1965 Monaco Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Graham Hill recovered from an early escape-road excursion to win a third consecutive Monaco Grand Prix. Lorenzo Bandini finished second, with Jackie Stewart securing his first championship podium for BRM.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Graham Hill	BRM
Pole time	1:32.5
Fastest lap	Graham Hill	BRM
Fastest-lap time	1:31.700 on lap 82
First	Graham Hill	BRM
Second	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari
Third	Jackie Stewart	BRM

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
27 May 1965	Thursday timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
28 May 1965	Friday morning timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
29 May 1965	Saturday final qualifying	Start time unconfirmed
30 May 1965	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 2 leading the 1965 F1 World Championship on 9 points, with John Surtees on 6. Lotus – Climax headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 9 points.

Race entries

Clark and Gurney were committed to Indianapolis, and Team Lotus withdrew after disagreement over guaranteed starting places. Hulme made his World Championship debut for Brabham. Honda brought Ginther and Bucknum, while Siffert returned following injury. Seventeen drivers contested sixteen available starts, with invitations protecting some entries regardless of their practice speed.

Thursday timed practice

Rain arrived as practice began and worsened throughout the session. Drivers who went out immediately gained the best conditions, while others struggled simply to keep their engines firing in the spray. Hill and Surtees continued circulating, but much of the field stayed in the pits. The weather left little opportunity to develop a representative dry setup.

Friday morning timed practice

Dry roads transformed the pace. Stewart attacked confidently and ended fastest, while Hill, Brabham and Bandini also beat the previous race-lap benchmark. Attwood impressed among the independent entries. Honda struggled with fuel injection and a power delivery poorly suited to the hairpins, leaving its drivers well behind the leading group.

Saturday final qualifying

Oil from Bonnier’s car briefly complicated the opening laps before conditions improved. Hill then took pole, narrowly ahead of Brabham, with Stewart unable to better his Friday time. Ferrari improved, and Attwood continued his strong weekend. Rindt missed the race despite being faster than Ginther, because Honda’s guaranteed places affected the final selection.

Qualifying Classification

The fastest lap across three sessions determined grid order, but eligibility for the sixteen-car field also depended on guaranteed invitations. It was not a simple fastest-sixteen selection.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	3	Graham Hill	BRM	1:32.5
2	1	Jack Brabham	Brabham	1:32.8
3	4	Jackie Stewart	BRM	1:32.9
4	17	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	1:33.0
5	18	John Surtees	Ferrari	1:33.2
6	15	Richard Attwood	Lotus	1:33.9
7	7	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	1:34.3
8	2	Denny Hulme	Brabham	1:34.5
9	9	Bob Anderson	Brabham	1:35.5
10	14	Jo Siffert	Brabham	1:36.0
11	11	Frank Gardner	Brabham	1:36.0
12	16	Mike Hailwood	Lotus	1:36.5
13	12	Jo Bonnier	Brabham	1:36.5
14	10	Paul Hawkins	Lotus	1:37.0
15	19	Ronnie Bucknum	Honda	1:37.0
16	20	Richie Ginther	Honda	1:37.5
17	8	Jochen Rindt	Cooper	1:39.7

What happened in the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix?

Hill and Stewart led initially, but separate incidents disrupted both BRMs. Hill took to the escape road while avoiding trouble, then rejoined and began a forceful recovery. Bandini and Brabham took turns at the front before the Brabham’s engine failed.

Hill caught the Ferraris and worked back into the lead, repeatedly demonstrating his pace around the tight circuit. Hawkins suffered a dramatic accident at the harbour chicane, his Lotus falling into the water; he escaped and swam clear.

Hill won comfortably. Surtees ran short of fuel near the finish, allowing Bandini and Stewart to take second and third. Surtees retained fourth, with McLaren and Siffert completing the points.

After the race, Graham Hill headed the drivers’ standings with 13 points, followed by Jim Clark on 9. BRM led the constructors’ table on 13, with Ferrari on 12.

1965 Monaco Grand Prix race results

The 1965 Monaco Grand Prix was held on 30 May 1965.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	3	Graham Hill	BRM	100	2:37:39.6	9
2	17	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	100	+1:04.0	6
3	4	Jackie Stewart	BRM	100	+1:41.9	4
4	18	John Surtees	Ferrari	99	Out of Fuel	3
5	7	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	98	+2 Laps	2
6	14	Jo Siffert	Brabham	98	+2 Laps	1
7	12	Jo Bonnier	Brabham	97	+3 Laps	0
8	2	Denny Hulme	Brabham	92	+8 Laps	0
9	9	Bob Anderson	Brabham	85	+15 Laps	0
10	10	Paul Hawkins	Lotus	79	Accident	0
Ret	1	Jack Brabham	Brabham	43	Engine	0
Ret	15	Richard Attwood	Lotus	43	Wheel	0
Ret	19	Ronnie Bucknum	Honda	33	Gearbox	0
Ret	11	Frank Gardner	Brabham	29	Engine	0
Ret	16	Mike Hailwood	Lotus	11	Gearbox	0
Ret	20	Richie Ginther	Honda	0	Halfshaft	0
DNQ	8	Jochen Rindt	Cooper			0

1965 Monaco Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	3	Graham Hill	BRM	82	1:31.700

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

1965 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix.

1965 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Graham Hill	British	BRM	13
2	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	9
3	John Surtees	British	Ferrari	9
4	Lorenzo Bandini	Italian	Ferrari	6
5	Jackie Stewart	British	BRM	5
6	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	4
7	Mike Spence	British	Lotus	3
8	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Brabham	1
–	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Brabham	0
–	Jack Brabham	Australian	Brabham	0
–	Denny Hulme	New Zealander	Brabham	0
–	Paul Hawkins	Australian	Brabham / Lotus	0
–	Bob Anderson	British	Brabham	0
–	Peter de Klerk	South African	Alfa Romeo	0
–	Tony Maggs	South African	Lotus	0
–	Frank Gardner	Australian	Brabham	0
–	Sam Tingle	Rhodesian	LDS	0
–	David Prophet	British	Brabham	0
–	Richard Attwood	British	Lotus	0
–	Ronnie Bucknum	American	Honda	0
–	Mike Hailwood	British	Lotus	0
–	Richie Ginther	American	Honda	0
–	Jochen Rindt	Austrian	Cooper	0
–	John Love	Rhodesian	Cooper	0
–	Dan Gurney	American	Brabham	0
–	Ray Reed	South African	RE	0
–	David Clapham	South African	Cooper	0
–	Alex Blignaut	South African	Cooper	0

1965 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	BRM	13
2	Ferrari	12
3	Lotus – Climax	9
4	Cooper – Climax	4
5	Brabham – BRM	1
—	Brabham – Climax	0
—	Brabham – Ford	0
—	Alfa Special – Alfa Romeo	0
—	Lotus – BRM	0
—	LDS – Alfa Romeo	0
—	Cooper – Ford	0
—	LDS – Climax	0
—	Lotus – Ford	0
—	Honda	0

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

1965 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1965 South African Grand Prix	Prince George Circuit, East London	1 January
2	1965 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	30 May
3	1965 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	13 June
4	1965 French Grand Prix	Circuit de Charade, Clermont-Ferrand	27 June
5	1965 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	10 July
6	1965 Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	18 July
7	1965 German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	1 August
8	1965 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	12 September
9	1965 United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	3 October
10	1965 Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	24 October