The 1964 Austrian Grand Prix, officially recognised as the II Großer Preis von Österreich, was the seventh round of the 1964 FIA Formula One World Championship, held on the 23rd of August.[1] Using the Zeltweg Airfield as a circuit, the race would be remembered as the debut for future World Champion Jochen Rindt and for a fiery accident for former Champion Phil Hill.[1]
Practice and qualifying had seen an impressive battle for pole, with just a second covering the top seven drivers, and a little over three seconds for the entire field.[1] Graham Hill was the man who claimed the prime grid position, lining up on a four wide front row with John Surtees, Jim Clark and Dan Gurney, while debutante Rindt found himself down in thirteenth.[1] Off the line, it was advantage Gurney and Surtees, with Hill and Clark making poor starts with the latter suffering with a terminal problem.[1]
The early stages saw Surtees wrestle the lead away from Gurney while Lorenzo Bandini established himself in third ahead of an enticing battle for fourth.[1] Clark was challenging Hill, Jack Brabham and Ritchie Ginther, until the fight was broken up by a series of mechanical failures, while Surtees retired from the lead with a suspension failure.[1] Clark then chased down Bandini for second, only to have a total failure in his transmission.[1]
As Clark dropped out, so too did Gurney, handing victory seemingly to Bandini if he could survive the horrendous bumps of the airfield.[1] Other retirements had promoted Ginther to second, and Swede Jo Bonnier to third, although the latter would fall soon after to put Bob Anderson onto the podium instead.[1] As this was going on, Phil Hill crashed heavily and got thrown from his car, fortunate as the car suddenly burst into flame and burned to the ground.[1] Bandini, meanwhile, ran on untroubled to claim a maiden victory, ahead of Ginther and Anderson, the latter making his first visit to the podium.[1]
Background
Austria was a new addition to the World Championship calendar in 1964, although the Zeltweg Airfield had hosted one non-Championship Grand Prix before, as well as numerous Formula Two races.[2] The I Austrian Grand Prix had been held in 1963, mainly as a demonstration to the FIA that Zeltweg could host a Grand Prix event, with a circuit that used both the runway as a race track, and the hangers as garages.[2] Jack Brabham had won the original Austrian Grand Prix, in a race which had seen an extraordinary amount of retirements due to the bumpy track surface.[2]
It was a fair distance to the Austrian mountains to get to Zeltweg, but all of the major F1 entrants would arrive for the weekend ready to race.[2] Leading the way were Team Lotus, who brought four cars for their two drivers Jim Clark and Mike Spence, with Peter Arundell still recovering from his accident.[2] Of their equipment, Clark and Spence would race the new Lotus 33s in the race, with Clark's venerable 25 as a spare, while the fourth car was loaned to Reg Parnell Racing as usual.[2]
BRM were in a worse condition ahead of the race, down to two cars at a track where mechanical failures were noteworthy.[2] They had their two usual 1964 challengers ready, although Graham Hill's car had to be rebuilt after the Englishman wrote off their newest car while testing at Snetterton.[2] They did, however, have the advantage of supporting three ex-factory P57s which, if things went badly during the weekend, could be called in for use by the team.[2]
For Brabham-Climax things seemed to be going well, although team owner, and previous Austria conqueror Brabham would have to run in a new Brabham BT11 for the weekend.[2] Whereas the BT11 had primarily been a customer chassis, the Australian's car would feature several minor updates, including more fibreglass to make the new car lighter.[2] This was in contrast to Gurney, who had a new engine for his BT7, which had served the New Yorker well throughout the season.[2]
Rounding out the factory efforts were Ferrari and Cooper-Climax, both of whom were running as they were in Germany.[2] For Ferrari, John Surtees would have his choice of their two surviving 1964 cars, while Lorenzo Bandini would have to make do with an updated 156 Aero.[2] Cooper had the usual pair of outclassed T73s, with an older car in reserve.[2]
The BRP-BRM effort would also get to Austria for the race, with Innes Ireland in their newer car while Trevor Taylor was entered in their original design.[2] Then, it was into the major privateer field, with Reg Parnell Racing field their usual two Lotus 25s, while Scuderia Centro Sud brought their pair of BRM P57s.[2] The RRC Walker Racing Team had an expanded effort in Austria, fielding a second Brabham car for impressive youngster Jochen Rindt to partner Jo Bonnier.[2]
The title battle had been severely shaken up at the Nürburgring, as Graham Hill shot to the top of the standings, overhauling defending Champion Clark. The two came into Austria just two points apart, and seemingly in a two horse race with John Surtees eleven points further back, with just four races to go. There was then an additional eight point gap back to fourth, where Ginther led a trio of cars tied on eleven points.
