Belgian GP 1962

JUNE 17, 1962

Belgian GP, 1962

Porsche was not present for the Belgian race because of a strike in Stuttgart and so it was left for Ferrari to take on the usual British teams. In qualifying Graham Hill was fastest with Bruce McLaren alongside him in his Cooper and Trevor Taylor third quickest. Jim Clark had mechanical trouble and had to wait for a new engine. Eventually he used Taylor's car and ended up 12th on the grid. The second row featured Phil Hill's Ferrari and the British Racing Partnership Lotus of Innes Ireland while row three consisted of the Ferraris of Willy Mairesse and Ricardo Rodriguez and Masten Gregory's BRP Lotus-BRM.

Porsche driver Dan Gurney ran in Wolfgang Seidel's Lotus-BRM but after qualifying he decided the car was not fast enough and withdrew from the race.

Graham Hill took the lead at the start but battled with McLaren during the first lap. By the end of the lap Hill was back in control but he had Taylor, McLaren, a fast-starting Clark and Mairesse right with him. The early laps saw a lively slipstreaming battle between the front five cars with Taylor and Mairesse both leading. On lap nine, however, Clark was at the front and he then began to pull away from Taylor who himself moved clear of Mairesse until he spun on lap 17 and came under pressure once again from the Belgian Ferrari driver. On lap 26 Mairesse and Taylor collided at speed. The Lotus hit a telegraph pole while the Ferrari overturned and caught fire. Both drivers were fortunate to escape with minor injuries.

Clark was left with a big lead over Graham Hill, who battled a misfiring BRM most of the way, and Phil Hill who was able to hold off Rodriguez by a tenth of a second for third place.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
16 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 25 32 2h07m32.300s  12 
Graham Hill BRM P57 32 2h08m16.400s  
Phil Hill Ferrari 156 32 2h09m38.800s  
12 Ricardo Rodriguez Ferrari 156 32 2h09m38.900s  
John Surtees Lola-Climax MK 4 31  11 
15 Jack Brabham Lotus-Climax 24 30  15 
Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 718 30  13 
18 Maurice Trintignant Lotus-Climax 24 30  16 
19 Lucien Bianchi Lotus-Climax 18/21 29  18 
10 22 Jo Siffert Lotus-Climax 21 29  17 
17 Trevor Taylor Lotus-Climax 24 25 Accident 
10 Willy Mairesse Ferrari 156 25 Accident 
Richie Ginther BRM P57 22 Transmission 
26 Tony Maggs Cooper-Climax T60 22 Gearbox 10 
25 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax T60 19 Engine 
11 John Campbell-Jones Lotus-Climax 18 16  19 
21 Masten Gregory Lotus-BRM 24 13 Withdrew 
20 Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 24 Suspension 
11 Giancarlo Baghetti Ferrari 156 Ignition 14 
ns 23 Dan Gurney Lotus-BRM 24  Car Unraceworthy 20