Belgian GP 1965

Belgian GP, 1965

The problems between the Formula 1 teams and the race organizers had resulted in Team Lotus withdrawing from the Monaco GP and there were further political problems before the Belgian GP a fortnight later because the Belgians decided that they would only pay appearance money to the six big teams. This left 10 other fighting over four places on the grid and they decided not to take part in practice on Friday as a protest. A compromise was eventually organized and 20 cars took part in qualifying on Saturday. Graham Hill took pole in his BRM with Jim Clark's Lotus and his BRM team mate Jackie Stewart alongside him on the front row. Ritchie Ginther put his Honda alongside Dan Gurney's Brabham on the second row while World Champion John Surtees was back on the third row with Rob Walker's drivers Jo Bonnier and Jo Siffert.

It was raining on Sunday and at the start Hill took the lead from Clark but the Lotus moved ahead on the run down to the Masta Kink and soon pulled away. Hill was struggling with the BRM in the wet and Stewart soon moved up to second place while Surtees also overtook Hill only to suffer an engine failure. Hill eventually came under attack from Bruce McLaren's Cooper and on lap 18 the New Zealander moved up the third. In the closing laps Hill would also fall victim to Jack Brabham. Ginther finished sixth in the Honda while Richard Attwood (Reg Parnell Racing Lotus) looked to be on course for seventh when he spun into a telegraph pole. He was not seriously injured but the burst into flames and was badly damaged.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
1 17 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 33 32 2h23m34.800s  2 
2 8 Jackie Stewart BRM P261 32 2h24m19.600s  3 
3 4 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax T77 31  9 
4 14 Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax BT11 31  10 
5 7 Graham Hill BRM P261 31  1 
6 10 Richie Ginther Honda RA272 31  4 
7 18 Mike Spence Lotus-Climax 33 31  12 
8 21 Jo Siffert Brabham-BRM BT11 31  8 
9 2 Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 1512 30  15 
10 15 Dan Gurney Brabham-Climax BT11 30  5 
11 5 Jochen Rindt Cooper-Climax T77 29  14 
12 27 Lucien Bianchi BRM P57 29  17 
13 22 Innes Ireland Lotus-BRM 25 27  16 
14r 23 Richard Attwood Lotus-BRM 25 26 Accident 13 
r 29 Masten Gregory BRM P57 12 Fuel Pump 19 
r 11 Ronnie Bucknum Honda RA272 9 Transmission 11 
r 20 Jo Bonnier Brabham-Climax BT7 9 Ignition 7 
r 1 John Surtees Ferrari 158 5 Ignition 6 
r 26 Frank Gardner Brabham-BRM BT11 3 Ignition 18 
ns 24 Bob Anderson Brabham-Climax BT11  Withdrew 20 
ns 28 Willy Mairesse BRM P57   21