1963 Mexican Grand Prix Explained

The 1963 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca in Mexico City on 27 October 1963. It was race 9 of 10 in both the 1963 World Championship of Drivers and the 1963 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.

Jim Clark dominated the race from pole position, a time that was 1.7 seconds faster than anybody else. Mexico was considered one of his most successful venues. His fastest lap of the race eclipsed his pole time by 0.7 seconds, and he lapped the entire field except for second and third behind him.^[1] He eventually scored a total of five pole positions, four fastest laps and three victories at the venue in his Formula One career. This was also his sixth win, his sixth fastest lap, and his sixth pole position of the nine races completed in 1963.

This was also the only World Championship Grand Prix where a car raced with the number 13 until Pastor Maldonado selected the number as his permanent race number in 2014.^[2]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor			Gap
				Q1	Q2
1	8	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	1:58.8	2:07.3	—
2	23	John Surtees	Ferrari	2:00.5	2:05.4	+1.7
3	1	Graham Hill	BRM	2:00.6	2:05.7	+1.8
4	6	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax	2:01.6	2:07.6	+2.8
5	2	Richie Ginther	BRM	2:01.8	2:14.4	+3.0
6	3	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	2:02.3	2:08.7	+3.5
7	24	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	2:02.4	2:11.3	+3.6
8	11	Jo Bonnier	Cooper-Climax	2:02.6	2:10.5	+3.8
9	14	Jo Siffert	Lotus-BRM	2:03.3	2:29.4	+4.5
10	5	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Climax	2:04.3	2:03.6	+4.8
11	13	Moisés Solana	BRM	2:04.1	2:20.6	+5.3
12	9	Trevor Taylor	Lotus-Climax	2:04.9	2:17.0	+6.1
13	4	Tony Maggs	Cooper-Climax	2:05.2	2:09.3	+6.4
14	17	Masten Gregory	Lola-Climax	2:05.5	2:11.7	+6.7
15	16	Jim Hall	Lotus-BRM	2:06.1	2:18.4	+7.3
16	22	Hap Sharp	Lotus-BRM	2:07.7	2:23.2	+8.9
17	25	Phil Hill	ATS	No time	2:13.6	+14.8
18	12	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	2:14.1	2:23.6	+15.3
19	18	Chris Amon	Lotus-BRM	2:14.7	2:24.0	+15.9
20	10	Pedro Rodríguez	Lotus-Climax	2:15.3	No time	+16.5
21	26	Giancarlo Baghetti	ATS	2:22.3	3:00.5	+23.5
22	20	Frank Dochnal	Cooper-Climax	No time	No time
Source:[3]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	8	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	65	2:09:52.1	1	9
2	5	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Climax	65	+ 1:41.1	10	6
3	2	Richie Ginther	BRM	65	+ 1:54.7	5	4
4	1	Graham Hill	BRM	64	+ 1 lap	3	3
5	11	Jo Bonnier	Cooper-Climax	62	+ 3 laps	8	2
6	6	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax	62	+ 3 laps	4	1
7	22	Hap Sharp	Lotus-BRM	61	+ 4 laps	16
8	16	Jim Hall	Lotus-BRM	61	+ 4 laps	15
9	14	Jo Siffert	Lotus-BRM	59	+ 6 laps	9
10	12	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	58	+ 7 laps	18
11	13	Moisés Solana	BRM	57	Engine	11
Ret	25	Phil Hill	ATS	46	Suspension	17
Ret	24	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	36	Ignition	7
Ret	3	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	30	Engine	6
Ret	10	Pedro Rodríguez	Lotus-Climax	26	Suspension	20
Ret	17	Masten Gregory	Lola-Climax	23	Suspension	14
DSQ	23	John Surtees	Ferrari	19	Push start	2
Ret	9	Trevor Taylor	Lotus-Climax	19	Engine	12
Ret	26	Giancarlo Baghetti	ATS	12	Engine	21
Ret	18	Chris Amon	Lotus-BRM	9	Gearbox	19
Ret	4	Tony Maggs	Cooper-Climax	7	Engine	13
DNQ	20	Frank Dochnal	Cooper-Climax		Practice accident
WD	7	Walt Hansgen	Lotus
WD	15	Innes Ireland	Lotus-BRM		Driver injured
WD	19	Thomas Monarch	Lotus-Climax

• Surtees was disqualified for a push-start.

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Mexican driver Moisés Solana and for American driver Frank Dochnal.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Jim Clark	54 (64)
	2	Richie Ginther	29 (34)
	3	Graham Hill	25
	4	John Surtees	22
	5	Bruce McLaren	14
Source: [4]

Constructors' Championship standings

	Pos	Constructor	Points
	1	Lotus-Climax	54 (65)
	2	BRM	36 (41)
	3	Ferrari	24
1	4	Brabham-Climax	24
1	5	Cooper-Climax	23
Source:

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 6 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

Notes and References

1. Kettlewell, Mike. "Grand Prix Racing South of the Border", in Ward, Ian, executive editor. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974) Volume 12, p.1331.
2. Web site: Your questions: F1 and the number 13 . 9 January 2008 . F1 Fanatic . 20 September 2015.
3. Web site: 1963 Mexican GP Qualification. www.chicanef1.com. 12 August 2020.
4. Web site: Mexico 1963 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 19 March 2019.