If you would like to support this website please click on some of the ads. No purchase is necessary.

Porsche, despite scoring their first victory chose to withdraw from Formula 1. John Surtees was signed to drive for Ferrari while Gurney moved over to Brabham. The first race of the season was again held in Monaco. Despite quick starts by Hill and and his BRM teammate Ginther, Clark was soon in the lead. After temporarily relinquishing second place to Surtees, Hill found himself in the lead when first Surtees had to pit to change his goggles and then Clark spinning at Gasworks due to a jammed gearbox and having to retire. The next race at Spa was a Clark demonstration of superiority when he lapped the field under torrential rains. Zandvoort saw another Clark victory by a lap over his nearest rival. Clark made it a hat-trick at the French Grand Prix at Reims and four in a row at Brands Hatch. Surtees was finally able to create a momentary pause to the Clark steam-roller with a well deserved win at the Nurburgring. This was Surtees' first win of his four-wheel career.

For Monza both Ferrari and BRM had a new monocoque chassis. The Ferrari of Surtees stormed into the lead but fell victim to a broken valve spring. Clark assumed the lead but was strongly challenged by both Hill and Gurney. After both of his challengers suffered mechanical problems and were forced to retire Clark was able to coast to another victory which allowed him to capture the World Championship with three races remaining. Out of the three remaining races Clark was able to win two giving him seven victories out of ten races.

1964 looked to be another year of battle between Clark and Hill but there were stirrings at Ferrari that they would once again be a force to reckon with. But for the drivers of the red cars there would always be another obstacle to overcome. Surtees explains: "At Ferrari in those days you started with a handicap. Until Le Mans was over you couldn't really do the work you wanted to do-and needed to do-in Formula One." The first race was again at Monaco where Clark found himself on pole and shortly out of the race. Graham Hill led his teammate Ginther for a BRM 1-2 finish while Clark won the next two races at Zandvoort and Spa. The French Grand Prix saw Clark joined by Surtees on the front row but the race was won by Dan Gurney now driving for Brabham with Hill picking up second. The British Grand Prix had Clark again on the pole but this time joined by Hill. They would finish the race in the same order. Surtees felt that while his Ferrari was becoming more and more competitive he could not let the duo of Clark and Hill get too far out in front. Nurburgring would be his turning point. Returning to his favorite circuit and the scene of his maiden victory scored only last year, Surtees responded by capturing pole position. In the race Clark jumped into the lead only to suffer mechanical problems that forced him to retire. Surtees assumed a lead that he would not relinquish. Wining the most difficult race on the calendar two years running proved that Surtees belonged to the first rank of drivers during the early part of his career.

At Zeltweg, Austria all three championship leaders were on the front row of the grid and all three failed to finish with the win going to Surtees' teammate Lorenzo Bandini. This unfortunately would be the popular Italian's sole victory of his brief career. Monza belonged to Surtees and Ferrari as they celebrated a very popular victory with their tifosi. Things tightened up when Hill won the next race at Watkins Glen and unlike last year the title would be won or lost at the last race. The final race in Mexico saw Hill leading with 39 points, Surtees with 34 points and Clark with 30 points. At the start of the race Clark led off from his pole position but both Hill and Surtees were slow off the mark and found themselves 10th and 13th respectively. As the race progressed Hill was able to move up to third with Surtees now in fifth. All Hill had to do was stay out of trouble but unfortunately trouble was right behind him. Bandini driving for all he was worth looked for any opportunity to pass Hill and thought he had found it when Hill momentarily left the door open. Bandini dove for the inside but too late, leaving Hill nowhere to go but into the guardrail. Hill was able to return to the race but only after losing two laps. After Clark retired with a seized engine it was Bandini who allowed his teammate Surtees, to pass him into second place and the World Championship. Surtees could now add a four-wheel title to his seven two-wheel titles.

For the last year of the 1 1/2-litre Formula both Lotus and Brabham had at their disposal a Coventry Climax 32-Valve V8. Lotus also had a new monocoque Type 33 car while Brabham stuck with the proven tubular chassis. Disappointed at losing last years Championship despite winning the most races, Clark and Chapman were more determined than ever that 1965 would be different. Ferrari had their new flat-12 cylinder engine available should they need it to defend their Championship. Unfortunately for the Italian team this engine proved to be a step backward. Added to this mix was was the Honda Grand Prix car now in their second season and being driven by the Americans Richie Ginther and Ronnie Bucknum. Their V12 transverse mounted engine would soon become the class of the field. BRM added a Scot of their own, the brilliant rookie Jackie Stewart to partner Graham Hill. Cooper was no longer a front line team though their drivers Bruce McLaren and newcomer Jochen Rindt were both capable of causing some discomfort to the leading teams.

And so the year began with South Africa holding the first race. The race was dominated by Clark in his Lotus who was followed by Surtees and Hill. Monaco was next and the race was held without Clark, who was at Indianapolis winning that year's classic in a Lotus Type 38 powered by an American Ford engine under a partnership with the American giant that would have tremendous consequences for Formula 1 in the near future. The race was won by Clark's rival Graham Hill in a BRM. Hill's victory at Monaco was his third in succession.

