	27	Chris Amon	Lotus	4:04.8	4:00.1	4:00.1
12	4	Trevor Taylor	BRP	4:07.3	4:00.2	4:00.2
13	17	Jo Siffert	Brabham	4:07.8	4:02.7	4:02.7
14	16	Jo Bonnier	Brabham	4:59.9	4:02.7	4:02.7
15	21	Phil Hill	Cooper	4:02.8	4:06.7	4:02.8
16	3	Innes Ireland	BRP	4:04.0	4:04.3	4:04.0
17	6	Giancarlo Baghetti	BRM	No time	4:07.6	4:07.6
18	7	Tony Maggs	BRM	No time	4:07.8	4:07.8
19	18	Bob Anderson	Brabham	4:25.3	4:08.5	4:08.5
20	28	André Pilette	Scirocco	4:28.2	4:22.9	4:22.9

What happened in the 1964 Belgian Grand Prix?

Gurney led convincingly, while Hill, Clark and McLaren fought behind him. Clark repeatedly used the BRM’s slipstream but later stopped for water, apparently leaving him out of contention for victory.

The closing laps transformed the race. Gurney ran short of fuel, and Hill then stopped with a fuel-feed problem. McLaren was left heading towards victory, only for an electrical failure to slow his Cooper almost to a halt.

Clark caught and passed the coasting McLaren within sight of the finish, winning a race he did not initially realise he had won. Brabham finished third. Clark himself ran out of fuel on the slowing-down lap, completing an extraordinary sequence of late dramas.

After the race, Jim Clark headed the drivers’ standings with 21 points, followed by Graham Hill on 14. Lotus – Climax led the constructors’ table on 22, with BRM on 15.

1964 Belgian Grand Prix race results

The 1964 Belgian Grand Prix was held on 14 June 1964.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	23	Jim Clark	Lotus	32	2:06:40.5	9
2	20	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	32	+ 3.4	6
3	14	Jack Brabham	Brabham	32	+ 48.1	4
4	2	Richie Ginther	BRM	32	+ 1:58.6	3
5	1	Graham Hill	BRM	31	Fuel Pump	2
6	15	Dan Gurney	Brabham	31	Out of Fuel	1
7	4	Trevor Taylor	BRP	31	+ 1 lap	0
8	6	Giancarlo Baghetti	BRM	31	+ 1 lap	0
9	24	Peter Arundell	Lotus	28	Overheating	0
10	3	Innes Ireland	BRP	28	+ 4 laps	0
DSQ	29	Peter Revson	Lotus	27	Push start	0
Ret	17	Jo Siffert	Brabham	13	Engine	0
Ret	21	Phil Hill	Cooper	13	Engine	0
Ret	11	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	11	Engine	0
Ret	28	André Pilette	Scirocco	10	Engine	0
Ret	16	Jo Bonnier	Brabham	7	Unwell	0
Ret	10	John Surtees	Ferrari	3	Engine	0
Ret	27	Chris Amon	Lotus	3	Engine	0
DNS	7	Tony Maggs	BRM		Engine	0
DNS	18	Bob Anderson	Brabham		Ignition	0

1964 Belgian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	15	Dan Gurney	Brabham	27	3:49.200

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 Belgian Grand Prix.

1964 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	21
2	Graham Hill	British	BRM	14
3	Richie Ginther	American	BRM	9
4	Peter Arundell	British	Lotus	8
5	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	6
6	John Surtees	British	Ferrari	6
7	Jack Brabham	Australian	Brabham	4
8	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Cooper / Brabham / Brabham	2
9	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Lotus	2
10	Bob Anderson	British	Brabham	1
11	Mike Hailwood	British	Lotus	1
12	Dan Gurney	American	Brabham	1
–	Trevor Taylor	British	BRP	0
–	Phil Hill	American	Cooper	0
–	Giancarlo Baghetti	Italian	BRM	0
–	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Lotus / Brabham / Brabham	0
–	Lorenzo Bandini	Italian	Ferrari	0
–	Innes Ireland	British	Lotus / BRP	0
–	Peter Revson	American	Lotus / Lotus	0
–	Maurice Trintignant	French	BRM	0
–	André Pilette	Belgian	Scirocco	0
–	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Porsche	0
–	Tony Maggs	South African	BRM	0

1964 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Lotus – Climax	22
2	BRM	15
3	Cooper – Climax	8
4	Ferrari	6
5	Brabham – Climax	5
6	Lotus – BRM	3
—	BRP – BRM	0
—	Brabham – BRM	0
—	Scirocco – Climax	0
—	Porsche	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