As the clock turned over to 1961, the world of F1 was undergoing dramatic changes.   For the 1959 and 1960 seasons, the championship had been won by Cooper with their rear-engined T51 and T53 cars.

Cooper T51

In 1960 Lotus would introduced the 18, while it didn’t win a race,  it was good enough to finish fourth in the Constructor’s Championship with Innes Ireland.

Lotus 18

For Ferrari the season was a disaster. Phil Hill was a distant fifth in the driver’s championship, while he did win the Italian GP, it was clear that Ferrari’s front-engined cars were outdated. Ferrari had converted to modify a 246 to a rear-engine, calling it the 246 P, but it was overweight and slow. It was clear a new engine and care were needed. Ferrari started work on the car that would be called the 156.

The Ferrari 246 P

 

The 156 was largely designed by Carlo Chiti and Mauro Forghieri.

The 156

Technical data:	156 F1	156 Aero
Bore x stroke:	73 x 58.8 mm
Compression:	9.8:1
Max power at rpm:	190 hp at 9 500 rpm	205 hp at 10 500 rpm
Valve control:	Double Overhead Camshafts per cylinder bank, 2 valves per cylinder

 

The 1961 F1 season would consist of eight races, starting in May in Monaco, and finishing in Watkins Glen in October. The British Grand Prix was moved from Silverstone to Aintree, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits. The Indianapolis 500 was dropped as a points-paying race in the F1 championship.

1	Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	14 May
2	Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	22 May
3	Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	18 June
4	French Grand Prix	Reims-Gueux, Gueux	2 July
5	British Grand Prix	Aintree Motor Racing Circuit, Merseyside	15 July
6	German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	6 August
7	Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	10 September
8	United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, New York	8 October

 

Points awarded were for 9,6,4,3,2,1. The point for fastest lap was dropped.

Race 1 Monaco

Ginther led Clark and Moss into the first corner but Clark quickly ran into trouble with a faulty fuel pump. Ginther dropped to third on lap 14, when Moss and Bonnier passed him in quick succession. At quarter distance, Moss had an impressive 10 second lead (in the underpowered Lotus 18–Climax), but the Ferraris’ of Hill and then Ginther found their way around Bonnier and began to close the gap. At half distance, Moss’ lead was eight seconds, and down to three seconds on lap 60. Ginther moved into second on lap 75 and tried to close the gap, but Moss proved able to match his lap times, despite the 156‘s horsepower advantage.

1	20	Stirling Moss	Lotus–Climax	100	2:45:50.1	1	9
2	36	Richie Ginther	Ferrari	100	+3.6 secs	2	6
3	38	Phil Hill	Ferrari	100	+41.3 secs	5	4
4	40	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	98	Accident	6	3
5	4	Dan Gurney	Porsche	98	+2 Laps	10	2
6	26	Bruce McLaren	Cooper–Climax	95	+5 Laps	7	1

 

Standings

1	Stirling Moss	9
2	Richie Ginther	6
3	Phil Hill	4
4	Wolfgang von Trips	3
5	Dan Gurney	2

6  Bruce McLaren       1

Race 2 Netherlands

 

Taking place one week after the Monaco Grand Prix, there was no time for Innes Ireland to heal from his injury in the previous race, so he was replaced by Trevor Taylor. The front row was taken up by three Ferraris. Wolfgang von Trips took the lead from the start and led every lap. Phil Hill was second but was soon pressured by Jim Clark, who had started from the fourth row. The two would trade second place often with the Ferrari quicker on the straight and the Lotus faster in the corners. This continued until about 20 laps from the end when Clark’s handling allowed the Ferrari to pull away. Fourth place was contested between Stirling Moss and Richie Ginther, with Moss passing Ginther on the final lap.

Von Trips winning the Dutch GP in 1961

1		3	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	75	2:01:52.1		9
2		1	Phil Hill	Ferrari	75	+0.9 secs		6
3		15	Jim Clark	Lotus–Climax	75	+13.1 secs		4
4		14	Stirling Moss	Lotus–Climax	75	+22.2 secs		3
5		2	Richie Ginther	Ferrari	75	+22.3 secs		2
6		10	Jack Brabham	Cooper–Climax	75	+1:20.1		1

1	Stirling Moss	12
2	Wolfgang von Trips	12
3	Phil Hill	10
4	Richie Ginther	8
5	Jim Clark	4

 

Race 3 Belgium

 

Hill leads Von Tripps at Spa in 1961.

