1964 United States Grand Prix

The 1964 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 4, 1964, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was race 9 of 10 in both the 1964 World Championship of Drivers and the 1964 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 110-lap race was won by BRM driver Graham Hill after he started from fourth position. John Surtees finished second for the Ferrari team and Brabham driver Jo Siffert came in third.

1964 United States Grand Prix
Race details
Date 4 October 1964 (1964-10-04)
Official name VII United States Grand Prix
Location Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course
Watkins Glen, New York, United States
Course Permanent road course
Course length 3.701 km (2.300 mi)
Distance 110 laps, 407.110 km (252.966 mi)
Weather Sunny, warm
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Climax
Time 1:12.65
Fastest lap
Driver Jim Clark Lotus-Climax
Time 1:12.7 on lap 81
Podium
First BRM
Second Ferrari
Third Brabham-BRM

Summary

Graham Hill padded his tenuous lead in the 1964 Drivers' Championship over John Surtees and Jim Clark by bringing his BRM home first at The Glen for the second straight year. Surtees was second for Ferrari, 30.5 seconds back.

The Ferrari team brought four cars for Surtees and Lorenzo Bandini, but they were not in the usual "flaming red" that the race program advertised. Enzo Ferrari had surrendered his entrant's license in a dispute at Monza, so the cars were entered by Luigi Chinetti's North American Racing Team and were painted in North American racing blue and white. The only entrant missing from the 20 who were invited was American A. J. Foyt, who was offered a works BRM drive for the race, but decided against it.

The Watkins Glen Grand Prix Corporation was so pleased with the new track surface that had been laid down that they believed a 120 mph (about 193 km/h) lap (1:08.9) was possible, and they had 120 bottles of champagne ready for the first one to do it. While the three remaining Championship contenders, along with American Dan Gurney, waged a stirring battle for the pole and broke Hill's record from the previous year, they did not come close to claiming the prize.

Colin Chapman had both an older Type 25 and the new Type 33 Lotus for Clark, but the Scot had little time to practice in the newer version by the time it was ready. He set the fastest time (1:12.65) using the old, reliable one, anyway, so he decided to use it in the race. Surtees, Gurney and Hill were all under 1:13, as well, followed by Bruce McLaren and Clark's teammate, Mike Spence.

Cool breezes and bright sun welcomed a crowd of 65,000 on Sunday to see the next to last round of a tense Championship battle. Hill led Clark by two points, with Surtees, having won two of the three previous races, just two points behind Clark in third. Clark led off the line, but Surtees and Spence quickly went past, dropping the defending Champion to third before they reached the top of the hill. After one lap, the order was Surtees, Spence, Hill, Clark, Jack Brabham, Innes Ireland, Gurney and McLaren.

Gurney quickly recovered from his poor start by getting around Ireland and Brabham. Hill briefly overtook Spence for second spot, but then Clark seemed to take the bit between his teeth. The Scot surged past the BRM of Hill and set off after Surtees, taking the lead from the Ferrari on lap 13 as they exited the right-hander before the pits. For the next 18 laps, Clark continually drew away from Surtees. Gurney passed Spence to pursue Hill for third place, until Hill moved into second place by getting around Surtees on lap 31.

On lap 40, Clark's Lotus began to misfire as a result of a fuel injection problem. Surtees, then Hill and Gurney, went by before he entered the pits on lap 44. The crew spent two laps adjusting the injection system, and he rejoined in next to last spot, but stopped again after only six laps. Chapman called teammate Spence in from fourth place and replaced him with Clark, in the hopes that Clark could get ahead of Hill and Surtees and reduce the number of points they could earn. Spence continued in Clark's car, but retired it after five more laps.

Meanwhile, Hill had taken the lead back from Surtees on lap 45. When the leaders came up to lap Hill's teammate, American Richie Ginther, on lap 61, Hill's BRM seemed to have much less trouble getting by than the pursuing Ferrari and Brabham did. Surtees and Gurney got by Ginther after another lap, but by then, Hill was fifty yards ahead and pulling away. Two laps later, Surtees spun while lapping another backmarker, and on lap 70, Gurney retired from second place with a broken Climax engine.