Clark returned for Spa and won in the wet in front of the year's sensation, Jackie Stewart. Clark and Stewart repeated their results at the French Grand Prix. The British Grand Prix as well as the Dutch and German fell to Clark's all-out assault on the record books. With only the top six races counting Clark claimed a perfect score and his second World Championship. Only when his Lotus suffered mechanical failure or was absent was there any hope for the others, such was his dominance. A broken fuel pump allowed Stewart a win in his maiden season and a engine failure allowed Hill to come through. Clark stood head and shoulders above all others, a natural talent that has not and may never be duplicated. The last race of the season was held at the Autodrome Magdalena Mixhuca in Mexico City. Always a problem for the teams due to the high altitude of the circuit it proved to be an Advantage to Honda as they and Rinchie Ginther claimed their first victory. Significantly this was also Goodyear's maiden victory.

The Men from Down Under
The 1966 season would be the first under the new 3-liter formula and as always at the beginning of a new formula the results would go to the most resourceful. The scramble was on for the British teams to secure new power plants for the new season. Cooper bought their engines from Maserati as did Rob Walker. Bruce McLaren left Cooper to establish his own team and adapted Ford V8s originally intended for Indianapolis. Ferrari would have a new V12 while Lotus and BRM, left without an engine supplier following Coventry's withdrawal, were forced to settle for modified Climax and BRM V8 engines bored out to 2-liters respectively. Dan Gurney left Brabham to his own team, All-American Racers. Brabham as usual going his own way commissioned Repco, an Australian parts manufacturer, to produce a new V8. Following the guidelines laid down by Brabham the engine was sturdy, light and compact. To replace Gurney, Brabham promoted Denny Hulme to number two.

Monaco was the scene for the first race of the new formula and saw Clark on the pole. The race was won by Stewart who was followed across the line by Surtees. The next race at Spa was marred by wet conditions that caused eight cars to leave the track including a serious crash by Stewart that found him trapped in his car. Fortunately his injuries were minor and the race was won by Surtees after fighting off a charge by Rindt in his Cooper-Maserati. On the surface Surtees looked like a strong challenger for the title that year only to succumb to internal strife at Ferrari that resulted in his departure from the team. Surtees would later regret his departure from the Italian team. Brabham, after early season problems came in to his own in the middle races, scoring victories at Reims, Brands Hatch, Zandvoort and the Nurburgring. Monza saw a fluke victory by the Ferrari team and Ludovico Scarfiotti. Because of the failure by any of his challengers to garner significant points, Brabham clinched his third title. Clark would return to victory at Watkins Glen with the season closer going to Surtees, now driving a Cooper. The inaugural season of the new formula was won by Brabham more as the result of solid engineering rather than technical brilliance.

Lotus struggled in 1966 but for the coming year they were able to persuade Ford to invest in a brand new engine, built by the British firm Cosworth, that would come to dominate Formula 1. In initial trials with the new engine Clark required additional bracing placed behind his seat to support his head under acceleration. If that were not enough Chapman signed former World Champion Graham Hill to partner Clark in a new "super" team. Hill had been with BRM for seven years and in his own words felt that he better move on "in case they painted me over." Stewart became number one at BRM joined at different points of the season by Mike Spence, Richard Attwood, Chris Irwin and Piers Courage. Ferrari would have New Zealander Chris Amon joining Bandini full-time while Rindt was joined by Pedro Rodriguez at Cooper. Brabham continued with himself and Denny Hulme doing the driving. Honda was surprisingly to convince Surtees into joining their now British based team. It must be remembered that at this point in in his career Surtees was at the top tier of drivers along with Clark, Hill and Stewart.

The season opened at Kyalami, South Africa. The sensation of the race was privateer John Love who had to relinquish the lead after a late stop for fuel to race winner Rodriguez in a Cooper. The next race at Monaco would tragically be remembered as the race that took the life of popular Italian star Lorenzo Bandini just as he was beginning to make his mark. The race was won by Hulme, ahead of Hill and Amon. Zandvoort the next race would mark the debut of the Lotus 49 Ford-Cosworth. Graham Hill gained the pole position but the race was one by Clark. Spa saw Hill retire and Clark having to stop for a fouled plug. Dan Gurney drove the beautiful but often unreliable Eagle-Weslake to its one and only victory. The French Grand prix was held at on the Bugatti circuit at LeMans. Both Lotuses were forced to retire after leading the race with broken transmissions leaving the victory to Brabham who was followed in turn by his teammate Hulme. After leading much of the race at Silverstone, Hill suffered a blown engine but the victory this time went to Clark. This was his fifth British Grand Prix victory. Nurburgring saw the both Lotus fail with suspension failures and Brabham led Hulme to a one-two. Canada held its first Grand Prix and again the Lotus suffered mechanical problems and the Brabham team scored another one-two but this time their roles were reversed and Brabham took the checkered flag. Surtees convinced that drastic changes must be made elected not to enter the race but instead to point to Monza. In five weeks he had a new car built with the help of Eric Broadley of Lola.In a race long battle Surtees beat Brabham over the line at Monza with his new lighter Honda which should go down in Grand Prix history as a most remarkable achievement. The Italian fans realizing this great feat showered Surtees with thunderous cheers of "Il Grande Gianni." Lotus while disappointed in their lack of results could look to the future which came at Watkins Glen. Hill and Clark easily dominated practice and were so confident that if either finished, victory would be in the cards. Before the race they flipped a coin and Hill won. If they both finished he would be the winner. During the race Hill led Clark but began to develop mechanical problems. Fearing that one of their rivals might sneak by and claim what was rightfully theirs Clark passed Hill into the lead and on to victory. Hill was able to limp on into second place and after the race Clark rush over to offer his apologies for passing his friend. All was right with Lotus as they scored an important one-two in front of all of the Ford brass. Clark again won in Mexico but Hulme with his third place claimed the World Championship. A vastly underrated driver, he disdained self promotion and allowed his driving to do his talking.