The 1961 Dutch Grand Prix (officially known as the IX Grote Prijs van Nederland) was the second round of the 1961 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged around the sand dunes of Zandvoort on the 22nd of May.[1] The race itself was staged just a week after the opening round of the season, meaning the injured Innes Ireland, suffering with a broken leg, would miss the race.[1]
Despite missing out on pole position to team mate Phil Hill, German Wolfgang von Trips swept home for his maiden F1 victory in the Netherlands after a strong start which meant he was unchallenged for the rest of the race.[1] Hill had to maintain an effective defence against Scot Jim Clark, who had shot to fourth from tenth place on the grid on the opening lap, to take second, with Clark completing the podium.[1]
Although the Dutch Grand Prix of 1961 would never be regarded as a classic, the race itself would be notable as the only time in F1 history when all fifteen starters completed the race without anyone making a pitstop.[2]
Background[]
A few changes were made to the entry list ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix of 1961, as the quick turn around proved too quick for Innes Ireland at Team Lotus.[1] The Brit had fractured his leg in a heavy crash around the Principality during qualifying, and so Team Lotus called upon one of their sports car drivers in the form of Trevor Taylor to take over the seat in an older Lotus 18 (Ireland's accident having destroyed the newer Lotus 21).[1] Other absentees in the Netherlands would be the Equipe Nationale Belge cars as well as the UDT Laystall Racing Team drivers, while Camoradi International would run a second car for Ian Burgess among seventeen total entrants.[3]
Porsche, meanwhile, would bring an additional 787 to the Dutch Grand Prix, which was given to Dan Gurney for the weekend as he and Jo Bonnier led their main charge.[1] That left a spare 718 which would be given to home hero Carel Godin de Beaufort, with he and Hans Herrmann paired off into the semi-works supported Ecurie Maarsbergen run by de Beaufort.[1]
Championship-wise the interest was in Stirling Moss, fresh from one of his best ever performances around Monte Carlo, as he led the battle into the second race of the season. Richie Ginther led the counter charge by the trio of Ferraris, Phil Hill ahead of Wolfgang von Trips, while Gurney and Bruce McLaren rounded out the scorers. It was a similar picture in the Intercontinental Cup for Manufacturers, as Team Lotus led from Ferrari, Porsche and Cooper.
Entry list[]
The fully entry list for the 1961 Dutch Grand Prix is displayed below:
Practice Overview[]
Qualifying[]
Dry and warm conditions were maintained over the combined practice and qualification sessions, with the long, almost full throttle run through the second half of the lap expected to favour the more powerful Ferraris.[1] Ahead of the final session, it was agreed by Camoradi International that their two cars would be reserve entries, despite them competing in every part of the weekend.[1]
Report[]
As expected an all red front row resulted from qualifying, as Phil Hill beat team mates Wolfgang von Trips and Richie Ginther, the former two setting identical times to the nearest tenth of a second.[1] A couple of tenths separated Stirling Moss from a front row start as he shared the second row with Graham Hill as the best placed Lotus driver.[1] Dan Gurney led the Porsche challenge in his brand new 787 by claiming sixth, sharing the third row with defending Champion Jack Brabham and the second BRM of Tony Brooks.[4]
Row four would feature John Surtees and Jim Clark, despite the two Brits being split by Masten Gregory for Camoradi.[4] Similarly, Ian Burgess would out qualify a couple of drivers that ultimately ended up on the fifth row, as he beat Bruce McLaren, who would shared the third trio of grid slots with Jo Bonnier and Hans Herrmann.[4] Rounding out the field were Trevor Taylor, over two and a half seconds slower than team mate Clark, and home hero Carel Godin de Beaufort who completed the fifteen starters.[4]
Qualifying Results[]
The full qualifying results for the 1961 Dutch Grand Prix are outlined below:
Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Time[4] | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Phil Hill | Ferrari | 1:35.7 | — |
2 | 3 | Wolfgang von Trips | Ferrari | 1:35.7 | +0.0s |
3 | 2 | Richie Ginther | Ferrari | 1:35.9 | +0.2s |
4 | 14 | Stirling Moss | Lotus-Climax | 1:36.1 | +0.4s |
5 | 4 | Graham Hill | BRM-Climax | 1:36.3 | +0.6s |
6 | 7 | Dan Gurney | Porsche | 1:36.4 | +0.7s |
7 | 10 | Jack Brabham | Cooper-Climax | 1:36.6 | +0.9s |
8 | 5 | Tony Brooks | BRM-Climax | 1:36.8 | +1.1s |
9 | 12 | John Surtees | Cooper-Climax | 1:36.8 | +1.1s |
10* | 17 | Masten Gregory | Cooper-Climax | 1:36.8 | +1.1s |
11 | 15 | Jim Clark | Lotus-Climax | 1:36.9 | +1.2s |
12 | 6 | Jo Bonnier | Porsche | 1:37.1 | +1.4s |
13 | 8 | Hans Herrmann | Porsche | 1:38.0 | +2.3s |
14* | 18 | Ian Burgess | Lotus-Climax | 1:38.0 | +2.3s |
15 | 11 | Bruce McLaren | Cooper-Climax | 1:38.2 | +2.5s |
16 | 16 | Trevor Taylor | Lotus-Climax | 1:39.5 | +3.8s |
17 | 8 | Carel Godin de Beaufort | Porsche | 1:39.8 | +4.1s |
- * Cars #17 and #18 would not start the race as they were reserve entries.
