1963 French Grand Prix

1963 French Grand Prix
Race details
Date	30 June 1963
Official name	XLIX Grand Prix de l'A.C.F.
Location	Reims, France
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	8.302 km (5.159 miles)
Distance	53 laps, 440.006 km (273.407 miles)
Weather	Sunny, then rain
Pole position
Driver	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax
Time	2:20.2
Fastest lap
Driver	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax
Time	2:21.6 on lap 12
Podium
First	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax
Second	Tony Maggs	Cooper-Climax
Third	Graham Hill	BRM
Lap leaders

The 1963 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Reims on 30 June 1963. It was race 4 of 10 in both the 1963 World Championship of Drivers and the 1963 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was won by Jim Clark driving a Lotus 25-Climax 1.5 litre V8.

Race report

Jim Clark took the lead at the start from Richie Ginther in the BRM. All Graham Hill's hard work in qualifying second despite mechanical problems in practice came to nothing when his engine died on the grid and his car had to be push started. The subsequent one-minute penalty dropped him well back. Clark led dominantly, his lead being extended when a stone pierced Ginther's radiator, forcing him into the pits. Jack Brabham took second place after a strong fight with Trevor Taylor, who also suffered mechanical problems.

Brabham then began to gain significantly on Clark as the Scot's Climax engine started to splutter, however this proved to be a sporadic fault and he had enough of a lead to maintain the position. Brabham himself was delayed when an ignition lead came loose, handing second and third to Tony Maggs and a delighted Hill. Clark was over a minute ahead of them after yet another start-to-finish victory. Graham Hill was push started, incurring a one-minute penalty from the organisers, and was awarded no championship points for his third place. By finishing 7th, at 19 years and 345 days old, Chris Amon became the youngest driver to finish a world championship race. This record would hold for another 38 years, until it was broken by Fernando Alonso at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Gap
				Q1	Q2	Q3
1	18	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	2:21.0	No time	2:20.2	—
2	2	Graham Hill	BRM	3:13.4	2:36.4	2:20.9	+0.7
3	8	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax	No time	3:02.4	2:21.7	+1.5
4	16	John Surtees	Ferrari	2:24.4	2:33.8	2:21.9	+1.7
5	6	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Climax	No time	2:39.2	2:21.9	+1.7
6	10	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	2:25.1	No time	2:22.5	+2.3
7	20	Trevor Taylor	Lotus-Climax	2:23.7	No time	2:25.1	+3.5
8	12	Tony Maggs	Cooper-Climax	2:24.5	No time	2:24.4	+4.2
9	32	Innes Ireland	BRP-BRM	No time	2:41.8	2:25.1	+4.9
10	36	Jo Siffert	Lotus-BRM	2:26.9	No time	2:25.2	+5.0
11	44	Jo Bonnier	Cooper-Climax	2:26.5	2:40.5	2:25.7	+5.5
12	4	Richie Ginther	BRM	2:26.8	2:40.0	2:25.9	+5.7
13	14	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari	2:27.0	2:41.6	No time	+6.8
14	42	Phil Hill	Lotus-BRM	No time	No time	2:27.7	+7.5
15	28	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus-Climax	No time	2:49.5	2:28.3	+8.1
16	22	Peter Arundell	Lotus-Climax	2:28.5	—	—	+8.3
17	30	Chris Amon	Lola-Climax	No time	2:53.1	2:30.5	+10.3
18	34	Jim Hall	Lotus-BRM	No time	3:25.2	2:30.9	+10.7
19	48	Masten Gregory	Lotus-BRM	No time	No time	2:33.2	+13.0
20	38	Tony Settember	Scirocco-BRM	No time	2:54.5	2:36.7	+16.5
21	46	Lorenzo Bandini	BRM	No time	No time	2:37.8	+17.6
Source:

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	18	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	53	2:10:54.3	1	9
2	12	Tony Maggs	Cooper-Climax	53	+ 1:04.9	8	6
3	2	Graham Hill	BRM	53	+ 1:13.9	2
4	6	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Climax	53	+ 2:15.2	5	3
5	8	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax	53	+ 2:33.4	3	2
6	36	Jo Siffert	Lotus-BRM	52	+ 1 lap	10	1
7	30	Chris Amon	Lola-Climax	51	+ 2 laps	17
8	28	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus-Climax	50	+ 3 laps	15
9	32	Innes Ireland	BRP-BRM	49	+ 4 laps	9
10	46	Lorenzo Bandini	BRM	45	+ 8 laps	21
11	34	Jim Hall	Lotus-BRM	45	+ 8 laps	18
12	10	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	42	Ignition	6
13	20	Trevor Taylor	Lotus-Climax	41	Suspension	7
NC	42	Phil Hill	Lotus-BRM	34	Not Classified	14
NC	44	Jo Bonnier	Cooper-Climax	32	Not Classified	11
Ret	48	Masten Gregory	Lotus-BRM	30	Gearbox	19
Ret	16	John Surtees	Ferrari	12	Fuel Pump	4
Ret	38	Tony Settember	Scirocco-BRM	5	Wheel Bearing	20
Ret	4	Richie Ginther	BRM	4	Radiator	12
DNS	14	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari		Practice Accident
DNS	22	Peter Arundell	Lotus-Climax		Entry denied; support race
WD	26	Giancarlo Baghetti	ATS
WD	40	Ian Burgess	Scirocco-BRM		Car not ready
WD	50	Nasif Estéfano	De Tomaso		Car not ready
Source:

• Phil Hill was originally entered as car #24, to drive the ATS. When the ATS team withdrew, he switched to drive the Scuderia Filipinetti Lotus-BRM.

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British driver Peter Arundell.
• This was the 100th Formula One World Championship race where a British driver participated. By 1963, Great Britain was the most successful nation in Formula One. Of those 100 races, British drivers had won 39, had 95 podiums, 38 pole positions, 43 fastest laps and 3 World Championships. Only Argentinians had more World Championships - by courtesy of Juan Manuel Fangio's five titles - but by the end of 1965 the British drivers would surpass that record as well.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Jim Clark	27
2	2	Dan Gurney	12
1	3	Richie Ginther	11
1	4	Bruce McLaren	10
	5	Graham Hill	9
Source:

Constructors' Championship standings

	Pos	Constructor	Points
	1	Lotus-Climax	28
1	2	Cooper-Climax	16
1	3	BRM	14
	4	Brabham-Climax	13
	5	Ferrari	7
Source:

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.