Formula 1 as It Happened

Exactly six decades ago at this writing, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Bruce McLaren, Lorenzo Bandini, Jochen Rindt and a virtuoso field of other legends-to-be were scorching SPA’s death-defying Eau Rouge at speeds we could scarcely process even today. No ground effects, no “aero,” no slicks, virtually no car or track safety technologies. Just raw white-knuckle horsepower, ultra-light Formula 1 racecars, uncannily brave drivers and stratospheric lap times in a Grand Prix race with weather variances between dry, damp and sopping wet. Sun, clouds, drizzle, full rain, drizzle and a little sun again. A maddening riddle for drivers, engineers, hot pit mechanics, media and, of course, spectators who were punished by the radical weather swings over a long day at the races that delivered a marathon of surprises.

As the green flag flew, the two BRMs of Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart lurched into the lead toward SPA’s devilish downhill Eau Rouge curve, with Jim Clark hot on their tail-pipes and Graham Hill, Jack Brabham,  Jo Siffert and Bruce McLaren close behind. As they neared the Eau Rouge bridge, Graham Hill held his braking until unbelievably late, giving Clark all he could handle and smartly passing “new boy” Jackie Stewart in the process. This group was followed by a serpentine column led by Richie Ginther and John Surtees, who raced side-by-side as the cars disappeared into the Arden woods, with rain drops appearing on the drivers’ windscreens as the needle-and-thread La Source hairpin loomed.

In an all-too-common rain-afflicted scenario, driver positions changed feverishly during the onset of showers, with Jo Bonnier, Jo Siffert, Dan Gurney and Dickie Attwood beginning to gain ground. Meantime, even though Jim Clark in his Lotus-Climax appeared smoothly fast with a cat-like hint of cautiousness, he had moved definitively into the lead and pulled out a 7-second gain on Graham Hill and the “front pod” of drivers, with calculated gains at every corner. “Rain feel” was a particular skill of Jimmy Clark, which he many times used as a speed weapon over the entirety of his career.

It was oft-said that SPA in the rain was no place to go motor racing, especially with intermittent rain bursts that make one fast curve semi-dri and another fully wet, with weather conditions changing the track surface from lap to lap. On this challenging weather day, drivers were struggling to establish dependable grip, even on the straightaways where wheelspin under full throttle caused their cars to virtually “float” from left to right at extremely high speeds. This made precision slip-streaming tactics nearly impossible due to the huge rooster-tails blasting from the cars’ rear wheels, thus passing at high speeds was an exercise in pure faith.

By mid-point in the race the rain had taken its toll. Dan Gurney, Jo Siffert, Lorenzo Bandini, Lucien Bianchi, Jochen Rindt and Ronnie Bucknum in the factory Honda, although pressing forward regardless, were incrementally losing ground to the leaders every lap, despite all-out maximum efforts. Old pro Jack Brabham was gaining pace slightly and Jackie Stewart was maintaining a solid 2^nd place, hanging on at 45-seconds behind leader Jimmy Clark.