1968 Dutch Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jackie Stewart mastered the rain at Zandvoort to give Matra its first World Championship victory. Jean-Pierre Beltoise recovered from an excursion to finish second in the V12-powered Matra, ahead of Pedro Rodriguez’s BRM.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Chris Amon	Ferrari
Pole time	1:23.54
Fastest lap	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra
Fastest-lap time	1:45.910 on lap 6
First	Jackie Stewart	Matra
Second	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra
Third	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
21 June 1968	Friday morning timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
21 June 1968	Friday afternoon timed practice	Afternoon; finished 17:30
22 June 1968	Saturday final qualifying	15:30–17:30
23 June 1968	Race	14:30

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 5 leading the 1968 F1 World Championship on 24 points, with Denny Hulme on 10. Lotus – Ford headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 29 points.

Race entries

Gurney borrowed an older Brabham while his Eagle engine programme remained troubled. Cooper fielded Bianchi alone after Redman’s injury and Scarfiotti’s death. Ferrari repositioned its rear wings, while Brabham continued trying to resolve the new Repco engines’ reliability problems. Stewart’s injured wrist remained a concern.

Friday morning timed practice

Hulme and McLaren immediately pushed the pace, drawing a quick response from Ferrari and Lotus. The Brabhams remained in the paddock while engine clearances were corrected, leaving Gurney waiting for the spare car. Hill’s engine ran poorly at high revs, and Stewart found the repeated cornering uncomfortable for his wrist.

Friday afternoon timed practice

The pace increased sharply as Amon moved to the front. Once their cars were ready, Rindt and Brabham immediately challenged, showing the potential of the new engines despite their preparation troubles. Courage’s strong running ended with an ignition fault. Beltoise improved steadily in the V12 Matra, while the McLarens could not maintain their early advantage.

Saturday final qualifying

Rain limited progress, and Stewart rested his swollen wrist rather than run. Brabham encountered an alternator-drive bearing failure, Hill reverted to older driveshafts, and Siffert needed a suspension mounting repaired. Gurney finally tried the borrowed Brabham. A late drying spell allowed some improvements, but Amon retained pole ahead of Rindt and Hill.

Qualifying Classification

The best individual practice lap determined the grid. Friday supplied most of the decisive times before Saturday’s mixed conditions.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	9	Chris Amon	Ferrari	1:23.54
2	6	Jochen Rindt	Brabham	1:23.70
3	3	Graham Hill	Lotus	1:23.84
4	5	Jack Brabham	Brabham	1:23.90
5	8	Jackie Stewart	Matra	1:24.41
6	10	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:24.42
7	1	Denny Hulme	McLaren	1:24.45
8	2	Bruce McLaren	McLaren	1:24.58
9	7	John Surtees	Honda	1:25.22
10	4	Jackie Oliver	Lotus	1:25.48
11	15	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	1:25.51
12	18	Dan Gurney	Brabham	1:25.79
13	21	Jo Siffert	Lotus	1:25.86
14	20	Piers Courage	BRM	1:26.07
15	16	Richard Attwood	BRM	1:26.72
16	17	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	1:26.76
17	22	Silvio Moser	Brabham	1:28.29
18	14	Lucien Bianchi	Cooper	1:28.31
19	19	Jo Bonnier	McLaren	1:28.43

What happened in the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix?

Stewart quickly took control as rain swept across the circuit. Beltoise moved into second, then lost ground when sticking throttles sent him off at Tarzan and forced a pit stop. He recovered strongly, passing the Ferraris and Rodriguez before catching Hill again.

The conditions punished mistakes and mechanical weaknesses. McLaren slid out, Brabham stopped after electrical trouble, and Hulme struggled with a misfiring engine. Hill endured two excursions, the second damaging his suspension beyond repair.

Stewart won comfortably, with Beltoise completing a memorable result for the two different Matra operations. Rodriguez was third, followed by Ickx, Moser and Amon. The organisers had allowed extra mechanics for tyre changes, reflecting the particular demands of the wet race.

After the race, Graham Hill headed the drivers’ standings with 24 points, followed by Jackie Stewart on 12. Lotus – Ford led the constructors’ table on 29, with McLaren – Ford on 17.

1968 Dutch Grand Prix race results

The 1968 Dutch Grand Prix was held on 23 June 1968, with a scheduled start of 14:30 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	8	Jackie Stewart	Matra	90	2:46:11.2	9
2	17	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	90	+ 1:33.93	6
3	15	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	89	+ 1 lap	4
4	10	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	88	+ 2 laps	3
5	22	Silvio Moser	Brabham	87	+ 3 laps	2
6	9	Chris Amon	Ferrari	85	+ 5 laps	1
7	16	Richard Attwood	BRM	85	+ 5 laps	0
8	19	Jo Bonnier	McLaren	82	+ 8 laps	0
9	3	Graham Hill	Lotus	81	Accident	0
NC	4	Jackie Oliver	Lotus	80	+ 10 laps	0
Ret	18	Dan Gurney	Brabham	63	Throttle	0
Ret	21	Jo Siffert	Lotus	55	Gearbox	0
Ret	7	John Surtees	Honda	50	Alternator	0
Ret	20	Piers Courage	BRM	50	Spun off	0
Ret	6	Jochen Rindt	Brabham	39	Ignition	0
Ret	5	Jack Brabham	Brabham	22	Spun off	0
Ret	2	Bruce McLaren	McLaren	19	Accident	0
Ret	1	Denny Hulme	McLaren	10	Ignition	0
Ret	14	Lucien Bianchi	Cooper	9	Accident	0

1968 Dutch Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	17	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	6	1:45.910

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 Dutch Grand Prix.

1968 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Graham Hill	British	Lotus	24
2	Jackie Stewart	British	Matra	12
3	Pedro Rodríguez	Mexican	BRM	10
4	Denny Hulme	New Zealander	McLaren / McLaren	10
5	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	McLaren	9
6	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	9
7	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	French	Matra / Matra	9
8	Jacky Ickx	Belgian	Ferrari	7
9	Richard Attwood	British	BRM	6
10	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Italian	Cooper	6
11	Lucien Bianchi	Belgian	Cooper	5
12	Jochen Rindt	Austrian	Brabham	4
13	Brian Redman	British	Cooper / Cooper	4
14	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Ferrari	4
15	Jackie Oliver	British	Lotus	2
16	Silvio Moser	Swiss	Brabham	2
–	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Cooper / Lotus	0
–	John Surtees	British	Honda	0
–	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Cooper / McLaren	0
–	John Love	Rhodesian	Brabham	0
–	Piers Courage	British	BRM	0
–	Jackie Pretorius	South African	Brabham	0
–	Dan Gurney	American	Eagle / Brabham	0
–	Jack Brabham	Australian	Brabham	0
–	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	French	Matra	0
–	Sam Tingle	Rhodesian	LDS	0
–	Basil van Rooyen	South African	Cooper	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	29
2	McLaren – Ford	17
3	BRM	16
4	Matra – Ford	15
5	Ferrari	10
6	Cooper – BRM	9
7	Matra	6
8	Brabham – Repco	6
9	McLaren – BRM	2
—	Cooper – Maserati	0
—	Honda	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