1968 Belgian Grand Prix
| 1968 Belgian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 9 June 1968 | ||
| Official name | XXVIII Grand Prix de Belgique | ||
| Location | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 14.100 km (8.761 miles) | ||
| Distance | 28 laps, 394.800 km (245.317 miles) | ||
| Weather | Overcast, Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 3:28.6 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 John Surtees | Honda | |
| Time | 3:30.5 on lap 5 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | McLaren-Ford | ||
| Second | BRM | ||
| Third | Ferrari | ||
The 1968 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit on 9 June 1968. It was race 4 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 28-lap race was won by McLaren driver Bruce McLaren after he started from sixth position. Pedro Rodríguez finished second for the BRM team and Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx came in third.
Classification
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 |  Bruce McLaren
|
McLaren-Ford | 28 | 1:40:02.1 | 6 | 9 |
| 2 | 11 |  Pedro Rodríguez
|
BRM | 28 | + 12.1 | 8 | 6 |
| 3 | 23 |  Jacky Ickx
|
Ferrari | 28 | + 39.6 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 7 | Jackie Stewart
|
Matra-Ford | 27 | Out of fuel | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | 2 | Jackie Oliver
|
Lotus-Ford | 26 | Transmission | 15 | 2 |
| 6 | 15 | Lucien Bianchi
|
Cooper-BRM | 26 | + 2 Laps | 12 | 1 |
| 7 | 3 |  Jo Siffert
|
Lotus-Ford | 25 | Oil pressure | 9 | |
| 8 | 10 |  Jean-Pierre Beltoise
|
Matra | 25 | + 3 Laps | 13 | |
| Ret | 14 | Piers Courage
|
BRM | 22 | Engine | 7 | |
| Ret | 6 | Denny Hulme
|
McLaren-Ford | 18 | Halfshaft | 5 | |
| Ret | 20 | John Surtees
|
Honda | 11 | Suspension | 4 | |
| Ret | 22 | Chris Amon
|
Ferrari | 8 | Radiator | 1 | |
| Ret | 16 | Brian Redman
|
Cooper-BRM | 6 | Spun Off | 10 | |
| Ret | 12 | Richard Attwood
|
BRM | 6 | Oil Pipe | 11 | |
| Ret | 18 |  Jack Brabham
|
Brabham-Repco | 6 | Throttle | 18 | |
| Ret | 1 | Graham Hill
|
Lotus-Ford | 5 | Halfshaft | 14 | |
| Ret | 19 |  Jochen Rindt
|
Brabham-Repco | 5 | Engine | 17 | |
| Ret | 17 |  Jo Bonnier
|
McLaren-BRM | 1 | Wheel | 16 | |
Source:[1]
| |||||||
Notes
- After the introduction of wings on an F1 car by Lotus at the previous race, the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, this innovation was adopted by Ferrari and Brabham. Ferrari added wings to their lead driver Chris Amon's car[2] and he nabbed pole position, and was 4 seconds faster in qualifying than the next fastest car of Jackie Stewart. Amon's teammate Jacky Ickx did not have wings on his car.[3] The Brabham team also fitted a rear wing to Jack Brabham's car, paired with dive planes on the nose to counteract lift; he qualified 10th.[4] Wings were added to Ickx's car (and many other teams copied the idea for their cars) for the next race at Zandvoort.
- On the seventh lap Brian Redman went off the circuit when his suspension failed and he crashed into and over a concrete barrier and into a parked car. His Cooper caught fire but Redman escaped with a severely broken right arm and a few minor burns.
- Records:
- Fastest Fastest Lap Speed - John Surtees (241.140 km/h)
- Most Races Contested - Jack Brabham (100)
- Fastest Average Race Speed - Bruce McLaren (236.797 km/h)
- Milestones:
- 100th Race Entry Jack Brabham (Driver)
- 10th Fastest Lap John Surtees (Driver)
- 1st Win - McLaren (Car Manufacturer)
- Last win: Bruce McLaren
Championship standings after the race
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
- ^ "1968 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ Roebuck, Nigel (October 1998). "Legends". Motor Sport magazine archive. p. 18. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 9 August 2016 suggested (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|website=(help) - ^ Lawrence (1999) p.100
- ^ Nye (1986) p.72
- ^ a b "Belgium 1968 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
Further reading
- Lang, Mike (1982). Grand Prix! Vol 2. Haynes Publishing Group. pp. 66–67. ISBN 0-85429-321-3.
- Lawrence, Mike (1999). Brabham+Ralt+Honda: The Ron Tauranac story. Motor Racing Publications. ISBN 1-899870-35-0.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Nye, Doug (1986). Autocourse history of the Grand Prix car 1966–85. Hazleton publishing. ISBN 0-905138-37-6.
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