The 60s — A golden age in F1…
or is it?
Hello, my friends! Today I decided to continue the discussion about the best F1 era. In the last article, it was clear that Fangio and Ferrari dominated the 50s.
The races weren’t battled wheel-to-wheel and there was almost no live television coverage. But was it any different in the 60s? Let’s find out!
The 1960s in F1
Jack Brabham, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, John Surtees, Jackie Stewart… Those are examples of so many talented racing drivers in the 60s.
Moreover, Lotus, Brabham, Cooper, and BRM are the British teams that outshined the famous Italian scuderias from the 50s.
The cars are now smaller, faster, rear-engined, and with a lower center of gravity. Sadly, safety wasn’t still a concern and several drivers lost their lives throughout the decade.
With an average of 10 races per season, regularity and reliability continued to be the key factor.
The decade is far from being competitive within the races, but the action increases on a few occasions. The best example is the 69' Italian GP in which four cars crossed the finish line almost side-by-side.
Here you find a summary of the 1960s season:
1960 — Jack Brabham (Cooper) wins his second title. By winning 5 out of 10 races, the championship battle ended with 3 races remaining.
1961 — Phil Hill (Ferrari) wins his first title, winning just 2 out of 8 races. His teammate, Wolfgang von Trips, won another two races making the Ferrari a dominating team during this season. The championship had an internal battle until the penultimate race (Italy), where sadly von Trips lost his life in an accident.
1962 — Graham Hill (BRM) takes his first title with one race in advance. He managed to win 4 out of 9 races.
1963 — Jim Clark (Lotus) completely dominated the season, winning 7 times out of 10 races and guaranteeing his first title with 3 races in advance. This record (most wins in a season) was only equaled in 1984 by Allain Prost and beaten in 1988 by Senna.
1964 — John Surtees (Ferrari) battled until the last race to guarantee his first title. The championship was decided on regularity and a bit of luck. Surtees won only two races, retired four times but always finished third or above. Graham Hill, the vice-champion, also won two races, retired just three times but was not so consistent on the races he finished.
*For the first time in Formula 1, there were five different champions in five consecutive seasons (1960–1964).
1965 — Jim Clark (Lotus) clinched his second title by dominating the season with 6 wins over 10 races. The championship was decided with four remaining races.
1966 — Jack Brabham (Brabham) is the only driver in all F1 history that won a championship with his own team. His third title was obtained with 3 races remaining in the season by winning 4 out of 9 races. Brabham was also the second driver to be a three-time F1 winner, the other was Fangio with 5 titles.
1967 — Denny Hulme (Brabham) got his first F1 title by consistency at the very end of the season. He won only 2 out of 11 races but managed to finish better overall. As a matter of curiosity, Jim Clark won 3 races but only finished third in the championship.
1968 — Graham Hill (Lotus) wins his second title in a battle until the end of the season with Jackie Stewart. Hill won 6 out of 12 races in a season with three significant curiosities: First, unrestricted sponsorship was allowed by FIA to be displayed on cars. Second, some teams started to use aerodynamic devices that we now use to call wings! Third, full-face helmets were introduced.
1969 — Jackie Stewart (Matra) easily achieves his first title by winning 6 out of 11 races.
*For the first time in Formula 1, there were six different champions in six consecutive seasons (1964–1969).
So, what do you think about the 60s? For me, it is fair to say it was a competitive decade even though just a few races were battled wheel-to-wheel. It was way better than the 50s!