Team Lotus had just held onto the lead in the Intercontinental Cup for Manufacturers after the German round, clinging on to a one point lead over BRM. Again, the title looked like a two horse race ahead of the seventh round, with a fourteen point gap back to the improved Ferrari outfit. The Italian firm looked set to battle it out with Brabham for third, while Cooper rounded out the factory effort teams in fifth, ahead of the privateer run Brabham-BRM and Lotus-BRM entries.
Entry list
The full entry list for the 1964 Austrian Grand Prix is outlined below:
Practice Overview
Qualifying
After all of the equipment was moved from the edge of the circuit to the hangers/pits ahead of practice on Friday, the cars were ready to go out for qualifying.[2] Over two two hour sessions on Friday and Saturday eighteen drivers would start from the original list of twenty one, although this was hastily changed ahead of the Grand Prix.[2] As for times, Jack Brabham held the lap record at Zeltweg at 1:11.4, while Jim Clark arrived with a circuit record of 1:10.2.
Report
First practice was a stop start affair in the early stages, when Phil Hill got sideways through the run onto the runway and slammed into the straw bales marking the edge of the circuit.[2] A terminal accident for the suspension put the former World Champion in the spare Cooper, just as Lorenzo Bandini had his day ended early by an incurable oil leak.[2] Elsewhere, Team Lotus had to borrow the welding equipment of rivals BRM to repair the throttle cable on Jim Clark's car, while BRM's own Graham Hill was wearing a chin support to cope with the after effects of his Snetterton accident.[2]
Also hampering the efforts of the teams, and a most likely cause for the widespread reports of poor handling and suspension problems, was the track surface.[2] Although the concrete slabs were secure, the haphazard nature of their layout meant the cars were frequently bumping, while the constant vibrations caused stress fractures.[2] Victims included Clark and Richie Ginther, the latter having ruined a good lap for team mate Hill just moments before.[2]
Hill was credited with the best time of Friday, although the official timing system failed during the session, meaning those times were not considered to be accurate.[2] With most of the crews pulling an all nighter to repair their challengers, the field regathered on the apron for another day of high speed bouncing, with the entire field on the circuit within the first five minutes.[2] Rain affected the early running prompting an en-masse withdrawal to the pits, leaving the two Coopers on their own, before the sun, and the cars, reappeared for the rest of the session.[2]
Amid the constant chaos of cars on the circuit, all of which would require another night of repairs to be ready for the race, an incredible battle for pole emerged.[2] Ultimately, after two days of sublime running, it was Graham Hill who ended up with pole, a quarter of a second ahead of John Surtees.[2] They, however, were just a small part of a wider battle that saw pole exchanged between no fewer than seven drivers, with Clark, Dan Gurney, Ginther, Brabham and Bandini all within a second of Hill's new circuit record of 1:09.84.[2]
Qualifying Results
The full qualifying results for the 1964 Austrian Grand Prix are outlined below:
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 |  Graham Hill
|
BRM | 1:09.84 | — |
| 2 | 7 | John Surtees
|
Ferrari | 1:10.12 | +0.28s |
| 3 | 1 | Jim Clark
|
Lotus-Climax | 1:10.21 | +0.37s |
| 4 | 5 |  Dan Gurney
|
Brabham-Climax | 1:10.40 | +0.56s |
| 5 | 4 | Richie Ginther
|
BRM | 1:10.40 | +0.56s |
| 6 | 6 |  Jack Brabham
|
Brabham-Climax | 1:10.57 | +0.73s |
| 7 | 8 |  Lorenzo Bandini
|
Ferrari | 1:10.63 | +0.79s |
| 8 | 2 | Mike Spence
|
Lotus-Climax | 1:11.00 | +1.16s |
| 9 | 9 |  Bruce McLaren
|
Cooper-Climax | 1:11.25 | +1.41s |
| 10 | 11 |  Jo Bonnier
|
Brabham-Climax | 1:11.59 | +1.75s |
| 11 | 14 | Innes Ireland
|
BRP-BRM | 1:11.60 | +1.76s |
| 12 | 20 |  Jo Siffert
|
Brabham-BRM | 1:11.82 | +1.98s |
| 13 | 12 |  Jochen Rindt
|
Brabham-BRM | 1:12.00 | +2.16s |
| 14 | 22 | Bob Anderson
|
Brabham-Climax | 1:12.04 | +2.20s |
