The 1963 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held at Spa-Francorchamps on 9 June 1963. It was race 2 of 10 in both the 1963 World Championship of Drivers and the 1963 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. Jim Clark won the race in extremely wet and rainy conditions. After starting eighth on the grid, Clark passed all the cars in front of him, including early leader Graham Hill. At the end of the race, Clark had not only lapped the entire field except for Bruce McLaren, but the margin to the second-placed Cooper driver was almost five minutes. The Scot's performance was made even more impressive by the fact that gearbox issues meant that he had to hold his gear lever in place, thus driving one-handed, whenever fifth gear was selected on this high-speed circuit. Given the rainy conditions, Clark eventually chose not to engage fifth gear at all, leaving him with only four gears. This would be the first of seven victories for Clark and Team Lotus that year.
Classification Qualifying PosNoDriverConstructorGapQ1Q21 7 Graham Hill BRM4:01.6 3:54.1—2 18 Dan Gurney Brabham-Climax4:28.8 3:55.0 +0.93 10 Willy Mairesse Ferrari3:56.2 3:55.3 +1.24 15 Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax3:57.1 3:56.0 +1.95 14 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax3:58.3 3:56.2 +2.16 17 Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax3:56.6 4:00.7 +2.57 4 Innes Ireland BRP-BRM4:05.3 3:56.9 +2.88 1 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax4:06.7 3:57.1 +3.09 8 Richie Ginther BRM4:04.5 3:57.6 +3.510 9 John Surtees Ferrari3:57.9 3:57.9 +3.811 2 Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax4:02.7 3:58.1 +4.012 5 Jim Hall Lotus-BRM4:05.4 4:00.1 +6.013 12 Jo Bonnier Cooper-Climax4:01.4 4:00.1 +6.014 28 Jo Siffert Lotus-BRM4:03.9 4:02.3 +8.215 21 Chris Amon Lola-Climax4:17.2 4:04.9 +10.816 22 Lucien Bianchi Lola-Climax4:08.5 4:06.5 +12.417 26 Phil Hill ATS4:26.1 4:06.7 +12.618 29 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche4:14.6 6:55.2 +20.519 24 Tony Settember Scirocco-BRM4:31.7 4:25.2 +31.120 27 Giancarlo Baghetti ATS8:34.8 4:33.6 +39.5 Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 32 2:27:47.6 8 9 2 14 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 32 + 4:54.0 5 6 3 18 Dan Gurney Brabham-Climax 31 + 1 lap 2 4 4 8 Richie Ginther BRM 31 + 1 lap 9 3 5 12 Jo Bonnier Cooper-Climax 30 + 2 laps 13 2 6 29 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 30 + 2 laps 18 1 7 15 Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax 27 Accident 4 8 24 Tony Settember Scirocco-BRM 25 Accident 19 9 John Surtees Ferrari 19 Injection 10 7 Graham Hill BRM 17 Gearbox 1 22 Lucien Bianchi Lola-Climax 17 Accident 16 5 Jim Hall Lotus-BRM 16 Accident 12 28 Jo Siffert Lotus-BRM 16 Accident 14 26 Phil Hill ATS 13 Gearbox 17 17 Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax 12 Injection 6 21 Chris Amon Lola-Climax 10 Oil Leak 15 4 Innes Ireland BRP-BRM 9 Gearbox 7 10 Willy Mairesse Ferrari 7 Injection 3 27 Giancarlo Baghetti ATS 7 Gearbox 20 2 Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax 5 Physical 11 3 Peter Arundell Lotus-Climax No car 11 Ludovico Scarfiotti Ferrari No car 19 Lorenzo Bandini BRM Car retained by BRM 25 Ian Burgess Scirocco-BRM Car not ready
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British constructors Scirocco and BRP and for Italian constructor ATS. It was also the first podium finish for the Brabham team. This marked the 50th race for a Coventry Climax-powered car.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 2 1 Bruce McLaren 10 6 2 Jim Clark 9 2 3 Graham Hill 9 2 4 Richie Ginther 9 5 5 Dan Gurney 4Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 BRM 12 2 2 Lotus-Climax 10 1 3 Cooper-Climax 10 1 4 Brabham-Climax 4 2 5 Ferrari 3Source:
Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References