1961 British Grand Prix

The 1961 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held on 15 July 1961 at the Aintree Circuit, near Liverpool. It was race 5 of 8 in both the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.

Following a wet weekend, with torrential rain affecting both qualifying and the race start, the Grand Prix was ultimately dominated by Scuderia Ferrari, with their drivers taking all three podium positions. The race was won by German Wolfgang von Trips, who had led for much of the race after starting from fourth place on the grid. This was von Trips's second but also his final Grand Prix victory as two races later he was killed in an accident during the 1961 Italian Grand Prix; it was also the last full-length Grand Prix won by a German until Michael Schumacher achieved his first of 91 wins at the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix. Pole position winner Phil Hill drove to second place on his way to winning the World Drivers' Championship at the end of the season, and third place was taken by Hill's American compatriot Richie Ginther.

The 1961 British Grand Prix is also notable as being the first occasion on which a four-wheel drive car, and the last at which a front engined car was entered for a World Championship race. These two accomplishments were achieved by the same vehicle: the experimental Ferguson P99-Climax run by the Rob Walker Racing Team. Although the car was disqualified for receiving assistance on the track, in the hands of Stirling Moss – who took over the car from first driver Jack Fairman after his own Lotus's brakes failed – it showed some promise. The 1961 British Grand Prix also marked the last occasion on which Moss contested a Grand Prix race on home soil, as his career was ended by an accident during a non-championship race prior to the 1962 season.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times	Gap	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	Source:
2	US Phil Hill	Ferrari	2:00.8	**1:58.8**	2:15.8	2:05.8	—
6	US Richie Ginther	Ferrari	2:00.8	**1:58.8**	2:08.4	2:06.4	+0.0
8	Sweden Jo Bonnier	Porsche	2:00.8	**1:58.8**	2:11.6	2:12.4	+0.0
4	Germany Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	2:01.4	**1:58.8**	2:06.0	2:06.2	+0.0
28	UK Stirling Moss	Lotus-Climax	No time	**1:59.0**	2:01.6	2:08.0	+0.2
22	UK Tony Brooks	BRM-Climax	2:02.2	**1:59.0**	2:18.0	2:09.4	+0.2
16	UK Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	2:01.2	**1:59.2**	2:42.2	2:13.8	+0.4
18	UK Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	2:03.8	**1:59.2**	2:11.0	2:11.6	+0.4
12	Australia Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	No time	**1:59.4**	2:25.0	2:07.6	+0.6
34	UK John Surtees	Cooper-Climax	2:01.2	**1:59.6**	2:10.2	2:07.4	+0.8
20	UK Graham Hill	BRM-Climax	2:01.4	**2:00.0**	2:12.0	2:11.2	+1.2
10	US Dan Gurney	Porsche	2:01.6	**2:00.2**	2:18.8	2:10.0	+1.4
36	UK Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Climax	2:02.0	**2:00.8**	2:05.6	2:07.0	+2.0
14	New Zealand Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	No time	**2:01.0**	2:15.4	2:09.2	+2.2
46	UK Jackie Lewis	Cooper-Climax	2:03.8	**2:01.0**	2:29.2	No time	+2.2
42	US Masten Gregory	Cooper-Climax	2:02.8	**2:01.4**	2:30.2	2:29.8	+2.6
30	UK Henry Taylor	Lotus-Climax	2:03.2	**2:01.8**	2:25.6	2:13.6	+3.0
56	Netherlands Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	2:06.2	**2:02.0**	2:27.0	2:13.0	+3.2
58	Italy Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	2:06.0	**2:02.0**	2:18.6	2:12.8	+3.2
26	UK Jack Fairman	Ferguson-Climax	2:05.8	**2:03.4**	2:14.6	No time	+4.6
60	Italy Lorenzo Bandini	Cooper-Maserati	2:05.6	**2:03.6**	2:23.0	2:12.4	+4.8
52	Germany Wolfgang Seidel	Lotus-Climax	2:06.4	**2:04.2**	No time	2:15.2	+5.4
54	UK Keith Greene	Gilby-Climax	2:07.4	**2:06.0**	No time	No time	+7.2
50	South Africa Tony Maggs	Lotus-Climax	2:28.8	**2:06.4**	2:15.8	2:17.2	+7.6
44	UK Ian Burgess	Lotus-Climax	No time	**2:06.6**	2:26.2	2:19.0	+7.8
40	UK Gerry Ashmore	Lotus-Climax	No time	**2:08.2**	2:30.2	No time	+9.4
48	UK Tony Marsh	Lotus-Climax	No time	No time	2:19.8	**2:09.6**	+10.8
62	Italy Massimo Natili	Cooper-Maserati	2:51.4	**2:10.2**	No time	2:38.8	+11.4
38	UK Tim Parnell	Lotus-Climax	2:23.0	No time	2:59.6	**2:16.8**	+18.0
32	Belgium Lucien Bianchi	Lotus-Climax	No time	No time	2:29.0	**2:18.8**	+20.0

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Ret	DSQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNA
4	Germany **Wolfgang von Trips**	**Ferrari**	75	2:40:53.6	4	**9**
2	US **Phil Hill**	**Ferrari**	75	+46.0	1	**6**
6	US **Richie Ginther**	**Ferrari**	75	+46.8	2	**4**
12	Australia **Jack Brabham**	**Cooper-Climax**	75	+1:08.6	9	**3**
8	Sweden **Jo Bonnier**	**Porsche**	75	+1:16.2	3	**2**
36	UK **Roy Salvadori**	**Cooper-Climax**	75	+1:26.2	13	**1**
10	US Dan Gurney	Porsche	74	+1 Lap	12
14	New Zealand Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	74	+1 Lap	14
22	UK Tony Brooks	BRM-Climax	73	+2 Laps	6
16	UK Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	72	+3 Laps	7
42	US Masten Gregory	Cooper-Climax	71	+4 Laps	16
60	Italy Lorenzo Bandini	Cooper-Maserati	71	+4 Laps	21
50	South Africa Tony Maggs	Lotus-Climax	69	+6 Laps	24
44	UK Ian Burgess	Lotus-Climax	69	+6 Laps	25
54	UK Keith Greene	Gilby-Climax	69	+6 Laps	23
56	Netherlands Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	69	+6 Laps	18
52	Germany Wolfgang Seidel	Lotus-Climax	58	+17 Laps	22
18	UK Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	62	Oil Leak	8
26	UK Jack Fairman
UK Stirling Moss	Ferguson-Climax	56	Push Start In Pits	20
32	Belgium Lucien Bianchi	Lotus-Climax	45	Gearbox	30
28	UK Stirling Moss	Lotus-Climax	44	Brakes	5
20	UK Graham Hill	BRM-Climax	43	Engine	11
58	Italy Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	27	Accident	19
48	UK Tony Marsh	Lotus-Climax	25	Ignition	27
34	UK John Surtees	Cooper-Climax	23	Differential	10
38	UK Tim Parnell	Lotus-Climax	12	Clutch	29
46	UK Jackie Lewis	Cooper-Climax	7	Handling	15
40	UK Gerry Ashmore	Lotus-Climax	7	Ignition	26
30	UK Henry Taylor	Lotus-Climax	5	Accident	17
62	Italy Massimo Natili	Cooper-Maserati	0	Gearbox	28
24	Belgium Olivier Gendebien	Emeryson-Maserati		Left the team