1968 Mexican Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Graham Hill won the Mexican Grand Prix to secure his second World Championship, bringing a difficult year for Lotus to a triumphant conclusion. Bruce McLaren finished second and Jackie Oliver took his first podium in third.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jo Siffert	Lotus
Pole time	1:45.22
Fastest lap	Jo Siffert	Lotus
Fastest-lap time	1:44.230 on lap 52
First	Graham Hill	Lotus
Second	Bruce McLaren	McLaren
Third	Jackie Oliver	Lotus

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
1 November 1968	Friday timed practice	13:00–17:00
2 November 1968	Saturday final qualifying	Afternoon; four-hour session
3 November 1968	Race	Start time unconfirmed

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 12 leading the 1968 F1 World Championship on 39 points, with Jackie Stewart on 36. Lotus – Ford headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 53 points.

Hill arrived with 39 points, Stewart with 36 and Hulme with 33. The championship would be decided at the final round, which had been moved back to avoid clashing with the closing weekend of the Mexico City Olympics.

Race entries

Ickx returned to Ferrari with his injured leg still supported. Moises Solana joined Lotus, while Pescarolo drove the second V12 Matra. Servoz-Gavin’s Matra-Cosworth entry was confirmed late, and Bonnier switched from his damaged McLaren–BRM to a spare Honda.

Friday timed practice

Stewart quickly lowered the previous year’s benchmark, but Siffert finished fastest after his mechanics addressed severe brake vibration. Hill tried different Lotus configurations, encouraging other teams to compare their cars with and without wings. Servoz-Gavin practised Elford’s Cooper in his absence, while Ickx cautiously reacquainted himself with the Ferrari after his injury.

Saturday final qualifying

Siffert improved again to secure pole ahead of Amon. Stewart suffered a driveshaft-joint failure that damaged the suspension and forced him into the spare Matra. Lotus worked on Hill’s movable wing, while Oliver damaged his exhausts in a spin. McLaren’s three drivers improved, but neither Hill nor Stewart could dislodge the leading pair.

Qualifying Classification

The fastest individual practice lap set the grid. Siffert claimed pole in Rob Walker’s Lotus, with Amon alongside him and Hill the highest-placed championship contender.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	16	Jo Siffert	Lotus	1:45.22
2	6	Chris Amon	Ferrari	1:45.62
3	10	Graham Hill	Lotus	1:46.01
4	1	Denny Hulme	McLaren	1:46.04
5	14	Dan Gurney	McLaren	1:46.29
6	5	John Surtees	Honda	1:46.49
7	15	Jackie Stewart	Matra	1:46.69
8	3	Jack Brabham	Brabham	1:46.80
9	2	Bruce McLaren	McLaren	1:47.00
10	4	Jochen Rindt	Brabham	1:47.07
11	12	Moisés Solana	Lotus	1:47.67
12	8	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	1:47.80
13	21	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	1:48.38
14	11	Jackie Oliver	Lotus	1:48.44
15	7	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:49.24
16	23	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Matra	1:49.27
17	18	Vic Elford	Cooper	1:49.48
18	17	Jo Bonnier	Honda	1:49.96
19	22	Piers Courage	BRM	1:50.28
20	9	Henri Pescarolo	Matra	1:50.43
21	19	Lucien Bianchi	Cooper	1:50.57

What happened in the 1968 Mexican Grand Prix?

Hill and Stewart contested the early lead before Siffert moved ahead. A broken throttle cable forced the Swiss driver to stop, returning the initiative to the title contenders. Hulme’s suspension failed and he crashed, ending his championship defence.

Stewart’s Matra then developed handling and engine problems, dropping him out of contention. Hill kept the Lotus running strongly and took the victory that guaranteed the title. The result rewarded his leadership through a season marked by tragedy for the team.

McLaren finished second and Oliver third, followed by Rodriguez, Bonnier and Siffert. Stewart could manage only seventh. Hill and Lotus secured the championships as the season ended in Mexico.

After the race, Graham Hill headed the drivers’ standings with 48 points, followed by Jackie Stewart on 36. Lotus – Ford led the constructors’ table on 62, with McLaren – Ford on 49.