Clark was now in third, gaining on Hill by a second per lap and nearly matching his qualifying time, until the second Lotus also began sputtering, this time unable to pick up its last few gallons of fuel. He retired, having completed 102 laps, and was eventually classified seventh, out of the points. At the end, Hill and Surtees had the only healthy cars, and the Englishman claimed his second win of the season, now five points ahead of Surtees and nine ahead of Clark in the Championship standings. Jo Siffert was third in the Rob Walker-entered Brabham, ahead of Americans Richie Ginther and Walt Hansgen, with Trevor Taylor in sixth, scoring his only point of the season.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Time
11 Jim ClarkLotus-Climax1:12.65
27 John SurteesFerrari1:12.78
36 Dan GurneyBrabham-Climax1:12.90
43 Graham HillBRM1:12.92
59 Bruce McLarenCooper-Climax1:13.10
62 Mike SpenceLotus-Climax1:13.33
75 Jack BrabhamBrabham-Climax1:13.63
88 Lorenzo BandiniFerrari1:13.85
916 Jo BonnierBrabham-Climax1:14.07
1011 Innes IrelandBRP-BRM1:14.35
1115 Chris AmonLotus-BRM1:14.43
1222 Jo SiffertBrabham-BRM1:14.65
134 Richie GintherBRM1:14.67
1425 Ronnie BucknumHonda1:14.90
1512 Trevor TaylorBRP-BRM1:15.30
1614 Mike HailwoodLotus-BRM1:15.65
1717 Walt HansgenLotus-Climax1:15.90
1823 Hap SharpBrabham-BRM1:18.23
1910 Phil HillCooper-Climax1:19.63

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 3 Graham Hill BRM 110 2:16:38.0 4 9
2 7 John Surtees Ferrari 110 + 30.5 2 6
3 22 Jo Siffert Brabham-BRM 109 + 1 lap 12 4
4 4 Richie Ginther BRM 107 + 3 laps 13 3
5 17 Walt Hansgen Lotus-Climax 107 + 3 laps 17 2
6 12 Trevor Taylor BRP-BRM 106 + 4 laps 15 1
7 2 Mike Spence
Jim Clark
Lotus-Climax 102 Out of fuel/Fuel pump 6
8 14 Mike Hailwood Lotus-BRM 101 Oil Pipe 16
Ret 6 Dan Gurney Brabham-Climax 69 Oil Pressure 3
NC 23 Hap Sharp Brabham-BRM 65 + 35 laps 18
Ret 8 Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 58 Engine 8
Ret 1 Jim Clark
Mike Spence
Lotus-Climax 54 Fuel injection 1
Ret 25 Ronnie Bucknum Honda 50 Engine/Cylinder head gasket 14
Ret 15 Chris Amon Lotus-BRM 47 Starter 11
Ret 16 Jo Bonnier Brabham-Climax 37 Rear axle 9
Ret 9 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 27 Engine/Valve 5
Ret 5 Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax 14 Engine 7
Ret 10 Phil Hill Cooper-Climax 4 Ignition 19
Ret 11 Innes Ireland BRP-BRM 2 Gearbox 10
Source:[1]

Notes

  • This is the last Formula 1 race in which drivers shared the same car.[2]

Championship standings after the race

  • Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only best 6 results counted toward the championship. Numbers without parentheses are championship points, numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

  1. "1964 United States Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  2. The Nostalgia Forum Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  3. "United States 1964 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 21 March 2019.

Further reading

  • Doug Nye (1978). The United States Grand Prix and Grand Prize Races, 1908-1977. B. T. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-1263-1
  • Tony Hogg (December, 1964). "Grand Prix of the United States". Road & Track, 61-67.
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