1968 British Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jo Siffert scored his first World Championship victory at Brands Hatch, giving Rob Walker’s private team a famous success. Chris Amon chased him to the finish, with Jacky Ickx completing the podium for Ferrari.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Graham Hill	Lotus
Pole time	1:28.9
Fastest lap	Jo Siffert	Lotus
Fastest-lap time	1:29.700 on lap 42
First	Jo Siffert	Lotus
Second	Chris Amon	Ferrari
Third	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
18 July 1968	Thursday morning timed practice	10:30–13:30 scheduled
18 July 1968	Thursday afternoon timed practice	16:30–17:30
19 July 1968	Friday final qualifying	10:30–12:30
19 July 1968	Friday afternoon untimed practice	One hour; start unconfirmed
20 July 1968	Race	15:00

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 1968 F1 World Championship on 24 points, with Jacky Ickx on 16. Lotus – Ford headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 29 points.

Race entries

Siffert received a new Lotus 49B, while Oliver used the older car returned by Walker after his Rouen accident. Robin Widdows made his championship debut for Cooper alongside Elford. Gurney returned with the Eagle, and increasingly prominent rear wings appeared across the field.

Thursday morning timed practice

Hill set a strong early standard, with Amon and Oliver responding. Siffert carefully learnt his new car, while Widdows’s first session ended with an engine failure. Ferrari compared exhaust arrangements and several teams adjusted their wings. Hulme briefly removed his wing before deciding to refit it, illustrating how actively teams were still exploring the devices.

Thursday afternoon timed practice

Attwood missed the session after his BRM struck a gatepost while leaving the paddock, damaging the rear suspension. Amon tried the spare Ferrari and Rodriguez compared BRMs, while Gurney moved his wing forward. Rodriguez then suffered a suspension mounting failure. Cooper had no spare car for Widdows, leaving the newcomer short of running.

Friday final qualifying

Hill improved to 1:28.9 and Oliver joined him at the front, with Amon unable to complete a clear final challenge. Siffert quietly secured fourth in the new private Lotus. Brabham’s engine difficulties continued, Hulme broke a driveshaft joint, and Beltoise ran out of fuel. The session ended with Lotus occupying the first two grid positions.

Qualifying Classification

Bonnier and Moser were allowed to start despite initially failing the qualifying requirements. Friday afternoon’s untimed running did not alter the grid.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	8	Graham Hill	Lotus	1:28.9
2	9	Jackie Oliver	Lotus	1:29.4
3	5	Chris Amon	Ferrari	1:29.5
4	22	Jo Siffert	Lotus	1:29.7
5	4	Jochen Rindt	Brabham	1:29.9
6	24	Dan Gurney	Eagle	1:30.0
7	14	Jackie Stewart	Matra	1:30.0
8	3	Jack Brabham	Brabham	1:30.2
9	7	John Surtees	Honda	1:30.3
10	2	Bruce McLaren	McLaren	1:30.4
11	1	Denny Hulme	McLaren	1:30.4
12	6	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:31.0
13	10	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	1:31.6
14	18	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	1:31.6
15	11	Richard Attwood	BRM	1:31.7
16	20	Piers Courage	BRM	1:32.3
17	15	Vic Elford	Cooper	1:33.0
18	16	Robin Widdows	Cooper	1:34.0
19	19	Silvio Moser	Brabham	1:35.4
20	23	Jo Bonnier	McLaren	1:36.8

Friday afternoon untimed practice

The final hour allowed adjustments without changing the grid. McLaren tried rain tyres in dry conditions and also drove Bonnier’s car to assess its handling. Ferrari ran both cars, Surtees appeared briefly, and Moser made progress with his Brabham. This preparation session followed the conclusion of qualifying.

What happened in the 1968 British Grand Prix?

Oliver led initially before Hill took over, with Siffert completing a Lotus trio at the front. Hill retired with driveshaft and suspension trouble, returning the lead to Oliver. Amon then challenged Siffert as the two pursued the remaining works Lotus.

Oliver’s final-drive failure ended his chance of a first win. Siffert, having repassed Amon, inherited the lead and defended it cleanly. The Ferrari stayed close, but the Swiss driver resisted the pressure and secured a memorable privateer victory.

Amon finished second and Ickx third, followed by Hulme, Surtees and Stewart. Surtees had lost his rear wing during the race, while Stewart struggled to maintain his earlier pace. Siffert’s success was the final World Championship victory for Rob Walker’s team.