| 15 | 18 | Giancarlo Baghetti
|
BRM | 1:12.10 | +2.26s |
| 16 | 15 | Trevor Taylor
|
BRP-BRM | 1:12.23 | +2.39s |
| 17 | 16 | Chris Amon
|
Lotus-BRM | 1:12.28 | +2.44s |
| 18 | 17 | Mike Hailwood
|
Lotus-BRM | 1:12.40 | +2.56s |
| 19 | 19 |  Tony Maggs
|
BRM | 1:12.40 | +2.56s |
| 20 | 10 | Phil Hill
|
Cooper-Climax | 1:13.15 | +3.31s |
| WD | 21 |  Maurice Trintignant
|
BRM | Withdrawn | |
| Source:[4] | |||||
Grid
| Pos | Pos | Pos | Pos | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | Driver | Driver | Driver | ||||
| ______________ | |||||||
| 1 | ______________ | ||||||
| Graham Hill | 2 | ______________ | |||||
| John Surtees | 3 | ______________ | |||||
| Jim Clark | 4 | ||||||
| Dan Gurney | |||||||
| ______________ | |||||||
| 5 | ______________ | ||||||
| Richie Ginther | 6 | ______________ | |||||
| Jack Brabham | 7 | ||||||
| Lorenzo Bandini | |||||||
| ______________ | |||||||
| 8 | ______________ | ||||||
| Mike Spence | 9 | ______________ | |||||
| Bruce McLaren | 10 | ______________ | |||||
| Jo Bonnier | 11 | ||||||
| Innes Ireland | |||||||
| ______________ | |||||||
| 12 | ______________ | ||||||
| Jo Siffert | 13 | ______________ | |||||
| Jochen Rindt | 14 | ||||||
| Bob Anderson | |||||||
| ______________ | |||||||
| 15 | ______________ | ||||||
| Giancarlo Baghetti | 16 | ______________ | |||||
| Trevor Taylor | 17 | ______________ | |||||
| Chris Amon | 18 | ||||||
| Mike Hailwood | |||||||
| ______________ | |||||||
| 19 | ______________ | ||||||
| Tony Maggs | 20 | ______________ | |||||
| Phil Hill | 21 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Race
Report
Results
Milestones
- Debut for Jochen Rindt.
- Maiden victory for Lorenzo Bandini.
- Also the Italian's only victory.
- First and only podium for Bob Anderson.
- BRM claimed their thirtieth podium.
Standings
With the top three in the Championship all failing to score, it was status quo leaving Austria, with Graham Hill still leading the way with 32 points. Jim Clark held onto second just two behind, while John Surtees completed the top three eleven points further back. Richie Ginther remained in fourth, but had made a fair amount of ground, while victory for Lorenzo Bandini put the Italian into the top five.
There was, in contrast, a fair amount of shuffling in the Intercontinental Cup for Manufacturers as BRM overhauled Lotus-Climax at the top of the standings. Ferrari would thank Bandini for bringing them straight back into the title fight, now eight points away from the new leaders. Brabham-Climax could also now entertain hopes of a title, although they would be too far back to seriously challenge, while BRP-BRM finally got on the board.
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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 'GRAND PRIX RESULTS: AUSTRIAN GP, 1964',grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2016), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr128.html, (Accessed 01/07/2016)
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 'Austrian Grand Prix: Wild and Woolly', motorsportmagazine.com, (Motor Sport Magazine, 01/10/1964), http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-1964/39/austrian-grand-prix and http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-1964/41/october-1964, (Accessed 02/07/2016)
- ↑ 'Austria 1964: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1964/autriche/engages.aspx, (Accessed 02/07/2016)
- ↑ 'Austria 1964: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1964/autriche/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 04/07/2016)
| V T E | Austrian Grand Prix
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|---|---|---|
| Circuits | Zeltweg Airfield (1963–1964), Red Bull Ring (1970–1987, 1997-2003, 2014-present) |  |
| Races | 1964 • 1965–1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988–1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004–2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022 • 2023 | |
| Non-Championship Race | 1963 | |
| Red Bull Ring was previously called Österreichring and A1-Ring. | ||
| v·d·e | Nominate this page for Featured Article |