The 1967 Formula 1 season was the second year the World Championship would be run to three-litre regulations. Jack Brabham was the defending champion, having taken the title in his eponymous Repco engined machine. He once again hired Denny Hulme to partner him.
Chris Amon moved from McLaren to join Ferrari, where he was partnered with Lorenzo Bandini. Mike Spence found a seat at BRM alongside Jackie Stewart, while Graham Hill moved from the team and joined Lotus. John Surtees went to Honda and Pedro Rodriguez teamed up with Jochen Rindt at Cooper, although the two drivers did not get along particularly well.
Rodriguez Scores Maiden Formula 1 Victory at Kyalami
The season opened at the new Kyalami circuit, near Johannesburg in South Africa. Ferrari and McLaren did not bother making the long trip, preferring to join the championship at the second round in Monaco.
Defending champion Brabham qualified on pole, with his team-mate Hulme second. Jim Clark was third for Lotus, ahead of Pedro Rodriguez in the Cooper. Rhodesian driver John Love was fifth in his private Cooper and Surtees lined up sixth.
Hulme led the race from Surtees, until Brabham found a way past the Honda driver. Rindt also made it past, only to retire with a Maserati engine failure. Brabham was no luckier, as his pace dropped off due to a misfire. This meant Love was running second behind Hulme. Second became first when Hulme slowed with brake problems. It looked as though Love would score a remarkable win, but he was short on fuel and had to pit again. This allowed Rodriguez into the lead and he held in to the finish, with Love second. Surtees finished third, ahead of Hulme and Brabham. Between the two works Brabhams was an ancient Brabham BT11 driven by Bob Anderson.
Bandini Fatally Injured in Monaco Grand Prix
Brabham again claimed pole at Monaco, but his race ended almost immediately with an engine failure. Stewart looked a likely winner, but he retired early with transmission failure. The Grand Prix was eventually won by Hulme, but Bandini’s dreadful accident late in the race marred the event. Hulme is quoted in the 1968 book, “Risk Life, Risk Limb”, written by Michael Cooper-Evans and published by Pelham books, talking about the attitude of the drivers to accidents;
“It’s like a big family and you have some sort of feeling towards them no matter who they are. You like to know that they’re all right.”
Bandini slightly misjudged his line through the very fast chicane, which resulted in his Ferrari clipping some straw bales, turning over and erupting into an inferno with poor Bandini trapped inside. He was eventually rescued but his burns were too severe for him to survive.
1967 Formula 1 review continues here.
