1964 Formula One season

The 1964 Formula One season was the 18th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 15th World Championship of Drivers , the 7th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers , and eight non-championship races open to Formula One cars. The World Championship was contested over ten races between 10 May and 25 October 1964.

John Surtees won the Drivers' Championship with Scuderia Ferrari . [ 1 ] It was his first and only title. Ferrari were also awarded the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers. [ 2 ] It was their second title and the last until 1975 .

Maurice Trintignant retired at the age of 46 after 15 seasons in F1. He was the last driver to have competed in the first World Championship season in 1950 .

Dutch driver Carel Godin de Beaufort crashed during practice for the German Grand Prix and succumbed to his injuries the following day in hospital .

After a dominant 1963 season with seven wins in ten races, reigning champion Jim Clark was still in form for the first race of 1964, the Monaco Grand Prix . He qualified his Lotus - Climax on pole position , but Jack Brabham (world champion in 1959 and 1960 ) was just 0.1 seconds behind him in his Brabham -Climax. 1962 champion Graham Hill started in third for BRM and John Surtees fourth for Ferrari . Clark set a blistering pace from the start but went too fast through the harbour chicane and ca...

Dan Gurney started on pole position at the Dutch Grand Prix , with the champions Jim Clark and Graham Hill next to him on the front row. Gurney was the first to brake for Tarzan corner , leaving the other two to fight it out side-by-side. It was Clark who just reached ahead and then never looked back. Gurney retired on lap 22, before Hill's BRM developed a misfire . So the order almost automatically became Clark, Surtees, Arundell, and this remained until the finish. [ 11 ]

For the Belgian Grand Prix , it was Gurney again on pole, ahead of Hill and Brabham. On the second row stood Arundell, Surtees and Clark. At the start, it was Arundell who reached Eau Rouge first, but after the first was complete, Gurney, Surtees and Clark were the top three. Surtees briefly advanced to the front before his Ferrari engine failed, leading to a second retirement in three races. Clark was now free to challenge Gurney but had to focus more on keeping Hill behind. They traded places ...

The French Grand Prix saw no surprising names on the front and second rows, although due to the many retirements so far, the fastest drivers did not necessarily feature at the top of the provisional standings. Clark put his Lotus on pole position, ahead of Gurney and Surtees. Clark and Gurney quickly streaked ahead of the rest, while Surtees retired again. Clark set a new lap record and edged away from Gurney, until his engine lost a cylinder . He pitted, was sent out again, but then definitely ...

In the Drivers' Championship, Jim Clark ( Lotus ) stood on 21 points, ahead of Graham Hill ( BRM ) with 20 and both Richie Ginther (BRM) and Peter Arundell (Lotus) with 11 points. The Manufacturers' Championship saw Lotus on top with 25 points, ahead of BRM (21) and Brabham (14).

The British Grand Prix was held at Brands Hatch for the first time and received the honorary title of European Grand Prix . Championship leader Jim Clark qualified his Lotus - Climax on pole position , ahead of main rival Graham Hill ( BRM ) and Dan Gurney ( Brabham ). Gurney got up to second at the start but had to pit on lap 3 with electrical problems. Hill pressured Clark during the whole race, but the Lotus driver held on to take the win. John Surtees finished third in his Ferrari . [ 14 ]

During practice for the German Grand Prix , Dutch driver Carel Godin de Beaufort crashed his famous orange Porsche 718 . He was rushed to hospital but would pass away two days later. Honda made their debut but their chassis and engine were marred by reliability problems. The organisers saw the PR value of the new team and scheduled an extra practice session, so that driver Ronnie Bucknum could reach the minimum of 5 laps required to qualify for the race. This gave local hero Gerhard Mitter the c...

The first Austrian Grand Prix saw Hill score his first pole position, although he was the championship leader at this point. Surtees and Clark started with him on the first row. Hill and Clark bodged the start, which allowed fourth-starting Gurney to come through into the lead. Surtees overtook him on lap 2 but his rear suspension violently collapsed on lap 8. He became one of many victims of the airfield 's rough surface: Hill already on lap 5, the Lotuses of Clark and Spence on lap 40, and the...

The Drivers' Championship looked set to become a one-on-one fight between the 1962 and 1963 champions: Graham Hill ( BRM , 32 points) versus Jim Clark ( Lotus , 30 points). John Surtees ( Ferrari ) was third with 19 points. BRM now also led the Manufacturers' Championship with 36 points, ahead of Lotus (34) and Ferrari (28).

For the Italian Grand Prix , John Surtees ( Ferrari ) qualified on pole position , ahead of Dan Gurney ( Brabham ) and Graham Hill ( BRM ). Jim Clark ( Lotus ) started in fourth and got lucky at the start, because Hill's clutch would not bite. Surprisingly, it was Bruce McLaren ( Cooper ) that converted his fifth starting position into the lead of the race. Then the traditional slipstreaming commenced: Gurney and Surtees both went by McLaren half-way into the first lap, Surtees took the lead on ...

Surtees's win in Italy , coupled with Hill and Clark's retirements, had suddenly brought him into play for the Drivers' title and it had put Ferrari on top the Manufacturers' standings. The season traditionally ended outside of Europe and Watkins Glen hosted the United States Grand Prix for the fourth time. Clark started on pole, ahead of Surtees and Gurney. The Ferrari cars were not painted in traditional red but in white and blue , the national colours of the United States . This was done as a...

It was the third time in F1 history that the championship was decided at the final race and, for the first time, no less than three drivers and three manufacturers had a chance of winning the respective titles. For Hill (39 points) and Surtees (34), and for their teams Ferrari (43) and BRM (42), winning the race would be enough, no matter the results of others. Clark (30) and his team Lotus (36) had to win and, at the same time, hope that his rivals finished low enough. He started off well, at l...

In the Drivers' Championship, John Surtees ( Scuderia Ferrari , 40 points) was awarded the 1964 trophy, ahead of Graham Hill ( BRM , 39) and Jim Clark ( Lotus , 32). In the Manufacturers' Championship, Ferrari racked up 45 points, enough for their second title, ahead of BRM (42) and Lotus (37).

Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers. Only the best six results counted towards the championship.

The International Cup for F1 Manufacturers only counted the points of the highest-finishing driver for each race. Additionally, like the Drivers' Championship, only the best six results counted towards the cup.

Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points were awarded in the following system:

* Bold = results counted to championship totals

Eight other races which did not count towards the World Championship of Drivers and the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers were held for Formula One cars during the season.