1964 British Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jim Clark won the first championship British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch after sustained pressure from Graham Hill. John Surtees completed the podium in a race that demanded far more of Clark than a lights-to-flag result might suggest.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jim Clark	Lotus
Pole time	1:38.1
Fastest lap	Jim Clark	Lotus
Fastest-lap time	1:38.800 on lap 73
First	Jim Clark	Lotus
Second	Graham Hill	BRM
Third	John Surtees	Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
9 July 1964	Thursday timed practice	10:00; finish extended after interruption
10 July 1964	Friday final qualifying	10:00; finish unconfirmed
11 July 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

Jim Clark arrived at round 5 leading the 1964 F1 World Championship on 21 points, with Graham Hill on 20. Lotus – Climax headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 25 points.

Race entries

Spence replaced the injured Arundell at Lotus. Ferrari initially had only a V6 ready for Surtees, with its V8 arriving later. Attwood brought BRM’s experimental four-wheel-drive car for practice, while Gardner and John Taylor joined the field with smaller-engined machinery.

Thursday timed practice

Gurney headed the first official session on the full circuit, narrowly ahead of Brabham and Clark. Revson suffered a hub-carrier failure, and Phil Hill lacked engine power. Trevor Taylor crashed heavily after his foot slipped from the brake pedal, damaging the BRP and briefly interrupting running. Surtees nevertheless produced competitive times in the older Ferrari.

Friday final qualifying

Clark narrowly beat Hill to pole, both choosing their earlier cars. Ferrari’s V8 arrived for Surtees, releasing the V6 to Bandini, and Attwood tested the experimental BRM. Bob Anderson impressed with his privately entered Brabham. The front-runners worked hard for position on a circuit where overtaking promised to be difficult.

Qualifying Classification

Thursday and Friday morning practice determined the grid for Saturday’s race. The experimental four-wheel-drive BRM ran in practice but did not start the Grand Prix.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Timed session 1	Timed session 2	Best Time
1	1	Jim Clark	Lotus	1:38.8	1:38.1	1:38.1
2	3	Graham Hill	BRM	1:39.0	1:38.3	1:38.3
3	6	Dan Gurney	Brabham	1:38.4	1:38.4	1:38.4
4	5	Jack Brabham	Brabham	1:38.8	1:38.5	1:38.5
5	7	John Surtees	Ferrari	1:39.0	1:38.7	1:38.7
6	9	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	1:39.6	1:39.8	1:39.6
7	19	Bob Anderson	Brabham	1:42.8	1:39.8	1:39.8
8	8	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	No time	1:40.2	1:40.2
9	16	Jo Bonnier	Brabham	1:43.4	1:40.2	1:40.2
10	11	Innes Ireland	BRP	1:42.2	1:40.8	1:40.8
11	15	Chris Amon	Lotus	1:42.4	1:41.2	1:41.2
12	14	Mike Hailwood	Lotus	1:41.4	1:42.4	1:41.4
13	2	Mike Spence	Lotus	1:42.0	1:41.4	1:41.4
14	4	Richie Ginther	BRM	1:42.2	1:41.6	1:41.6
15	10	Phil Hill	Cooper	1:57.8	1:42.6	1:42.6
16	20	Jo Siffert	Brabham	1:43.2	1:42.8	1:42.8
17	23	Ian Raby	Brabham	1:43.4	1:42.8	1:42.8
18	12	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	1:42.8	1:42.8	1:42.8
19	26	Frank Gardner	Brabham	No time	1:43.0	1:43.0
20	22	John Taylor	Cooper	1:44.0	1:43.2	1:43.2
21	18	Giancarlo Baghetti	BRM	1:44.2	1:43.4	1:43.4
22	24	Peter Revson	Lotus	1:48.4	1:43.4	1:43.4
23	17	Tony Maggs	BRM	1:45.0	1:45.4	1:45.0
24	21	Richard Attwood	BRM	No time	1:45.2	1:45.2
25	25	Maurice Trintignant	BRM	1:54.4	No time	1:54.4

What happened in the 1964 British Grand Prix?

