1961

We've decided to skip 1961, simply because we haven't been able to definitively identify any photos from that season.

1961 was a year to forget for BRM anyway. A single third place was the highlight of the season, and a meagre seven points was the total haul in the constructor's championship. A change in engine regulations had meant that BRM were forced to use Climax engines, which meant they couln't match Ferrari on power, and they couldn't match the lightness and agility of Cooper and Lotus.

To be honest, we haven't got many photos from 1962 either, but for reasons which may already be obvious, and if not will certainly become so, we just couldn't ignore such an important year for British Racing Motors.

German Grand Prix 1962

5^th August 1962

The 1962 German Grand Prix, or XXIV Grosser Preis von Deutschland, was the sixth race of the season. Graham Hill had won the first race of the year for BRM, and maintained his lead in the championship thus far. But Jim Clark, in the revolutionary monocoque chassised Lotus, had fought back to win at Spa and Aintree to sit just a single point behind Hill.

Ferrari meanwhile, had not even made it to the last couple of races, because of a strike by staff. Phil Hill had been second in the Driver's Championship when the strike began, but he was down to fourth when Ferrari came back.

Practise & Qualifying

Though it was August when the F1 circus rocked up in Germany, the fearsome Nürburgring circuit was for the most part cold and wet, making the huge track an even more daunting and unpredictable prospect.

But Graham Hill, Bruce McLaren, and Tony Maggs were to face an even more unpredictable, and potentially lethal danger, German television.

The national broadcaster had bolted a large camera onto the back of Carol de Beaufort's car, but according to Denis Jenkinson's race report...

Fortunately, having noticed the dust and general disturbance, McLaren slowed down and avoided the danger. Maggs however did not. He hit the oil spilled from Hill's car at full speed and span off into the trees and hedges. Like Hill he was battered and bruised but not seriously hurt. He and Hill probably counted themselves lucky to escape without serious injury.

The Grid

Porsche had completed many hours of testing at Nürburgring whilst developing their car, so it was no great surprise that Dan Gurney took pole position. Graham Hill qualified second in the BRM P57, followed by Jim Clark, John Surtees, and Bruce McLaren.

The Race

On the day of the race it had been raining all the previous night, and it continued to rain for most of the day. As the start of the race approached, torrential rain forced a postponement of an hour.

Many of the hollows out on track had been flooded, and the earth banks had washed mud onto the road. Workers had cleared the track, but conditions were far from ideal. Eventually the field were sent out for a sighter lap, so that all of the drivers had fair warning of the treacherous track conditions.

Nürburgring

Start

As the race began it was still drizzling, but Dan Gurney got away without incident to lead Graham Hill up the back straight with Phil Hill jumping several places into third, and Surtees right behind him.

Jim Clark however had a disastrous start. He'd been so preoccupied with making sure his goggles weren't steamed up that he forgot to switch on the fuel pumps. He was stranded on the grid as the rest of the field passed him.

The 360,000 strong crowd were no doubt delighted to see the Porsche in the lead, but Graham Hill was pushing hard in an attempt to pass.

Meanwhile Clark, no doubt furious with himself, was pushing hardest of all and passed 17 cars on the first lap.

Leaders

At the start of lap three, Hill managed to pass Gurney to take the lead, meanwhile Surtees had passed Phil Hill for third. The three leaders continued in tight formation, but established a clear gap back to McLaren, now in fourth. On lap six Surtees managed to pass Gurney to take second, as the Porsche driver struggled with a loose battery.

Clark meanwhile, was slicing seconds off the leaders' lap times, and was up to fourth place. He might well have managed to catch them, but the risks he was taking on the unpredictable track were perhaps beginning to seem to more of a gamble as he moved into a points scoring position. After a couple of huge slides on lap 11, he seemed to take the decision to back off a bit and settle for a hard earned fourth place.

The three leaders could not be separated, in a tense finale over the final laps. But Graham Hill just managed to stay ahead of Surtees and Gurney to take a hard fought, soaking wet victory for BRM.

2½ hours of racing at Nürburgring in the dry must be difficult enough, but add in the constant rain and a slippery track surface, and that must surely be a recipe for total exhaustion.

Nürburgring

Championship

The win allowed Graham Hill to stretch out his single point lead over Clark to a more comfortable seven points. It also allowed BRM to snatch back the lead in the Constructors' Championship from Lotus.

A win a piece in the next two races would mean that either Hill or Clark could still win the Championship in the last race of the season in South Africa.