The 1962 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on 3 June 1962. It was race 2 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 Cooper driver Bruce McLaren after he started from third position. Phil Hill finished second for the Ferrari team and his teammate Lorenzo Bandini came in third.
Report
Lotus's Jim Clark claimed the first pole position of his career, ahead of BRM's Graham Hill, Cooper's Bruce McLaren and Ferrari's Willy Mairesse. The organisers guaranteed two spots on the grid for each of the 5 works teams, leaving six grid spots for the remaining entries to fight over. This explains why some drivers with faster qualifying times failed to qualify whereas drivers with slower times qualified.
Mairesse got an excellent start from fourth on the grid and led into the first corner, the Gasworks hairpin, but braked too late and skidded around it. The concertina effect of the cars behind trying to avoid Mairesse's skidding car led to a collision further behind which eliminated Dan Gurney, Maurice Trintignant and Richie Ginther. A marshal, Ange Baldoni, was killed by the dislodged right rear wheel of Richie Ginther's BRM when it collided with the Lotuses of Maurice Trintignant, Innes Ireland and Trevor Taylor, as well as Dan Gurney's Porsche at the Gasometer hairpin on lap 1.
McLaren and Graham Hill both passed Mairesse on the exit of Gasworks hairpin; the New Zealander ended the first lap in the lead from the Englishman. Meanwhile, Mairesse spun at the station hairpin on the first lap, dropping down the order.
McLaren led until the seventh lap when he was passed by Graham Hill; the BRM driver held the lead all the way until lap 92, when an engine failure handed the lead back to McLaren who held on to win ahead of Ferrari's Phil Hill, who recovered from a spin earlier in the race. Hill's Ferrari team mate Lorenzo Bandini completed the podium places.
Classification
Qualifying PosNoDriverConstructorGapQ1Q2Q31 18 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax1:37.42:07.21:35.4—2 10 Graham Hill BRM1:37.71:58.31:35.8 +0.43 14 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax1:39.12:23.71:36.4 +1.0440 Willy MairesseFerrari1:48.21:59.41:36.4 +1.05 4 Dan Gurney Porsche1:38.22:22.41:36.4 +1.0622 Jack BrabhamLotus-Climax1:39.1No time1:36.5 +1.1730 Maurice TrintignantLotus-Climax1:41.82:04.71:36.8 +1.4834 Innes IrelandLotus-Climax1:39.92:07.41:37.0 +1.69 36 Phil Hill Ferrari1:38.02:01.01:37.1 +1.710 38 Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari1:42.22:01.3 1:37.2 +1.81128 John SurteesLola-Climax1:37.92:22.31:44.9 +2.51226 Roy SalvadoriLola-Climax1:40.1No time1:38.5 +3.11346 Jo SiffertLotus-Climax1:48.02:01.31:38.9 +3.514 8 Richie Ginther BRM1:44.92:04.51:39.0 +3.61524 Jackie LewisBRM1:40.52:23.91:39.0 +3.61632 Masten GregoryLotus-BRM1:39.82:03.51:39.2 +3.817 20 Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax1:40.02:11.01:43.2 +4.61838 Ricardo RodríguezFerrari1:40.12:00.8No time +4.719 2 Jo Bonnier Porsche1:43.52:05.71:42.4 +7.020 16 Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax1:43.32:05.51:42.7 +7.32144 Carel Godin de BeaufortPorsche1:45.92:07.41:44.4 +9.02242 Nino VaccarellaLotus-ClimaxNo time2:01.8No time +26.4Source:
Drivers that had to qualify on speed: only the six fastest would race.
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 14 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 100 2:46:29.7 3 9 2 36 Phil Hill Ferrari 100 + 1.3 9 6 3 38 Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 100 + 1:24.1 10 4 4 28 John Surtees Lola-Climax 99 + 1 Lap 11 3 5 2 Jo Bonnier Porsche 93 + 7 Laps 18 2 6 10 Graham Hill BRM 92 Engine 2 1 7 40 Willy Mairesse Ferrari 90 Oil Pressure 4 8 22 Jack Brabham Lotus-Climax 77 Accident 6 34 Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 64 Fuel Pump 8 18 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 55 Clutch 1 26 Roy Salvadori Lola-Climax 44 Suspension 12 16 Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax 43 Gearbox 19 20 Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax 24 Oil Leak 17 4 Dan Gurney Porsche 0 Accident 5 30 Maurice Trintignant Lotus-Climax 0 Accident 7 8 Richie Ginther BRM 0 Accident 14 46 Jo Siffert Lotus-Climax 24 Jackie Lewis BRM 32 Masten Gregory Lotus-BRM 44 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 42 Nino Vaccarella Lotus-Climax 38 Ricardo Rodríguez Ferrari Practice only 6 Roberto Bussinello De Tomaso-Alfa Romeo Car not ready 12 Tony Marsh BRM Left the team
Notes
This was the first of many pole positions in a Formula One World Championship race for future World Champion Jim Clark. Future Formula One World Championship Grand Prix winner Jo Siffert made his debut in this race. This was the third win of a Monaco Grand Prix for Cooper; thereby breaking the old record of two wins set by Maserati at the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix. It was also a fifth win of a Monaco Grand Prix for a Coventry Climax-powered car.
In popular culture The plot of the Ocean's prequel film revolves around Danny Ocean's parents as they attempt to pull off a heist at the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Graham Hill 10 1 2 Phil Hill 10 8 3 Bruce McLaren 9 2 4 Trevor Taylor 6 16 5 Lorenzo Bandini 4Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 3 1 Cooper-Climax 11 1 2 BRM 10 3 Ferrari 10 2 4 Lotus-Climax 6 2 5 Lola-Climax 3Source:
Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References