Clark and Gurney ran side by side through the opening sequence before Clark secured the lead. Gurney soon stopped with an electrical fault. Oil on the circuit reduced grip, leaving Hill close behind Clark while Surtees held third.

Clark used traffic to gain small but valuable gaps. Hill kept pushing, yet the Lotus driver gradually established enough breathing space as the surface improved. Brabham recovered from precautionary stops to regain fourth.

Clark won ahead of Hill and Surtees. Brabham, Bandini and Phil Hill completed the points, with Anderson narrowly missing out after a strong contest against the Cooper. Clark’s third win of the season strengthened his championship position.

After the race, Jim Clark headed the drivers’ standings with 30 points, followed by Graham Hill on 26. Lotus – Climax led the constructors’ table on 34, with BRM on 27.

1964 British Grand Prix race results

The 1964 British Grand Prix was held on 11 July 1964.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	1	Jim Clark	Lotus	80	2:15:07.0	9
2	3	Graham Hill	BRM	80	+ 2.8	6
3	7	John Surtees	Ferrari	80	+ 1:20.6	4
4	5	Jack Brabham	Brabham	79	+ 1 lap	3
5	8	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	78	+ 2 laps	2
6	10	Phil Hill	Cooper	78	+ 2 laps	1
7	19	Bob Anderson	Brabham	78	+ 2 laps	0
8	4	Richie Ginther	BRM	77	+ 3 laps	0
9	2	Mike Spence	Lotus	77	+ 3 laps	0
10	11	Innes Ireland	BRP	77	+ 3 laps	0
11	20	Jo Siffert	Brabham	76	+ 4 laps	0
12	18	Giancarlo Baghetti	BRM	76	+ 4 laps	0
13	6	Dan Gurney	Brabham	75	+ 5 laps	0
14	22	John Taylor	Cooper	56	+ 24 laps	0
Ret	16	Jo Bonnier	Brabham	46	Brakes	0
Ret	24	Peter Revson	Lotus	43	Differential	0
Ret	23	Ian Raby	Brabham	37	Rear axle	0
Ret	17	Tony Maggs	BRM	37	Gearbox	0
Ret	12	Trevor Taylor	Lotus	22	Unwell	0
Ret	14	Mike Hailwood	Lotus	16	Oil pipe	0
Ret	15	Chris Amon	Lotus	9	Clutch	0
Ret	9	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	6	Gearbox	0
Ret	26	Frank Gardner	Brabham	0	Accident	0
DNS	21	Richard Attwood	BRM		Withdrawn	0
DNQ	25	Maurice Trintignant	BRM			0

1964 British Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	1	Jim Clark	Lotus	73	1:38.800

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 British Grand Prix.

1964 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	30
2	Graham Hill	British	BRM	26
3	Richie Ginther	American	BRM	11
4	Peter Arundell	British	Lotus	11
5	Jack Brabham	Australian	Brabham	11
6	Dan Gurney	American	Brabham	10
7	John Surtees	British	Ferrari	10
8	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	7
9	Lorenzo Bandini	Italian	Ferrari	2
10	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Cooper / Brabham / Brabham	2
11	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Lotus	2
12	Bob Anderson	British	Brabham	1
13	Phil Hill	American	Cooper	1
14	Mike Hailwood	British	Lotus	1
–	Trevor Taylor	British	BRP / Lotus	0
–	Giancarlo Baghetti	Italian	BRM	0
–	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Lotus / Brabham / Brabham	0
–	Mike Spence	British	Lotus	0
–	Innes Ireland	British	Lotus / BRP	0
–	Maurice Trintignant	French	BRM	0
–	John Taylor	British	Cooper	0
–	Peter Revson	American	Lotus / Lotus	0
–	André Pilette	Belgian	Scirocco	0
–	Tony Maggs	South African	BRM	0
–	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Porsche	0
–	Ian Raby	British	Brabham	0
–	Frank Gardner	Australian	Brabham	0
–	Richard Attwood	British	BRM	0

1964 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Lotus – Climax	34
2	BRM	27
3	Brabham – Climax	17
4	Ferrari	10
5	Cooper – Climax	10
6	Lotus – BRM	3
—	BRP – BRM	0
—	Brabham – BRM	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