United States GP 1961

OCTOBER 8, 1961

United States GP, 1961

Having won both World Championships Ferrari decided not to bother with the United States GP, which was being held at Watkins Glen in upstate New York for the first time.

Both Jack Brabham and Stirling Moss had the new Climax V8 engine on this occasion but Moss decided after practice not to race it. The field was joined by a number of local stars, notably Hap Sharp and Roger Penske in Coopers and Jim Hall and Ken Miles in Lotuses.

Brabham took pole position with Graham Hill alongside while Moss shared the second row with Bruce McLaren in the second factory Cooper.

At the start Moss took the lead from Brabham while Innes Ireland charged through from eighth on the grid to take third place. For the first half of the race Moss and Brabham dueled for the lead, switching places several times but on lap 45 Brabham had to stop with overheating problems. Moss led for the next 12 laps but then he too was forced out with mechanical trouble. This left Ireland in the lead in the factory Lotus but he was in trouble with fuel pressure problems. His chasers were out of luck, however. Graham Hill had to stop when his magneto came loose and Roy Salvadori looked like being a possible winner until a few laps from the finish when his bearings failed. Ireland survived to the finishing line, chased home by Dan Gurney's Porsche and Tony Brooks in his BRM.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
15 Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 21 100 2h13m45.800s  
12 Dan Gurney Porsche 718 100 2h13m50.100s  
Tony Brooks BRM-Climax P48/57 100 2h14m34.800s  
Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax T55 100 2h14m43.800s  
Graham Hill BRM-Climax P48/57 99  
11 Jo Bonnier Porsche 718 98  10 
19 Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax T53 69 Engine 12 
14 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 21 96  
Roger Penske Cooper-Climax T53 96  16 
16 Peter Ryan Lotus-Climax 18/21 96  13 
10 Hap Sharp Cooper-Climax T53 93  17 
11= 21 Olivier Gendebien Lotus-Climax 18/21   15 
11= 21 Masten Gregory Lotus-Climax 18/21 92   
26 Lloyd Ruby Lotus-Climax 18 76 Magneto 19 
17 Jim Hall Lotus-Climax 18 76 Fuel Leak 18 
Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 18/21 58 Engine 
Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax T58 57 Overheating 
22 Masten Gregory Lotus-Climax 18/21 23 Gearbox 11 
60 Walt Hansgen Cooper-Climax T53 14 Accident 14 
18 John Surtees Cooper-Climax T53 Engine