Grid[]
Pos | Pos | Pos | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Driver | Driver | Driver | |||
______________ | |||||
______________ | 1 | ||||
______________ | 2 | Phil Hill | |||
3 | Wolfgang von Trips | ||||
Richie Ginther | |||||
______________ | |||||
______________ | 4 | ||||
5 | Stirling Moss | ||||
Graham Hill | |||||
______________ | |||||
______________ | 6 | ||||
______________ | 7 | Dan Gurney | |||
8 | Jack Brabham | ||||
Tony Brooks | |||||
______________ | |||||
______________ | 9 | ||||
10 | John Surtees | ||||
Jim Clark | |||||
______________ | |||||
______________ | 11 | ||||
______________ | 12 | Jo Bonnier | |||
13 | Hans Herrmann | ||||
Bruce McLaren | |||||
______________ | |||||
______________ | 14 | ||||
15 | Trevor Taylor | ||||
Carel Godin de Beaufort | |||||
______________ | |||||
______________ | 16 | ||||
______________ | 17 | ||||
18 | |||||
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Race[]
Another dry warm day among the dunes greeted the field on race day, with the two Camoradi International cars waiting on the sidelines to take over from any driver who could not make the start.[1] Ahead of the race, attention was on the three scarlet Ferraris being pushed onto the front row, and whether their stunning pace and power advantage would be enough to secure them a victory.[1]
Report[]
Off the line the best of the three was Wolfgang von Trips, a strong start seeing him and Richie Ginther go toe-to-toe into Tarzan, the first hairpin.[5] Graham Hill was another strong started, launching straight into the back of the three Ferraris but had no where to go and so had to follow von Trips through to take second, sweeping along the outside of Ginther who would also lose out to Phil Hill.[5] Stirling Moss had initially made the best start of the leaders, but immediately had to get out of the throttle due to the tight confines of the main straight.[5]
Jim Clark was the man on the move over the first lap, taking three positions off the line in his Team Lotus machine, before a series of sublime moves saw him climb into fourth before the end of the first lap.[5] He trailed von Trips and the two Hills, while Ginther slipped behind Dan Gurney, the latter American as the best of the Porsche drivers.[5] Moss fell behind Jo Bonnier and Jack Brabham after his hold up at the start, while home hero Carel Godin de Beaufort fell to the very back of the field, battling with Trevor Taylor.[6]
The two Hills swapped places early on lap two, with Clark also making his way past the British version in the opening stages of the race, leaving him glued to the back of the American Hill.[1] Elsewhere a three way tussle for fifth rumbled between Gurney, Ginther and Moss, the Brit initally emerging on top before Ginther managed to claim the position for a time.[6] Gurney soon fell to Brabham, while ahead Ginther and Moss traded places once again, with the pair continuing to run nose to tail behind an ongoing scrap between Phil Hill and Clark.[1]
Graham Hill began to tumble down the order, being claimed by Ginther, Moss, Brabham and Surtees, while the two Porsches of Gurney and Bonnier did battle for the silver honours.[6] Back with the leaders and Clark was throwing everything he had at Phil Hill, briefly taking second several times before the American could establish himself over the Scot.[1] The final third of the race saw Hill, having dealt with the Lotus, pull onto the back of von Trips before being ordered to hold station, the two running together for the final laps.[6]
Come the end of the race, von Trips was leading Hill by one second, with Clark falling thirteen seconds back although it would still be an impressive drive from the Scot up from tenth.[6] Ginther, meanwhile, had a Brit stuck to his tail as the cars came to start their final lap, before Moss got a good run into the first hairpin and claimed fourth place, finishing just a tenth of a second ahead.[6] Over a minute back came Brabham, holding off Surtees and Graham Hill with the three separated by nine seconds by the end as the only other cars to finish on the lead lap.[6]
The rest of the field was led home by Tony Brooks ahead of Gurney, while Bonnier and Bruce McLaren tussled two laps behind just outside the top ten.[6] Taylor completed his first Grand Prix start in a lonely fourteenth, while the two semi-works Porsches of Carel Godin de Beaufort and Hans Herrmann rounded out the fifteen car field as all fifteen starters made history by completing a race distance with no retirements or pitstops.[6]
