1962 United States Grand Prix

August 2023 F1 United States United States Watkins Glen International Track Map-1960-1970.svg V United States Grand Prix October 7 1962 Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race CourseWatkins Glen, New York Permanent road course 2.35 3.78 100 235 378 Sunny UK Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 1:15.8 UK Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 1:15.0 70 UK Jim Clark Lotus-Climax UK Graham Hill BRM New Zealand Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax USA The 1962 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 7, 1962, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was race 8 of 9 in both the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 100-lap race was won by Lotus driver Jim Clark after starting from pole position. Graham Hill finished second for the BRM team and Cooper driver Bruce McLaren came in third. By taking his third win of the season, Clark maintained his slim title hopes heading into the final round of the season with a nine-point-deficit over title rival Graham Hill with nine points up for grabs. McLaren, however, was mathematically eliminated from championship contention after this round. Summary New Lotus star Jim Clark of Scotland took his third victory of the season, and the third of his career, to keep alive his hopes of catching Graham Hill for the 1962 World Driver's Championship with one race remaining. Hill finished nine seconds back in second place for BRM, while Bruce McLaren was third, despite being a lap down. For the third consecutive year, Ferrari had decided not to make the trip across the Atlantic for the American race. It had been a miserable year for the team, finishing sixth in the eight-team Constructor's Championship (without a victory), after winning it the year before. The powerful new V8 engines built by Climax and BRM for the second year of the 1.5-liter formula had taken the series by storm, and Ferrari's advantage from 1961 had been completely erased. Also, as a result, defending World Champion Phil Hill was again without a drive in his home country, and, worse yet, the American learned from a reliable source at The Glen that he had been fired. In Saturday's Q2, when bad weather prevented improvements of Q1 times, he drove some laps with the No. 11 Porsche of Jo Bonnier. In Friday's qualifying session, Graham Hill, Hill's BRM teammate Richie Ginther, Clark and Jack Brabham (using his own BT3 model for just the second time) all bettered the previous year's lap record of 1:18.2. Clark then went out and shattered the absolute course record, set under the 2.5-liter formula by Stirling Moss, with a staggering 1:15.8. Damp and misty conditions on Saturday prohibited anyone improving their Friday time, so the top six were Clark in the Lotus, Ginther and Hill's BRM's, American Dan Gurney in a Porsche, Brabham, and McLaren's Cooper. By race time on Sunday, there were 40,000 fans braving the cold winds and a threat of rain. At the start, Clark led off the grid, while Hill jumped into second behind him. With Ginther, Brabham, Gurney and McLaren following, the two Championship rivals pulled away, already lowering the F1 track record on lap 3. Gurney got by Brabham and Ginther and briefly took third place, but on lap 11, Ginther retook the spot behind his teammate when Gurney slid half off the track, inches from the Armco, on a patch of oil in the Loop. On lap 12, the two leaders were already coming up to lap the tail-enders. When Clark was delayed in the traffic, Hill took the lead away from him. By lap 19, however, Clark had lowered the lap record to 1:15.4, well under his qualifying time, and retaken the lead for good. Ginther was struggling with a deteriorating gearbox and began to fall back until a missed shift on lap 35 blew the engine and ended a fine run. As Clark continued comfortably ahead of Hill, McLaren was now hounding Gurney for third place. The New Zealander's Cooper slid by on lap 57, and soon after, Gurney began losing power in the Porsche's engine. Brabham closed the gap between them, and when he grabbed fourth place from the American on lap 69, he claimed the first Championship points ever scored by the Brabham make. Clark and Hill were the only cars on the lead lap toward the end as both lapped repeatedly under their grid times. Clark eventually clocked a 1:15.0 on lap 70 for the fastest lap of the race, and eased off from his biggest lead of 17 seconds to take the second consecutive American Grand Prix win for Team Lotus. "I planned to get in front and stay there," Clark said. "I set up the car for dry weather just before we started. I sure am glad the weather held