1962 German Grand Prix

Race

After a heavy midday downpour, the race was delayed by over an hour as streams of water and mud covered parts of the track. It never dried fully, and the race was run in wet conditions. Graham Hill drove masterfully in the wet conditions, followed by John Surtees who was gradually proving himself a great driver.

Jim Clark absentmindedly forgot to turn on the fuel pump at the start, losing thirteen seconds and being in 26th place after the start. A rapid climb began, and he passed seventeen cars on the opening lap. He was closing in to the leaders with three to four seconds per lap, but after a few near crashes in the middle of the race he chose to ease off the pace a bit. Clark finished fourth, ahead of Bruce McLaren in a V8 Cooper. The other V8-engined Cooper was driven in practice by Tony Maggs, but a German TV-company's camera fell off Carel Godin de Beaufort's Porsche in practice, causing Graham Hill and Maggs to crash and total their cars. Maggs ran a Climax-engined backup car and finished ninth. The Grand Prix Drivers' Association's policy was to not carry cameras due to the safety risks, but de Beaufort was not a member.

Three new cars appeared in this race; the new BRM V8-engined Gilby, driven by Keith Greene, retired after about half the race with gearbox problems. The Belgian Maserati-engined ENB finished last; this car was a hodgepodge of parts from three old Emerysons equipped with a sharknose-style front end. This was its only appearance, and a hard worked Lucien Bianchi was only allowed to start thanks to the fact that several faster racers had not finished the minimum-required five laps. Gurney's fastest qualifying lap was 8:47.2; the ENB's fastest lap was 10:40.7, nearly two minutes slower. Most importantly, Jack Brabham's new BT3 finally appeared after a marathon effort by his mechanics. He spun the main bearings on the first day practice, and qualified with an engine built using parts from Trevor Taylor's car (his engine bent a valve). He started the race from the rear of the field, with the Climax engine from his Lotus 24. He climbed to ninth place by the end of the first lap, but then his throttle broke and he had to retire after nine laps. Nonetheless, Brabham was happy with the car, particularly the handling.

Classification

Qualifying

;Notes

• – Four drivers were not allowed to start, as race organisers deemed they had not completed sufficient laps in practice. Trevor Taylor was eventually allowed, but was demoted to the back of the field.
• † – Maggs switched from his V8 primary machine to a four-cylinder back-up car after a crash during the second practice. His time during the third practice session was the only one that counted towards the grid.

Race

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Swiss driver Heini Walter and German driver Günther Seiffert.
• Dan Gurney achieved his first pole position; it was also the first for Porsche - both as a constructor and as an engine supplier.
• Jack Brabham debuted with a car of his own making, as Brabham made its debut in the Formula One World Championship.
• ENB also made its debut in this race, being the first Belgian constructor in Formula One World Championship history.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best five results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

References

1. Blunsden, John. (September 1962). "Skyfall över Tysklands GP".
2. [[#IMS9. Blunsden]], p. 32
3. He reached third position in the championship with this race, but was not to score any more points in 1962. [[Dan Gurney]]'s [[Porsche in motorsport#Formula One. Porsche]] had less than impressive handling but he finished third after passing [[Phil Hill]], whose [[Scuderia Ferrari. Ferrari]] was doing much better than at [[1962 British Grand Prix. Aintree]] just 2 weeks prior. Hill, however, had to pit with oil on his visor and retired with a broken rear suspension soon thereafter. After a disastrous strike had kept them out of the last two races, Ferrari returned in force with four [[Ferrari 156 F1. 156s]] built to different specifications. Hill had the newest version, with a six-speed transmission mounted fore of the engine. [[Giancarlo Baghetti]] drove a car with the usual transmission and finished tenth, whereas [[Ricardo Rodríguez (racing driver). Blunsden]], p. 25
4. Diepraam, Mattijs. "Lucien Bianchi and the ENB-née-Emeryson". autosport.com.
5. "1962 German GP Qualification".
6. Jenkinson, Denis. (September 1962). "1962 German Grand Prix race report: Hill the rain meister at the Nordschleife". Motor Sport Magazine.
7. "1962 German Grand Prix". formula1.com.
8. "Germany 1962 - Championship • STATS F1".