United States GP 1963

United States GP, 1963

Although the World Championship was already settled there was a good field for the US GP with Team Lotus running an extra car for F1 debutante Pedro Rodriguez. Chris Amon was still out of action after his crash at Monza and his place in the Reg Parnell Racing Lola was taken by Masten Gregory. Parnell rented out his two Lotuses to Rodger Ward and Hap Sharp.

Qualifying resulted in Graham Hill taking pole position in his BRM with Jim Clark alongside in his Lotus. John Surtees's Ferrari shared the second row with Ritchie Ginther's BRM and Brabham drivers Jack Brabham and Dan Gurney were together on row three. Before the start of the race Clark ran into trouble with a battery problem and was left behind on the dummy grid. This meant that at the start Hill was able to lead from his BRM team mate Ginther. Surtees was strong, however, and after seven laps he had worked his way through into the lead. Gurney shadowed Surtees past the BRMs and Brabham was able to pass Ginther as well. Hill fought back against Gurney and retook second place and on lap 32 he took the lead. Surtees fought back and retook the lead. Hill would later drop back because of a broken rollbar while other challengers dropped out with mechanical trouble, notably Gurney. On lap 80 however Surtees fell victim to an engine problem and so Hill was back in the lead and there he stayed until the finish, leaving home Ginther in the second BRM with Clark third after a great comeback drive from the back of the field.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
Graham Hill BRM P57 110 2h19m22.100s  
Richie Ginther BRM P57 110 2h19m56.400s  
Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 25 109  
Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax BT7 108  
24 Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 156 106  
12 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 718 99  19 
21 Peter Broeker Stebro-Ford MK IV 88  21 
11 Jo Bonnier Cooper-Climax T66 85  12 
9r 23 John Surtees Ferrari 156 82 Engine 
10r 16 Jim Hall Lotus-BRM 24 76 Gearbox 16 
11r Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax T66 74 Fuel Injection 11 
14 Jo Siffert Lotus-BRM 24 56 Gearbox 14 
18 Rodger Ward Lotus-BRM 24 44 Gearbox 17 
Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax T66 44 Engine 10 
Dan Gurney Brabham-Climax BT7 42 Chassis 
10 Pedro Rodriguez Lotus-Climax 25 36 Engine 13 
Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax 25 24 Ignition 
17 Masten Gregory Lola-Climax MK 4A 14 Engine 
22 Hap Sharp Lotus-BRM 24 Mechanical 18 
25 Phil Hill ATS 100 Oil Pump 15 
26 Giancarlo Baghetti ATS 100 Oil Pump 20