The race was completely dominated by the Ferrari team, with the four works drivers finishing 1-2-3-4. This was the last time any constructor achieved this score in a F1 race. Of the four works Ferraris, three cars were painted red in the tradition of rosso corsa, the national racing colour of Italy, and Gendebien’s car was painted in a Belgian racing yellow. Apart from two NART entries in the 1964 season this was the last time a Ferrari car wore other than the traditional red colour in Formula One. While Graham Hill took the lead at the start from sixth on the grid, he could not hold off the Italian cars and all had passed him by the end of the first lap. Hill fought with John Surtees for fifth place until he retired with an oil leak on the 24th lap.

1	4	Phil Hill	Ferrari	30	2:03:03.8	1	9
2	2	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	30	+0.7 secs	2	6
3	6	Richie Ginther	Ferrari	30	+19.5 secs	5	4
4	8	Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari	30	+45.6 secs	3	3
5	24	John Surtees	Cooper–Climax	30	+1:26.8	4	2
6	20	Dan Gurney	Porsche	30	+1:31.0	10	1

 

1	Phil Hill				19
2	Wolfgang von Trips								18
3	Stirling Moss     12
4	Richie Ginther  12
5	Jim Clark	4

 

Race 4 France

By winning the race, Giancarlo Baghetti became only the third driver to win his first World Championship race, the other two being Nino Farina, who won the first World Championship race (the 1950 British Grand Prix) and Johnnie Parsons, who won the 1950 Indianapolis 500 (the Indianapolis 500 was part of the World Championship from 1950 to 1960), though both Farina and Parsons had competed at future World Championship races before the creation of the championship, while this was Baghetti’s first start at a major Grand Prix. This was Baghetti’s only World Championship race win. He would never finish in the top three again.

Baghetti on his way to winning the 1961 French GP

1	50	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	52	2:14:17.5	12	9
2	12	Dan Gurney	Porsche	52	+0.1 secs	5	6
3	8	Jim Clark	Lotus–Climax	52	+1:01.0	9	4
4	6	Innes Ireland	Lotus–Climax	52	+1:10.3	10	3
5	4	Bruce McLaren	Cooper–Climax	52	+1:41.8	8	2
6	22	Graham Hill	BRM–Climax	52	+1:41.9	6	1

 

1	Phil Hill                       19
2	Wolfgang von Trips     18
3	Stirling Moss                12
4	Richie Ginther              12
5	Giancarlo Baghetti          9

 

Race 5 Great Britain

 

Following a wet weekend, with torrential rain affecting both qualifying and the race start, the Grand Prix was ultimately dominated by Scuderia Ferrari, with their drivers taking all three podium positions. The race was won by German Wolfgang von Trips, who had led for much of the race after starting from fourth place on the grid. This was von Trips’s second but also his final Grand Prix victory as two races later he was killed in an accident during the 1961 Italian Grand Prix; it was also the last full-length Grand Prix won by a German until Michael Schumacher achieved his first of 91 wins at the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix. Pole position winner Phil Hill drove to second place on his way to winning the World Drivers’ Championship at the end of the season, and third place was taken by Hill’s American compatriot Richie Ginther.

1	4	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	75	2:40:53.6	4	9
2	2	Phil Hill	Ferrari	75	+46.0	1	6
3	6	Richie Ginther	Ferrari	75	+46.8	2	4
4	12	Jack Brabham	Cooper–Climax	75	+1:08.6	9	3
5	8	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	75	+1:16.2	3	2
6	36	Roy Salvadori	Cooper–Climax	75	+1:26.2	13	1

 

1	Wolfgang von Trips         27
2	Phil Hill                            25
3	Richie Ginther                  16
4	Stirling Moss                    12
5	Giancarlo Baghetti              9

Race 6  West Germany

 

Moss driving to victory at the 1961 German GP

The race was won by British driver Stirling Moss, driving a Lotus 18/21 for privateer outfit the Rob Walker Racing Team; it proved to be his 16th and last Grand Prix victory. Moss started from the second row of the grid and led every lap of the race. It was the first German Grand Prix victory for a rear-engined car since Bernd Rosemeyer‘s Auto Union Type C took victory in 1936. Moss finished just over 20 seconds ahead of Ferrari 156 drivers Wolfgang von Trips and Phil Hill, breaking a four-race consecutive run of Ferrari victories. The result pushed Moss into third place in the championship points race, becoming the only driver outside Ferrari’s trio of von Trips, Hill and Richie Ginther still in contention to become the 1961 World Champion with two races left.

