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1964 Mexican Grand Prix
1964 Mexican Grand Prix
Race details
Date	25 October 1964
Official name	III Gran Premio de México
Location	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Magdalena Mixhuca, Mexico City
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.000 km (3.107 miles)
Distance	65 laps, 325.000 km (201.946 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Jim Clark;
Time	1:57.24
Fastest lap
Driver	Jim Clark
Time	1:58.37
Podium
First	Dan Gurney;
Second	John Surtees;
Third	Lorenzo Bandini;
	Lap leaders ;

The 1964 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca in Mexico City on 25 October 1964. It was race 10 of 10 in both the 1964 World Championship of Drivers and the 1964 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.

It was perhaps the most dramatic finale in the history of the World Championship. Championship points could only be scored by the first six finishers (9–6–4–3–2–1 points). Arriving to the race, three drivers had a chance of winning the title: Graham Hill (BRM P261^[1]) with 39 points, John Surtees (Ferrari) with 34, and Jim Clark (Lotus 33-Climax) with 30. In order to win the title, Clark had to win the race, with Surtees finishing not higher than third and Hill not higher than fourth.^[a] Surtees could only win the title by finishing first, in each case, or second, unless Hill finished as high as third.

The race began with Clark leading from pole position with Dan Gurney running second in the Brabham-Climax (Gurney had only ten points going into this race having won the French Grand Prix and scored a sixth place at the Belgian Grand Prix). Hill and Lorenzo Bandini, Surtees's teammate, were duelling for third place, with Surtees a distant fifth, seemingly with no chance at winning the title. Then Bandini ran into the back of Hill's BRM, causing him to spin into the Armco, damaging his exhaust and lose a few places.^[1] Thereafter Hill's car ran with a crimped exhaust pipe, causing him to lose power. The championship was now firmly in Clark's grasp. If the positions remained the same, he would be champion with four victories to Hill's two, although they would be tied on points at 39. On the penultimate lap, an oil line failed and Clark's engine seized as the Lotus crossed the line, with one lap left to go.^[1] The positions were now Gurney–Bandini–Surtees, meaning the championship would be Hill's, so long as Surtees placed no higher. Realizing Surtees could win the title by finishing second, the Ferrari team manager frantically signalled Bandini to slow down as he passed the pits to enter the last lap and let Surtees through. Bandini dutifully did so and Surtees finished second, thus winning the World Championship of Drivers by one point over Hill (40 to 39). Meanwhile, Gurney won the Grand Prix, almost unnoticed.^[1] The Ferrari cars were entered by the American NART team and painted white with blue lengthwise "Cunningham racing stripes", the national colours of the teams licensed in the United States. Since Ferrari cars entered in the 1965 and 1969 seasons by the American NART team and at the 1966 Italian Grand Prix by the British privateer Reg Parnell team kept wearing the red colour, this race was the last time Ferrari cars wore other than the traditional red colour (rosso corsa) in Formula One.

Championship scenarios

For the first time, 3 British drivers went into the last race with a chance of winning the championship.

Graham Hill (39pts) needed either:
- 1st
- 3rd, with Surtees 2nd or lower
- Any result, with Clark 2nd or lower and Surtees 3rd or lower
John Surtees (34pts) needed either:
- 1st
- 2nd, with Graham Hill 4th or lower
Jim Clark (30pts) needed:
- 1st, with Surtees 3rd or lower and Graham Hill 4th or lower

In another first, three constructors were fighting for the championship:

Ferrari (43pts) needed either:
- 1st
- 2nd, with the top BRM 3rd or lower
- Any result, with the top Lotus-Climax 2nd or lower and the top BRM in 3rd or lower
BRM (42pts) needed:
- 1st
Lotus-Climax (37pts) needed:
- 1st, with the top Ferrari 3rd or lower

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	1	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	1:57.24	—
2	6	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax	1:58.10	+0.86
3	8	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	1:58.60	+1.36
4	7	John Surtees	Ferrari	1:58.70	+1.46
5	2	Mike Spence	Lotus-Climax	1:59.21	+1.97
6	3	Graham Hill	BRM	1:59.80	+2.56
7	5	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Climax	1:59.99	+2.75
8	16	Jo Bonnier	Brabham-Climax	2:00.17	+2.93
9	18	Pedro Rodríguez	Ferrari	2:00.90	+3.66
10	9	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	2:01.12	+3.88
11	4	Richie Ginther	BRM	2:01.15	+3.91
12	15	Chris Amon	Lotus-BRM	2:01.17	+3.93
13	22	Jo Siffert	Brabham-BRM	2:01.37	+4.13
14	17	Moisés Solana	Lotus-Climax	2:01.43	+4.19
15	10	Phil Hill	Cooper-Climax	2:02.00	+4.76
16	11	Innes Ireland	BRP-BRM	2:02.35	+5.11
17	14	Mike Hailwood	Lotus-BRM	2:04.11	+6.87
18	12	Trevor Taylor	BRP-BRM	2:04.90	+7.66
19	23	Hap Sharp	Brabham-BRM	2:06.90	+9.66

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax	65	2:09:50.32	2	9
2	7	John Surtees	Ferrari	65	+ 1:08.94	4	6
3	8	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	65	+ 1:09.63	3	4
4	2	Mike Spence	Lotus-Climax	65	+ 1:21.86	5	3
5	1	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	64	Engine/Oil line	1	2
6	18	Pedro Rodríguez	Ferrari	64	+ 1 lap	9	1
7	9	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	64	+ 1 lap	10
8	4	Richie Ginther	BRM	64	+ 1 lap	11
9	10	Phil Hill	Cooper-Climax	63	Engine	15
10	17	Moisés Solana	Lotus-Climax	63	+ 2 laps	14
11	3	Graham Hill	BRM	63	+ 2 laps	6
12	11	Innes Ireland	BRP-BRM	61	+ 4 laps	16
13	23	Hap Sharp	Brabham-BRM	60	+ 5 laps	19
Ret	15	Chris Amon	Lotus-BRM	46	Gearbox	12
Ret	5	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Climax	44	Electrical	7
Ret	14	Mike Hailwood	Lotus-BRM	12	Overheating	17
Ret	22	Jo Siffert	Brabham-BRM	11	Fuel pump	13
Ret	16	Jo Bonnier	Brabham-Climax	9	Suspension	8
Ret	12	Trevor Taylor	BRP-BRM	6	Overheating	18
Source:^[2]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
1	1	John Surtees	40
1	2	Graham Hill	39 (41)
	3	Jim Clark	32
1	4	Lorenzo Bandini	23
1	5	Richie Ginther	23
Source: ^[3]

Constructors' Championship standings

	Pos	Constructor	Points
	1	Ferrari	45 (49)
	2	BRM	42 (51)
	3	Lotus-Climax	37 (40)
	4	Brabham-Climax	30
	5	Cooper-Climax	16
Source: ^[3]

Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only best 6 results counted toward the championship. Numbers without parentheses are championship points, numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

Notes

^ Hill had already scored points in six races and only the best six scores counted; he would have to drop the points for his weakest four finishes. If he finished fourth or higher he would have to drop three points scored for the Dutch Grand Prix. Neither Clark nor Surtees had scored in six races thus far.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Kettlewell, Mike. "Grand Prix Racing South of the Border", in Ward, Ian, executive editor. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974) Volume 12, p.1332.
^ "1964 Mexican Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Mexico 1964 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.

External links

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