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Final year of 2.5 litre engine formula and the rear-engined revolution was almost complete. Ferrari score a hollow victory at Monza against mediocre opposition with their front-engined Dino 246, but it is Cooper with Jack Brabham who score a second successive championhip. Lotus and BRM adopt the mid-engine configuration with Stirling Moss giving Colin Chapman's marque its first Grand Prix win at Monaco. Tragedy strikes at Silverstone with the popular veteran Harry Schell killed at a non-championship meeting, whilst two young British drivers, Alan Stacey and Chris Bristow both perish in separate accidents at the Belgian Grand Prix. The World Championship points system was amended with: 8-6-4-3-2-1 awarded to top six finishers. Points were no longer awarded for fastest laps.
Controversial 1300cc minimum and 1500cc maximum engine capacity ushers in the 1.5 litre Formula, which runs through to 1965. British teams who had consistently opposed the changes were uncompetitive with their Climax and BRM engines short of horsepower compared to Ferrari. The shark-nosed cars from Maranello would have steam-rollered the opposition, but for the brilliance of Stirling Moss who took brilliant wins for Rob Walker at Monaco and the N�rburgring. The tussle for the Championship crown ended in disaster at Monza when the Ferrari of Wolfgang von Trips was involved in collision with the Lotus of Jim Clark. The German was killed instantly along with 12 unfortunate spectators when his car speared into the crowd, leaving Phil Hill as the USA's first World Champion driver. In an effort to minimise injuries, roll-over bars were made compulsory in F1, whist the points system amended yet again with: 9-6-4-3-2-1 points awarded for the top six finishers.
It is the end of an era with Stirling Moss sidelined after a suffering serious accident racing at Goodwood, ultimately announcing his retirement more than twelve months later. British teams bounce back with multi-cylinder V8 engines, and in reversal of roles, Ferrari are reduced to also-ran status. The monocoque chassis in the ground breaking Lotus 25 brings Jim Clark the first of his career 25 Grand Prix wins, but Graham Hill and BRM deservedly clinch the Championship. Porsche win a Grand Prix in the hands of Dan Gurney, but withdraw from racing at the end of year. Meanwhile a new constuctor Jack Brabham, builds a car bearing his own name which makes its debut in mid-season. The fast and fearless Mexican Ricardo Rodriguez is killed in non-championship race in Mexico, another talent lost before its time.
Jim Clark and Colin Chapman are now the dominant force in Grand Prix racing with the Scot winning seven of the ten Championship races. John Surtees joins Ferrari and begins to spark their revival after winning the German Grand Prix. The only other winner is Graham Hill in the BRM at Monte Carlo and Watkins Glen. Privateer teams begin to find the cost of racing becoming prohibitive, particularly those unable to afford the V8 fuel-injected power plants.
John Surtees snatched the title at the last gasp in a three-way showdown at the final race in Mexico. His rivals Jim Clark and Graham Hill hit trouble, and the ex-motor-cycle racer became the only man to win World Championships on both two and for wheels. Dan Gurney took a fine victory in the French Grand Prix to bring the Brabham marque its maiden Grand Prix victory. Honda participate in Formula 1 racing for the first time when they unveil the transverse-engined RA271 at German GP.
The year of Jim Clark. He wins the World Championship, The Indianapolis 500, The French and British Formula Two Championships and the Tasman Championship in Australia and New Zealand. New stars arrive in the shape of Jackie Stewart, almost immediately a Grand Prix winner with BRM, and another future champion Jochen Rindt who drives an uncompetitive Cooper in his first full season. Honda and Goodyear chalk up their first-ever Grand Prix victory at the end of the season Mexican GP. The 1.5 litre Formula ended with and Coventry-Climax, having won 34 World Championship races between 1958 and 1965, pulled out of racing.
The 3-litre formula and a return to power, but British teams were struggling to find suitable power plants to the new specification. Lotus and BRM were forced to run bored- out versions of their previous years engines until more complex units could be introduced. The canny Jack Brabham had long since reached an agreement with the Australian car parts manufacturer Repco to produce a new engine. Despite its simple design and modest power output, it proved to be very effective and the 40-year old Australian duly took his third World Championship. Dan Gurney and Bruce McLaren both followed Brabham's path and became driver/constructors with the Eagle and McLaren marques respectively.
The Ford-Cosworth DFV era began, as Jim Clark took a stunning debut victory in the Dutch Grand Prix. In the hands of Clark and Graham Hill, the Lotus 49s set the pace, but were often beset by niggling problems that were to cost them dearly. Brabham's Denis Hulme emerged as the World Champion despite only two victories, albeit at the classic Monte Carlo and the N�rburgring circuits. Other winners in a varied and exciting season were Cooper, Honda and Eagle. Ferrari failed to take a victory but their season was overshadowed by the death of their number one driver Lorenzo Bandini after he crashed at Monaco.
Jim Clark's death in a Formula Two race at Hockenheim, followed by the losses of Mike Spence, Ludovoco Scarfiotti and Jo Schlesser made it one of motor racing's blackest seasons. Graham Hill rises to the challenge and wins the World Championship for Lotus, but Jackie Stewart, having joined forces with Ken Tyrrell, assumes Clark's mantle as the fastest driver in the world. With Ford Cosworth engines now supplied to the Tyrrell, McLaren and Lotus marques, only Ferrari break their dominance with a win in the French Grand Prix courtesy of the brilliant newcomer Jackie Ickx. Jo Siffert provides Rob Walker with an emotional win in the British Grand Prix. The face of Grand Prix racing changes, with Lotus sporting a tobacco livery ushering in the era of corporate sponsorship. Colin Chapman also introduces high aerofoil wings over the rear wheels, and other teams are forced to follow suit. A spectacular newcomer was Matra with their ear-splitting V12 engine, but sadly Honda, Eagle and Cooper all called time on Formula 1.
Jackie Stewart and Ken Tyrrell dominated, taking six of the eleven races, whilst Ford-Cosworth monopolised the proceedings by powering every race winner. True constructors BRM and Ferrari have a fallow year. In the wake of accidents to Hill and Rindt at Barcelona, flimsy high aerofoils are sensibly banned and rear wings bolted directly to the car become the standard. In a season when grids were sparse, a welcome newcomer by the name of Frank Williams appeared in Formula 1 with an immacutely prepared Brabham for Piers Courage. Jochen Rindt's long wait for a Grand Prix win finally came to an end when the Austrian took victory in the United States Grand Prix. In what turned out to be a technical cul-de-sac, four-wheel-drive cars were tried, and having been found uncompetitive, were soon consigned to history.
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