The era of Clark and Chapman, Brabham does it himself, Stewart wins first title and the tobacco companies arrive.
Jack Brabham won his second World Championship in 1960, again with the rear-engined Cooper. Other teams realised that they would need to relocate their engines in order to compete. The 1960 Belgian Grand Prix saw two fatalities. British drivers Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey (who had an artificial leg) both lost their lives in separate accidents, Stacey being hit in the face by a bird.
Enzo Ferrari stubbornly refused to change the layout of his cars, certain that the best place for his beloved engines was in front of his drivers. When Ferrari eventually did accept the inevitable and built a rear-engined car they dominated the 1961 championship with it.
The 1961 season also saw a unique event in Formula 1 history. At that year’s French Grand prix Giancarlo Baghetti became the first, and so far only, driver to win their maiden race, in a 156 ‘Sharknose’ Ferrari. The title race was between Ferrari drivers Phil Hill and the German Count Wolfgang von Trips. Going to Monza von Trips had the upper hand but on the second lap a collision with Jim Clark’s Lotus sent the red car up an embankment, killing von Trips and 14 spectators. Although Hill won the title that day there was little joy in his victory.
By 1962 the Ferraris were outdated and Graham Hill took the title for BRM. Jim Clark scored his first Grand Prix win at his least favourite track, Spa-Francorchamps. Stirling Moss suffered a career ending crash at Goodwood, bringing the curtain down on a remarkable career. One of his finest drives had come the previous year at Monaco where he defeated the Ferrari works cars in an underpowered Lotus. Another talent was lost in Mexico City when the mercurial Ricardo Rodriguez died in practice for his home race.
Jim Clark used Colin Chapman’s new monocoque design to dominate the 1963 season in his Lotus 25, winning seven out of ten races. If it wasn’t for poor reliability the Scotsman may well have taken the 1964 title as well. As it was he had to settle for third position, with John Surtees becoming the first man to win World Championships on both two and four wheels. Graham Hill was in the running until the final round, where he was eliminated in a collision with Lorenzo Bandini, a Ferrari team-mate of John Surtees.
Normal service was resumed in 1965 as Clark and Chapman swept to the title, scoring six victories en route. Fellow Scot Jackie Stewart scored his first win in what was to be a glittering career. Not content with just dominating Formula 1, Colin Chapman took Clark to America where they won the Indianapolis 500 in the technologically superior Lotus.
1966 saw the dawn of the three litre era. Best prepared was Jack Brabham who sourced engines from the Repco engineering company. Although not the most powerful on the grid they were reliable and allowed Brabham to become the first person to win a championship in a car of their own construction. That success was followed in 1967 by a title victory for Denny Hulme, Brabham’s team-mate.
1967 also saw the sport lose two of its most popular competitors. Near the end of the Monaco Grand Prix Lorenzo Bandini slightly misjudged the chicane and ploughed into some straw bales. The Italian driver received terrible burns and succumbed a few days later. To compound the tragedy his wife, who was expecting their child, suffered a miscarriage. In August the tenacious privateer Bob Anderson crashed to his death while testing at Silverstone.
The 1968 season saw major changes in the sport. Jim Clark won the opening race in South Africa in his green and yellow Lotus but, by the time of the next race, the cars were painted in the colours of the Gold Leaf cigarette brand. Corporate sponsorship had arrived in Formula 1. In between the two races the sport had been dealt a bitter blow when Clark lost his life during an insignificant Formula 2 race at Hockenheim. In the May 1968 issue of Motor Sport magazine their famous racing correspondent Denis Jenkinson summed up the feeling of many:
“What can I or anyone else say, what is there to say, mere words can never express true feelings.”
It was fitting that the World Championship was won by Clark’s team-mate Graham Hill, providing some comfort for the shattered Lotus team.
1969 was the year of the high wings. For the first time designers began to realise the advantage of mounting aerofoils on Formula 1 cars to produce negative lift. These structures, mounted perilously high, certainly increased grip and cornering speeds but they were prone to spectacular failures. Lotus driver Jochen Rindt was so concerned that he wrote to his boss Colin Chapman personally to highlight the fragility of his cars. After several huge accidents they were outlawed. In the title race it was Jackie Stewart, driving a French Matra, who emerged on top to take his first World Championship.