 

1	7	Stirling Moss	Lotus–Climax	15	2:18:12.4	3	9
2	3	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	15	+21.4 secs	5	6
3	4	Phil Hill	Ferrari	15	+22.5 secs	1	4
4	14	Jim Clark	Lotus–Climax	15	+1:17.1	8	3
5	18	John Surtees	Cooper–Climax	15	+1:53.1	10	2
6	2	Bruce McLaren	Cooper–Climax	15	+2:41.4	12	1

 

1	Wolfgang von Trips  33
2	Phil Hill               29
3	Stirling Moss      21
4	Richie Ginther    16
5	Jim Clark            11

 

Race 7 Italy

 

Von Trips body lies just of the Monza track.

The race was marked by one of the most terrible accidents in the history of Formula One, when on the end of lap 2, at the approach to the Parabolica, German driver Wolfgang von Trips lost control of his Ferrari after colliding with the Lotus of Jim Clark and crashed into a fence line of spectators, killing 15 and himself.  The race was not stopped, allegedly to avoid the audience going home en masse jamming the roads around the stadium and thus impeding the rescue work for the injured. This was also the last Formula One race ever to be held on the full 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) Monza circuit, with the two banked corners and the straight between the bankings included.

The race was won by von Trips’s American teammate Phil Hill; since von Trips was the only one who could challenge him, Hill won the World Championship with one race to go. Hill’s Monza win also assured Ferrari of the Constructors’ Championship for 1961.

 Qualifying (top 15)

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times	Gap
				Q1	Q2
1	4	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	2:50.3	2:46.3	—
2	8	Ricardo Rodríguez	Ferrari	2:49.6	2:46.4	+0.1
3	6	Richie Ginther	Ferrari	2:46.8	2:47.1	+0.5
4	2	Phil Hill	Ferrari	2:48.9	2:47.2	+0.9
5	24	Graham Hill	BRM–Climax	2:55.0	2:48.7	+2.4
6	32	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	2:53.4	2:49.0	+2.7
7	36	Jim Clark	Lotus–Climax	2:52.4	2:49.2	+2.9
8	44	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	2:53.6	2:49.6	+3.3
9	38	Innes Ireland	Lotus–Climax	2:56.7	2:50.3	+4.0
10	10	Jack Brabham	Cooper–Climax	2:55.1	2:51.6	+5.3
11	28	Stirling Moss	Lotus–Climax	2:51.8	2:57.5	+5.5
12	46	Dan Gurney	Porsche	2:53.4	2:52.0	+5.7
13	26	Tony Brooks	BRM–Climax	2:58.8	2:52.2	+5.9
14	12	Bruce McLaren	Cooper–Climax	2:59.8	2:53.4	+7.1
15	74	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	2:57.9	2:53.8	+7.5

 

1                    Phil Hill                              34

2                    Wolfgang von Trips          33

3                    Sterling Moss                    21

4                    Richie Ginther                   16

5                    Dan Gurney                       15

 

By virtue of leading the championship, and Von Trips death, Phil Hill was the 1961 F1 champion.

 

 

Race 8 USA (Watkins Glen)

By the time of the Watkins Glen event, the 1961 season had seen Californian Phil Hill crowned the first American World Champion. However, he did not take part in the race as the Scuderia Ferrari team had remained home. In the previous race, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Ferrari driver and team leader Wolfgang von Trips had been killed in a crash while leading the Drivers’ Championship, handing victory and the Championship to Hill. Since Ferrari had clinched the Constructors’ Championship as well as the Drivers’, the team chose not to make the trip across the Atlantic for the season finale.

There had been considerable doubt about whether the US race would even take place, since the FIA did not grant the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Corporation final approval for the event until August 28. By October, however, the field was missing only the Ferrari team.

1	15	Innes Ireland	Lotus–Climax	100	2:13:45.8	8	9
2	12	Dan Gurney	Porsche	100	+4.3 secs	7	6
3	5	Tony Brooks	BRM–Climax	100	+49.0 secs	5	4
4	2	Bruce McLaren	Cooper–Climax	100	+58.0 secs	4	3
5	4	Graham Hill	BRM–Climax	99	+1 Lap	2	2
6	11	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	98	+2 Laps	10	1

 

1                    Phil Hill                              34

2                    Wolfgang von Trips          33

3                    Sterling Moss                    21

4                    Dan Gurney                       21

5                    Ritchie Ginther                  16

The 1961 F1 season is significant for two reasons. First the championship was won by a native born American, Andretti was born in Italy, something which stands to this day. Secondly and more importantly,  Ferrari had successfully transitioned from front to rear engine. Ferrari were back as a dominant technology team in Formula One.

Next time: Part two of “The Rise of Cosworth” to the F1 championship

 

Ian Caldwell