In the sixties Graham Hill became the first five-time winner of the race.
Graham Hill scored the first of three consecutive victories at Monaco in 1963, driving for BRM. In 1964 he finished a lap ahead of his nearest challenger, Richie Ginther. Hill’s great rival Jim Clark scored four pole positions at Monaco during his career but the Scotsman never managed to win the race, suffering appalling reliability. In 1965, a decade after Ascari landed in the harbour, Paul Hawkins repeated the feat. Like Ascari, the Lotus driver escaped uninjured.
Clark’s countryman Jackie Stewart did win the race, in 1966. In a race of attrition only four cars were classified at the end, the lowest number in Formula 1 history. That year also saw the first appearance of a McLaren Formula 1 car, although it was an inauspicious debut as Bruce McLaren retired after nine laps. There were also film cameras present, shooting for the movie ‘Grand Prix’.
Denny Hulme was victorious in 1967, during his World Championship winning season. Tragedy struck late in the race when Lorenzo Bandini’s Ferrari clipped the straw bales at the harbour front chicane. Bandini was trapped in his burning car and, although eventually rescued, the popular Italian died three days later in hospital. The shock of her husband’s death caused Bandini’s wife to miscarry the child they were expecting.
Graham Hill returned to the top step of the podium in 1968, taking pole position and the win. He won again in 1969, the last of his five Monaco Grand Prix victories. The 1970 race produced an extraordinary finish. On the last lap Jack Brabham was leading comfortably from the Lotus of Jochen Rindt. At the final corner Brabham tried to lap the De Tomaso of Piers Courage but, braking off-line, found some cement dust and locked his wheels. Brabham slid helplessly into the barriers while a grateful Rindt drove past to take the win.
Jackie Stewart scored his second Monaco win in 1971 but no-one could match Jean-Pierre Beltoise during a rain-soaked 1972 event. Beltoise had suffered a serious accident early in his career which had left him with a severely weakened arm. It hindered him when running in the dry but, on wet tracks with reduced speeds and forces, he excelled. It was the only win of his Formula 1 career.
Stewart won again in 1973, his final Formula 1 season. The Scotsman narrowly beat defending champion Emerson Fittipaldi’s Lotus. That year’s race also marked Graham Hill’s 150th Grand Prix start. A Lotus did win in 1974 as Ronnie Peterson scored the only Monaco Grand Prix win of his career.
