1964 French Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Dan Gurney delivered Brabham’s first World Championship victory at Rouen after Jim Clark retired from the lead. Graham Hill narrowly beat Jack Brabham to second following an intense battle.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jim Clark	Lotus
Pole time	2:09.6
Fastest lap	Jack Brabham	Brabham
Fastest-lap time	2:11.400 on lap 44
First	Dan Gurney	Brabham
Second	Graham Hill	BRM
Third	Jack Brabham	Brabham

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
25 June 1964	Thursday timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
26 June 1964	Friday final qualifying	Start time unconfirmed
28 June 1964	Pre-race preparations	Morning; start unconfirmed
28 June 1964	Race	15:15

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 4 leading the 1964 F1 World Championship on 21 points, with Graham Hill on 14. Lotus – Climax headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 22 points.

Race entries

The regular works teams attended, but Rob Walker and Centro Sud were absent. Ferrari arrived too late for the opening session. Clark again had two Lotus cars available, while Cooper adopted revised rear suspension on both entries. Hailwood combined his Grand Prix commitments with motorcycle racing in the Netherlands.

Thursday timed practice

Clark and Gurney immediately set the pace, with Clark changing between Lotus models before taking the fastest time. Arundell was also strong. BRM lost valuable running to setup changes, and Ginther damaged his nose at a hairpin. Siffert’s engine failed, while Revson tried Hailwood’s car in the latter’s absence.

Friday final qualifying

Ferrari joined the meeting and Surtees secured a front-row place despite missing Thursday. Gurney headed the session, but Clark’s earlier lap remained fastest overall. Hill continued searching for confidence in the BRM’s handling. Hailwood completed his running before returning to the motorcycle meeting, and Siffert missed practice while seeking an engine.

Qualifying Classification

The grid came from the quickest lap across Thursday and Friday evening practice. Saturday’s other racing did not form an additional Formula One qualifying session.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Timed session 1	Timed session 2	Best Time
1	2	Jim Clark	Lotus	2:09.6	2:10.8	2:09.6
2	22	Dan Gurney	Brabham	2:10.1	2:10.5	2:10.1
3	24	John Surtees	Ferrari	No time	2:11.1	2:11.1
4	4	Peter Arundell	Lotus	2:11.6	2:12.1	2:11.6
5	20	Jack Brabham	Brabham	2:12.3	2:11.8	2:11.8
6	8	Graham Hill	BRM	2:12.1	2:12.9	2:12.1
7	12	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	2:13.9	2:12.4	2:12.4
8	26	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	No time	2:12.8	2:12.8
9	10	Richie Ginther	BRM	2:14.6	2:13.9	2:13.9
10	14	Phil Hill	Cooper	2:14.5	2:15.4	2:14.5
11	16	Innes Ireland	BRP	2:15.3	2:14.8	2:14.8
12	18	Trevor Taylor	BRP	2:16.3	2:14.9	2:14.9
13	36	Mike Hailwood	Lotus	—	2:16.2	2:16.2
14	34	Chris Amon	Lotus	2:24.3	2:16.4	2:16.4
15	32	Bob Anderson	Brabham	2:17.4	2:16.9	2:16.9
16	36	Peter Revson	Lotus	2:18.5	—	2:18.5
17	28	Maurice Trintignant	BRM	2:26.3	2:21.5	2:21.5
18	30	Jo Siffert	Brabham	2:23.6	No time	2:23.6

Pre-race preparations

The field completed warm-up laps before assembling on the dummy grid. Lotus hurriedly sealed an oil leak on Clark’s car, while Siffert returned with a borrowed BRM engine. Hailwood arrived after an overnight journey caused by travel disruption.

What happened in the 1964 French Grand Prix?

Clark and Gurney quickly pulled away, with the Lotus gradually opening a gap. Surtees lost time to a broken oil pipe affecting the injection system, while Hill and McLaren recovered from early spins.

Clark’s engine then failed, leaving Gurney in control. Behind him, Hill, Brabham and Arundell fought closely, with Hill and Brabham eventually settling into a fierce contest for second.

Gurney managed his advantage to secure Brabham’s first championship win. Hill held off Brabham by less than a second, while Arundell, Ginther and McLaren completed the points. Gurney had again given a constructor its first victory, having done the same for Porsche at Rouen two years earlier.

After the race, Jim Clark headed the drivers’ standings with 21 points, followed by Graham Hill on 20. Lotus – Climax led the constructors’ table on 25, with BRM on 21.

1964 French Grand Prix race results

The 1964 French Grand Prix was held on 28 June 1964, with a scheduled start of 15:15 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	22	Dan Gurney	Brabham	57	2:07:49.1	9
2	8	Graham Hill	BRM	57	+ 24.1	6
3	20	Jack Brabham	Brabham	57	+ 24.9	4
4	4	Peter Arundell	Lotus	57	+ 1:10.6	3
5	10	Richie Ginther	BRM	57	+ 2:12.1	2
6	12	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	56	+ 1 Lap	1
7	14	Phil Hill	Cooper	56	+ 1 Lap	0
8	36	Mike Hailwood	Lotus	56	+ 1 Lap	0
9	26	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	55	+ 2 Laps	0
10	34	Chris Amon	Lotus	53	+ 4 Laps	0
11	28	Maurice Trintignant	BRM	52	+ 5 Laps	0
12	32	Bob Anderson	Brabham	50	+ 7 Laps	0
Ret	16	Innes Ireland	BRP	31	Accident	0
Ret	2	Jim Clark	Lotus	31	Engine	0
Ret	24	John Surtees	Ferrari	6	Engine	0
Ret	18	Trevor Taylor	BRP	6	Brakes/Accident	0
Ret	30	Jo Siffert	Brabham	4	Clutch	0
DNS	36	Peter Revson	Lotus		Car raced by Hailwood	0

1964 French Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	20	Jack Brabham	Brabham	44	2:11.400

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 French 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	20
3	Richie Ginther	American	BRM	11
4	Peter Arundell	British	Lotus	11
5	Dan Gurney	American	Brabham	10
6	Jack Brabham	Australian	Brabham	8
7	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	7
8	John Surtees	British	Ferrari	6
9	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Cooper / Brabham / Brabham	2
10	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Lotus	2
11	Bob Anderson	British	Brabham	1
12	Mike Hailwood	British	Lotus	1
–	Phil Hill	American	Cooper	0
–	Trevor Taylor	British	BRP	0
–	Giancarlo Baghetti	Italian	BRM	0
–	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Lotus / Brabham / Brabham	0
–	Lorenzo Bandini	Italian	Ferrari	0
–	Innes Ireland	British	Lotus / BRP	0
–	Maurice Trintignant	French	BRM	0
–	Peter Revson	American	Lotus / Lotus	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	25
2	BRM	21
3	Brabham – Climax	14
4	Cooper – Climax	9
5	Ferrari	6
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