Belgian GP 1962
Belgian GP, 1962
Porsche was not present for the Belgian race because of a strike in Stuttgart and so it was left for Ferrari to take on the usual British teams. In qualifying Graham Hill was fastest with Bruce McLaren alongside him in his Cooper and Trevor Taylor third quickest. Jim Clark had mechanical trouble and had to wait for a new engine. Eventually he used Taylor's car and ended up 12th on the grid. The second row featured Phil Hill's Ferrari and the British Racing Partnership Lotus of Innes Ireland while row three consisted of the Ferraris of Willy Mairesse and Ricardo Rodriguez and Masten Gregory's BRP Lotus-BRM. Porsche driver Dan Gurney ran in Wolfgang Seidel's Lotus-BRM but after qualifying he decided the car was not fast enough and withdrew from the race. Graham Hill took the lead at the start but battled with McLaren during the first lap. By the end of the lap Hill was back in control but he had Taylor, McLaren, a fast-starting Clark and Mairesse right with him. The early laps saw a lively slipstreaming battle between the front five cars with Taylor and Mairesse both leading. On lap nine, however, Clark was at the front and he then began to pull away from Taylor who himself moved clear of Mairesse until he spun on lap 17 and came under pressure once again from the Belgian Ferrari driver. On lap 26 Mairesse and Taylor collided at speed. The Lotus hit a telegraph pole while the Ferrari overturned and caught fire. Both drivers were fortunate to escape with minor injuries. Clark was left with a big lead over Graham Hill, who battled a misfiring BRM most of the way, and Phil Hill who was able to hold off Rodriguez by a tenth of a second for third place.
POS | NO | DRIVER | ENTRANT | LAPS | TIME/RETIREMENT | QUAL POS |
1 | 16 | Jim Clark | Lotus-Climax 25 | 32 | 2h07m32.300s | 12 |
2 | 1 | Graham Hill | BRM P57 | 32 | 2h08m16.400s | 1 |
3 | 9 | Phil Hill | Ferrari 156 | 32 | 2h09m38.800s | 4 |
4 | 12 | Ricardo Rodriguez | Ferrari 156 | 32 | 2h09m38.900s | 7 |
5 | 5 | John Surtees | Lola-Climax MK 4 | 31 | 11 | |
6 | 15 | Jack Brabham | Lotus-Climax 24 | 30 | 15 | |
7 | 7 | Carel Godin de Beaufort | Porsche 718 | 30 | 13 | |
8 | 18 | Maurice Trintignant | Lotus-Climax 24 | 30 | 16 | |
9 | 19 | Lucien Bianchi | Lotus-Climax 18/21 | 29 | 18 | |
10 | 22 | Jo Siffert | Lotus-Climax 21 | 29 | 17 | |
r | 17 | Trevor Taylor | Lotus-Climax 24 | 25 | Accident | 3 |
r | 10 | Willy Mairesse | Ferrari 156 | 25 | Accident | 6 |
r | 2 | Richie Ginther | BRM P57 | 22 | Transmission | 9 |
r | 26 | Tony Maggs | Cooper-Climax T60 | 22 | Gearbox | 10 |
r | 25 | Bruce McLaren | Cooper-Climax T60 | 19 | Engine | 2 |
11 | 4 | John Campbell-Jones | Lotus-Climax 18 | 16 | 19 | |
r | 21 | Masten Gregory | Lotus-BRM 24 | 13 | Withdrew | 8 |
r | 20 | Innes Ireland | Lotus-Climax 24 | 9 | Suspension | 5 |
r | 11 | Giancarlo Baghetti | Ferrari 156 | 4 | Ignition | 14 |
ns | 23 | Dan Gurney | Lotus-BRM 24 | Car Unraceworthy | 20 |