The 1961 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 May 1961 on the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was race 1 of 8 in both the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was also the first World Championship race under the new 1.5 litre engine regulations.
Report
Qualifying The erratic yearly variations in Monaco's qualifying regulations saw grid places guaranteed for works teams and past winners in 1961. Therefore, the five works teams were awarded two places each on the grid, while Stirling Moss and Maurice Trintignant earned spots. This left nine drivers to fight over four remaining slots. A fifth opened up when Innes Ireland crashed during the final practice session, breaking his leg. Moss took pole position from Richie Ginther and Jim Clark, with Graham Hill and Phil Hill on the second row.
Race Ginther led Clark and Moss into the first corner but Clark quickly ran into trouble with a faulty fuel pump. Ginther dropped to third on lap 14, when Moss and Bonnier passed him in quick succession. At quarter distance, Moss had an impressive 10 second lead (in the underpowered Lotus 18-Climax)Kettlewell, Mike. "Monaco: Road Racing on the Riviera", in Northey, Tom, editor. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974), Volume 12, p.1384. but the Ferraris of Hill and then Ginther found their way around Bonnier and began to close the gap. At half distance, Moss' lead was 8 seconds, and down to 3 seconds on lap 60. Ginther moved into second on lap 75 and tried to close the gap, but Moss proved able to match his lap times, despite the 156's horsepower advantage.Kettlewell, p.1384.
Classification Qualifying +PosNoDriverConstructorGapQ1Q2Q31 20 Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 1:41.11:41.41:39.1—236 Richie GintherFerrari 1:41.01:39.31:41.7 +0.23 28 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 1:39.6No timeNo time +0.54 18 Graham Hill BRM-Climax 1:42.81:40.01:39.6 +0.55 38 Phil Hill Ferrari 1:41.01:39.81:40.2 +0.76 40 Wolfgang von Trips Ferrari 1:41.71:40.31:39.8 +0.77 26 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 1:44.71:41.31:39.8 +0.78 16 Tony Brooks BRM-Climax 1:44.61:42.11:40.1 +1.09 2 Jo Bonnier Porsche No time1:41.91:40.3 +1.210 30 Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 1:41.51:40.51:40.7 +1.411 4 Dan Gurney Porsche No time1:42.71:40.6 +1.51222 John SurteesCooper-Climax 1:44.31:41.12:09.1 +2.013 6 Hans HerrmannPorsche No time1:42.41:41.1 +2.0148 Michael MayLotus-Climax 1:45.41:42.01:43.8 +2.91532 Cliff AllisonLotus-Climax 1:56.71:42.31:43.2 +3.216 42 Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Maserati 1:47.61:43.21:42.4 +3.31734 Henry TaylorLotus-Climax 1:45.51:43.71:42.6 +3.51814 Masten GregoryCooper-Climax 1:45.71:42.71:42.7 +3.61910 Lucien BianchiEmeryson-Maserati 1:44.01:42.91:44.5 +3.82012 Olivier GendebienEmeryson-Maserati 1:45.41:43.71:45.0 +4.621 24 Jack BrabhamCooper-Climax 1:44.0No timeNo time +4.9 Source:
Drivers that had to qualify on speed: only the five fastest (four before Ireland's injury) would race.
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 20 Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 100 2:45:50.1 1 9 2 36 Richie Ginther Ferrari 100 +3.6 secs 2 6 3 38 Phil Hill Ferrari 100 +41.3 secs 5 4 4 40 Wolfgang von Trips Ferrari 98 Accident 6 3 5 4 Dan Gurney Porsche 98 +2 Laps 10 2 6 26 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 95 +5 Laps 7 1 7 42 Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Maserati 95 +5 Laps 15 8 32 Cliff Allison Lotus-Climax 93 +7 Laps 14 9 6 Hans Herrmann Porsche 91 +9 Laps 12 10 28 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 89 +11 Laps 3 11 22 John Surtees Cooper-Climax 68 Engine 11 12 2 Jo Bonnier Porsche 59 Injection 9 13 16 Tony Brooks BRM-Climax 54 Engine 8 8 Michael May Lotus-Climax 42 Oil Pipe 13 24 Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 38 Ignition 16 18 Graham Hill BRM-Climax 11 Fuel Pump 4 30 Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax Injury in Practice 34 Henry Taylor Lotus-Climax 14 Masten Gregory Cooper-Climax 10 Lucien Bianchi Emeryson-Maserati 12 Olivier Gendebien Emeryson-Maserati
Notes
This was the third time Stirling Moss had won the Monaco Grand Prix, thereby breaking the old record of two Grand Prix wins set by Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix. This was the 50th race for Cooper.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Stirling Moss 9 2 Richie Ginther 6 3 Phil Hill 4 4 Wolfgang von Trips 3 5 Dan Gurney 2Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Lotus-Climax8 2 Ferrari6 3 Porsche2 4 Cooper-Climax1Source:
Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References