1968 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1968 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit on 9 June 1968. It was race 4 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 28-lap race was won by McLaren driver Bruce McLaren after he started from sixth position. Pedro Rodríguez finished second for the BRM team and Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx came in third.

1968 Belgian Grand Prix
Race details
Date 9 June 1968
Official name XXVIII Grand Prix de Belgique
Location Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 14.100 km (8.761 mi)
Distance 28 laps, 394.800 km (245.317 mi)
Weather Overcast, Dry
Pole position
Driver
Ferrari
Time 3:28.6
Fastest lap
Driver John Surtees Honda
Time 3:30.5 on lap 5
Podium
First
McLaren-Ford
Second
BRM
Third
Ferrari

Classification

Qualifying
Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 22 Chris Amon Ferrari 3:28.6 —
2 7 Jackie Stewart Matra-Ford 3:32.3 +3.7
3 23 Jacky Ickx Ferrari 3:34.3 +5.7
4 20 John Surtees Honda 3:35.0 +6.4
5 6 Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 3:35.4 +6.8
6 5 Bruce McLaren McLaren-Ford 3:37.1 +8.5
7 14 Piers Courage BRM 3:37.2 +8.6
8 11 Pedro Rodríguez BRM 3:37.8 +9.2
9 3 Jo Siffert Lotus-Ford 3:39.0 +10.4
10 16 Brian Redman Cooper-BRM 3:41.4 +12.8
11 12 Richard Attwood BRM 3:45.2 +16.6
12 15 Lucien Bianchi Cooper-BRM 3:45.9 +17.3
13 10 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra 3:52.9 +24.3
14 1 Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 4:06.1 +37.5
15 2 Jackie Oliver Lotus-Ford 4:30.8 +1:02.2
16 17 Jo Bonnier McLaren-BRM 4:34.3 +1:05.7
17 19 Jochen Rindt Brabham-Repco 4:46.7 +1:18.1
18 18 Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco
Source:[1][2]

Race
Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Bruce McLaren McLaren-Ford 28 1:40:02.1 6 9
2 11 Pedro Rodríguez BRM 28 + 12.1 8 6
3 23 Jacky Ickx Ferrari 28 + 39.6 3 4
4 7 Jackie Stewart Matra-Ford 27 Out of fuel 2 3
5 2 Jackie Oliver Lotus-Ford 26 Transmission 15 2
6 15 Lucien Bianchi Cooper-BRM 26 + 2 Laps 12 1
7 3 Jo Siffert Lotus-Ford 25 Oil pressure 9  
8 10 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra 25 + 3 Laps 13  
Ret 14 Piers Courage BRM 22 Engine 7  
Ret 6 Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 18 Halfshaft 5  
Ret 20 John Surtees Honda 11 Suspension 4  
Ret 22 Chris Amon Ferrari 8 Radiator 1  
Ret 16 Brian Redman Cooper-BRM 6 Spun Off 10  
Ret 12 Richard Attwood BRM 6 Oil Pipe 11  
Ret 18 Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 6 Throttle 18  
Ret 1 Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 5 Halfshaft 14  
Ret 19 Jochen Rindt Brabham-Repco 5 Engine 17  
Ret 17 Jo Bonnier McLaren-BRM 1 Wheel 16  
Source:[3]

Notes
  • After the introduction of 'dive plane' wings on the nosecone on an F1 car by Lotus at the previous race, the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, Ferrari added a strut mounted negative incidence wing - to their lead driver Chris Amon's car[4] and he nabbed pole position, and was 4 seconds faster in qualifying than the next fastest car of Jackie Stewart, though Amon claimed to have performed similar lap times without the wings.[5] Amon's teammate Jacky Ickx did not have wings on his car.[6] The Brabham team also fitted a rear wing to Jack Brabham's car, paired with dive planes on the nose to counteract lift; he qualified 10th.[7] Wings were added to Ickx's car (and many other teams copied the idea for their cars) for the next race, the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. As 1968 season progressed many F1 teams utilized strut mounted wings attached directly to suspension elements - copying Chaparral sports car practice - to increase cornering speeds, reducing lap times. Ferrari never utilized strut mounted wings attached to suspension, continuing with strut mounted wings mounted directly to the chassis.
  • On the seventh lap Brian Redman went off the circuit when his suspension failed and he crashed into and over a concrete barrier and into a parked car. His Cooper caught fire but Redman escaped with a severely broken right arm and a few minor burns.
  • Records:
  • Milestones:
  • Last win: Bruce McLaren

Championship standings after the race
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References
  1. "1966 ACF GP Qualification". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  2. "1966 French Grand Prix". Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  3. "1968 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  4. Roebuck, Nigel (October 1998). "Legends". Motor Sport magazine archive. p. 18. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  5. "Looking back: 1968 - Chris Amon's unluckiest year". talkingaboutf1.com. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  6. Lawrence (1999) p.100
  7. Nye (1986) p.72
  8. "Belgium 1968 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.

Further reading
  • Lang, Mike (1982). Grand Prix! Vol 2. Haynes Publishing Group. pp. 66–67. ISBN 0-85429-321-3.
  • Lawrence, Mike (1999). Brabham+Ralt+Honda: The Ron Tauranac story. Motor Racing Publications. ISBN 1-899870-35-0.
  • Nye, Doug (1986). Autocourse history of the Grand Prix car 1966–85. Hazleton publishing. ISBN 0-905138-37-6.
Previous race:
1968 Monaco Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
1968 season		 Next race:
1968 Dutch Grand Prix
Previous race:
1967 Belgian Grand Prix		 Belgian Grand Prix Next race:
1970 Belgian Grand Prix
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