1968 Mexican Grand Prix race results

The 1968 Mexican Grand Prix was held on 3 November 1968.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	10	Graham Hill	Lotus	65	1:56:43.95	9
2	2	Bruce McLaren	McLaren	65	+ 1:19.32	6
3	11	Jackie Oliver	Lotus	65	+ 1:40.65	4
4	8	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	65	+ 1:41.09	3
5	17	Jo Bonnier	Honda	64	+ 1 Lap	2
6	16	Jo Siffert	Lotus	64	+ 1 Lap	1
7	15	Jackie Stewart	Matra	64	+ 1 Lap	0
8	18	Vic Elford	Cooper	63	+ 2 Laps	0
9	9	Henri Pescarolo	Matra	62	+ 3 Laps	0
10	3	Jack Brabham	Brabham	59	Oil pressure	0
Ret	23	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Matra	57	Ignition	0
Ret	14	Dan Gurney	McLaren	28	Suspension	0
Ret	22	Piers Courage	BRM	25	Engine	0
Ret	19	Lucien Bianchi	Cooper	21	Engine	0
Ret	5	John Surtees	Honda	17	Overheating	0
Ret	6	Chris Amon	Ferrari	16	Transmission	0
Ret	12	Moisés Solana	Lotus	14	Broken wing	0
Ret	1	Denny Hulme	McLaren	10	Suspension	0
Ret	21	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	10	Suspension	0
Ret	7	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	3	Ignition	0
Ret	4	Jochen Rindt	Brabham	2	Ignition	0
DNS	17	Jo Bonnier	McLaren	0	Engine	0

1968 Mexican Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	16	Jo Siffert	Lotus	52	1:44.230

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 Mexican Grand Prix.

1968 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Graham Hill	British	Lotus	48
2	Jackie Stewart	British	Matra	36
3	Denny Hulme	New Zealander	McLaren / McLaren / McLaren	33
4	Jacky Ickx	Belgian	Ferrari	27
5	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	McLaren / McLaren	22
6	Pedro Rodríguez	Mexican	BRM	18
7	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Cooper / Lotus	12
8	John Surtees	British	Honda	12
9	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	French	Matra / Matra	11
10	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Ferrari	10
11	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	9
12	Jochen Rindt	Austrian	Brabham	8
13	Richard Attwood	British	BRM	6
14	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	French	Matra / Cooper	6
15	Jackie Oliver	British	Lotus	6
16	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Italian	Cooper	6
17	Lucien Bianchi	Belgian	Cooper	5
18	Vic Elford	British	Cooper	5
19	Brian Redman	British	Cooper / Cooper	4
20	Piers Courage	British	BRM	4
21	Dan Gurney	American	Eagle / Brabham / McLaren	3
22	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Cooper / McLaren / Honda	3
23	Jack Brabham	Australian	Brabham	2
24	Silvio Moser	Swiss	Brabham	2
–	Henri Pescarolo	French	Matra	0
–	John Love	Rhodesian	Brabham	0
–	Hubert Hahne	German	Lola	0
–	Kurt Ahrens	German	Brabham	0
–	Jackie Pretorius	South African	Brabham	0
–	David Hobbs	British	Honda	0
–	Robin Widdows	British	Cooper	0
–	Sam Tingle	Rhodesian	LDS	0
–	Basil van Rooyen	South African	Cooper	0
–	Jo Schlesser	French	Honda	0
–	Bobby Unser	American	BRM	0
–	Moisés Solana	Mexican	Lotus	0
–	Bill Brack	Canadian	Lotus	0
–	Mario Andretti	American	Lotus	0
–	Derek Bell	British	Ferrari	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	62
2	McLaren – Ford	49
3	Matra – Ford	45
4	Ferrari	32
5	BRM	28
6	Honda	14
7	Cooper – BRM	14
8	Brabham – Repco	10
9	Matra	8
10	McLaren – BRM	3
—	Cooper – Maserati	0
—	Eagle – Weslake	0
—	Lola – BMW	0
—	Brabham – Climax	0
—	LDS – Repco	0
—	Cooper – Climax	0
—	Eagle – 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