Results[]
The full results for the 1961 Dutch Grand Prix are outlined below:
Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | Wolfgang von Trips | Ferrari | 75 | 2:01:52.1 | 2 | 9 |
2 | 1 | Phil Hill | Ferrari | 75 | +0.9s | 1 | 6 |
3 | 15 | Jim Clark | Lotus-Climax | 75 | +13.1s | 10 | 4 |
4 | 14 | Stirling Moss | Lotus-Climax | 75 | +22.2s | 4 | 3 |
5 | 2 | Richie Ginther | Ferrari | 75 | +22.3s | 3 | 2 |
6 | 10 | Jack Brabham | Cooper-Climax | 75 | +1:20.1 | 7 | 1 |
7 | 12 | John Surtees | Cooper-Climax | 75 | +1:26.7 | 9 | |
8 | 4 | Graham Hill | BRM-Climax | 75 | +1:29.8 | 5 | |
9 | 5 | Tony Brooks | BRM-Climax | 74 | +1 lap | 8 | |
10 | 7 | Dan Gurney | Porsche | 74 | +1 lap | 6 | |
11 | 6 | Jo Bonnier | Porsche | 73 | +2 laps | 11 | |
12 | 11 | Bruce McLaren | Cooper-Climax | 73 | +2 laps | 13 | |
13 | 16 | Trevor Taylor | Lotus-Climax | 73 | +2 laps | 14 | |
14 | 8 | Carel Godin de Beaufort | Porsche | 72 | +3 laps | 15 | |
15 | 9 | Hans Herrmann | Porsche | 72 | +3 laps | 12 | |
DNS | 17 | Masten Gregory | Cooper-Climax | ||||
DNS | 18 | Ian Burgess | Lotus-Climax | ||||
Source[7] |
Milestones[]
- 50th start for the Cooper Car Company.
- 1st career win for Wolfgang von Trips.
- 31st victory for Ferrari.
- Jim Clark claimed his 1st fastest lap.
- Only time in F1 history that all starters finished the race without completing a pitstop.
- Only grand prix not to feature a retirement until the 2005 United States Grand Prix.
Standings[]
Victory for Wolfgang von Trips propelled him to joint first in the Championship, joining Stirling Moss on twelve points. Phil Hill remained in third, two points behind with Richie Ginther swapping with von Trips to find himself in fourth. Jim Clark now sat in fifth with Dan Gurney in sixth, while the two Antipodean drivers Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren completed the scorers with a point apiece.
Ferrari were now in the lead of the Intercontinental Cup for Manufacturers, claiming a two point lead over Team Lotus after Hill's second place denied valuable points for the Lotus' best placed driver. Only two other manufacturers had secured points, with Cooper and Porsche level on two points each, the German company judged to be ahead courtesy of Gurney's fifth place in Monaco.
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References[]
Images and Videos:
References:
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 'GRAND PRIX RESULTS: DUTCH GP, 1961', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2016), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr096.html, (Accessed 26/04/2016)
- ↑ 'Full house - the rare occasions every car has finished', formula1.com, (Formula One Management, 22/04/2016), http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/latest/features/2016/4/the-rare-occasions-every-car-was-a-finisher.html, (Accessed 26/04/2016)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 'Netherlands 1961: Race Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1961/pays-bas/engages.aspx, (Accessed 26/04/2016)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 'Netherlands 1961: Qualifying', statsf1.com, (StatsF1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1961/pays-bas/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 26/04/2016)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 British Pathé, 'The Dutch Grand Prix Won By Von Trips (1961)', youtube.com, (YouTube, 13/04/2014), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgYuRQZrxQ4, (Accessed 27/04/2016)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 'Netherlands 1961: Lap by Lap', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1961/pays-bas/tour-par-tour.aspx, (Accessed 27/04/2016)
- ↑ 'Netherlands 1961: Results', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1961/pays-bas/classement.aspx, (Accessed 27/04/2016)
V T E | Dutch Grand Prix | |
---|---|---|
Circuits | Zandvoort (1948-present) | |
Formula One Races | 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956-1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986-2019 • | |
Non-Championship Races | 1950 • 1951 |
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