After the race, Graham Hill headed the drivers’ standings with 24 points, followed by Jacky Ickx on 20. Lotus – Ford led the constructors’ table on 38, with Ferrari on 25.

1968 British Grand Prix race results

The 1968 British Grand Prix was held on 20 July 1968, with a scheduled start of 15:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	22	Jo Siffert	Lotus	80	2:01:20.3	9
2	5	Chris Amon	Ferrari	80	+ 4.4	6
3	6	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	79	+ 1 lap	4
4	1	Denny Hulme	McLaren	79	+ 1 lap	3
5	7	John Surtees	Honda	78	+ 2 laps	2
6	14	Jackie Stewart	Matra	78	+ 2 laps	1
7	2	Bruce McLaren	McLaren	77	+ 3 laps	0
8	20	Piers Courage	BRM	72	+ 8 laps	0
Ret	4	Jochen Rindt	Brabham	55	Fuel leak	0
Ret	10	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	52	Engine	0
NC	19	Silvio Moser	Brabham	52	+ 28 laps	0
Ret	9	Jackie Oliver	Lotus	43	Transmission	0
Ret	16	Robin Widdows	Cooper	34	Ignition	0
Ret	8	Graham Hill	Lotus	26	Halfshaft	0
Ret	15	Vic Elford	Cooper	26	Engine	0
Ret	18	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	11	Engine	0
Ret	11	Richard Attwood	BRM	10	Radiator	0
Ret	24	Dan Gurney	Eagle	8	Fuel pump	0
Ret	23	Jo Bonnier	McLaren	6	Engine	0
Ret	3	Jack Brabham	Brabham	0	Engine	0

1968 British Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	22	Jo Siffert	Lotus	42	1:29.700

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

1968 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1968 British Grand Prix.

1968 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Graham Hill	British	Lotus	24
2	Jacky Ickx	Belgian	Ferrari	20
3	Jackie Stewart	British	Matra	17
4	Denny Hulme	New Zealander	McLaren / McLaren	15
5	Pedro Rodríguez	Mexican	BRM	10
6	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Ferrari	10
7	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Cooper / Lotus	9
8	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	McLaren	9
9	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	9
10	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	French	Matra / Matra	9
11	John Surtees	British	Honda	8
12	Richard Attwood	British	BRM	6
13	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Italian	Cooper	6
14	Lucien Bianchi	Belgian	Cooper	5
15	Jochen Rindt	Austrian	Brabham	4
16	Brian Redman	British	Cooper / Cooper	4
17	Vic Elford	British	Cooper	3
18	Jackie Oliver	British	Lotus	2
19	Silvio Moser	Swiss	Brabham	2
20	Piers Courage	British	BRM	1
–	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Cooper / McLaren	0
–	John Love	Rhodesian	Brabham	0
–	Jackie Pretorius	South African	Brabham	0
–	Dan Gurney	American	Eagle / Brabham	0
–	Jack Brabham	Australian	Brabham	0
–	Robin Widdows	British	Cooper	0
–	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	French	Matra / Cooper	0
–	Sam Tingle	Rhodesian	LDS	0
–	Basil van Rooyen	South African	Cooper	0
–	Jo Schlesser	French	Honda	0
–	Andrea de Adamich	Italian	Ferrari	0
–	Mike Spence	British	BRM	0
–	Dave Charlton	South African	Brabham	0

1968 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Lotus – Ford	38
2	Ferrari	25
3	McLaren – Ford	22
4	Matra – Ford	20
5	BRM	17
6	Cooper – BRM	12
7	Honda	8
8	Matra	6
9	Brabham – Repco	6
10	McLaren – BRM	2
—	Cooper – Maserati	0
—	Brabham – Climax	0
—	Eagle – Weslake	0
—	LDS – Repco	0
—	Cooper – Climax	0

Drivers and constructors counted their best 5 results from rounds 1–6 and their best 5 from rounds 7–12. Only the highest-placed eligible car for each constructor could score constructor points.

1968 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1968 South African Grand Prix	Kyalami, Midrand	1 January
2	1968 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuito del Jarama, San Sebastián de los Reyes	12 May
3	1968 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	26 May
4	1968 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	9 June
5	1968 Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	23 June
6	1968 French Grand Prix	Rouen-les-Essarts, Rouen	7 July
7	1968 British Grand Prix	Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown	20 July
8	1968 German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	4 August
9	1968 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	8 September
10	1968 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Saint-Jovite	22 September
11	1968 United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	6 October
12	1968 Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	3 November