up!" Indeed, moments after the Scot had taken the checkered flag, a drizzle began to fall. Classification Qualifying PosNoDriverConstructorQualifying timesGapQ1Q21 8 UK Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 1:15.81:22.1—2 5 USA Richie Ginther BRM 1:16.61:24.0 +0.83 4 UK Graham Hill BRM 1:16.71:22.1 +0.94 10 USA Dan Gurney Porsche 1:16.91:24.2 +1.15 17 Australia Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax 1:16.91:27.8 +1.16 21 New Zealand Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 1:17.11:24.5 +1.37 16 USA Masten Gregory Lotus-BRM 1:17.9No time +2.18 9 UK Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax 1:18.01:28.7 +2.29 11 Sweden Jo Bonnier Porsche 1:19.01:28.4 +3.210 22 South Africa 1928 Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax 1:19.71:30.8 +3.911 19 UK Roy Salvadori Lola-Climax 1:19.81:33.5 +4.012 23 USA Timmy Mayer Cooper-Climax 1:20.71:29.2 +4.913 14 USA Roger Penske Lotus-Climax 1:21.31:28.9 +5.514 12 Netherlands Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 1:21.81:26.3 +6.015 24 USA Hap Sharp Cooper-Climax 1:22.4No time +6.616 15 UK Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 1:24.01:25.8 +8.217 26 USA Rob Schroeder Lotus-Climax 1:24.01:28.8 +8.218 25 USA Jim Hall Lotus-Climax 1:24.7No time +8.919 6 France Maurice Trintignant Lotus-Climax 1:25.81:28.5 +10.020 18 UK John Surtees Lola-Climax (1:18.1)1:29.2 +13.411USA Phil HillPorsche—1:32.6 +16.8 Source:https://database.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/1962-united-states-grand-prix 1962 United States Grand Prix Motor Sport Magazine 11 August 2020 Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 8 UK Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 100 2:07:13.0 1 9 2 4 UK Graham Hill BRM 100 + 9.2 3 6 3 21 New Zealand Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 99 + 1 Lap 6 4 4 17 Australia Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax 99 + 1 Lap 5 3 5 10 USA Dan Gurney Porsche 99 + 1 Lap 4 2 6 16 USA Masten Gregory Lotus-BRM 99 + 1 Lap 7 1 7 22 South Africa 1928 Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax 97 + 3 Laps 10   8 15 UK Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 96 + 4 Laps 16   9 14 USA Roger Penske Lotus-Climax 96 + 4 Laps 13   10 26 USA Rob Schroeder Lotus-Climax 93 + 7 Laps 17   11 24 USA Hap Sharp Cooper-Climax 91 + 9 Laps 15   12 9 UK Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax 85 + 15 Laps 8   13 11 Sweden Jo Bonnier Porsche 79 + 21 Laps 9   Ret Retired 5 USA Richie Ginther BRM 35 Engine 2   Ret Retired 6 France Maurice Trintignant Lotus-Climax 32 Brakes 19   Ret Retired 23 USA Timmy Mayer Cooper-Climax 31 Ignition 12   Ret Retired 18 UK John Surtees Lola-Climax 19 Engine 20   Ret Retired 12 Netherlands Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 9 Accident 14   DNS Did not start 19 UK Roy Salvadori Lola-Climax Car raced by Surtees DNS Did not start 25 USA Jim Hall Lotus-Climax Engine in practice DNS Did not start 11 USA Phil Hill Porsche Car raced by BonnierSource:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1962/632/ 1962 United States Grand Prix formula1.com 20 September 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20141202215242/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1962/632/ 2 December 2014 Scuderia Ferrari were entered for the race as #1, 2 and 3, but nominated neither cars nor drivers. #7 was allocated to Rob Walker Racing Team, but this entry was not fulfilled either. Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 10px 1 UK Graham Hill 39 (43) 10px 1 2 UK Jim Clark 30 10px 1 3 NZL Bruce McLaren 24 (26) 10px 4 UK John Surtees 19 10px 1 5 USA Dan Gurney 15Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1962/etats-unis/championnat.aspx United States 1962 - Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 21 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 10px 1 UK BRM 39 (47) 10px 2 UK Lotus-Climax 36 10px 3 UK Cooper-Climax 27 (31) 10px 4 UK Lola-Climax 19 10px 1 5 Germany Porsche 18 (19) Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 5 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. References 30em Further reading Doug Nye (1978). The United States Grand Prix and Grand Prize Races, 1908-1977. B. T. Batsford. 0-7134-1263-1 James T. Crow (January, 1963). "Grand Prix of the U.S.". Road & Track, 62-66. "The Formula One Record Book", John Thompson, 1974. United States Grand Prix 1962 1962 Italian Grand Prix 1962 South African Grand Prix 1961 United States Grand Prix 1963 United States Grand Prix United States Grand Prix Category:United States Grand Prix United States Grand Prix United States Grand Prix United States Grand Prix