1964 Mexican Grand Prix

  1964 Mexican Grand Prix

Race details
Race 10 of 10 in the 1964 Formula One season
Date	October 25, 1964
Official name	III Gran Premio de Mexico
Location	Magdalena Mixhuca, Mexico City
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.000 km (3.107 mi)
Distance	65 laps, 325.000 km (201.946 mi)
Pole position
Driver	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax
Time	1:57.24
Fastest lap
Driver	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax
Time	1:58.37
Podium
First	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax
Second	John Surtees	Ferrari
Third	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari

The 1964 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mexico City on October 25, 1964. It was the final round of the 1964 Formula One season.

It was possibly the most dramatic finale in the history of the Formula One World Championship. Championship points could only be scored by the first six place finishers (9-6-4-3-2-1). Arriving to the race, three drivers had a chance of winning the title. Graham Hill (BRM) with 39 points, John Surtees (Ferrari) with 34 points and Jim Clark (Lotus-Climax) with 32 points. In order to win the title Clark had to win the race and hope that Graham Hill would not finish higher than third (Hill had already scored points in six races and only the best six scores counted; if he finished fifth or higher he would have to drop two points for his weakest finish). Neither Clark nor Surtees had scored in six races thus far. Hill only had to finish as high as third to clinch the title regardless of where Surtees finished unless Clark won, in which case Hill would have to finish second. If Clark won it would be irrelevant where Surtees finished. Surtees could only win the title by finishing second or higher, unless Hill won or 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). Hill and Lorenzo Bandini, Surtees' teammate at Ferrari, were duelling for third place with Surtees running a distant fifth, seemingly with no chance at winning the title. If the positions remained the same, Clark would be champion with four victories to Hill's two victories, although they would be tied on points at 41. Then Bandini ran into the back of Hill's car causing him to spin and lose a few places. Thereafter Hill's car ran with a crimped exhaust pipe causing him to lose power. The championship was now firmly in Clark's grasp. Then on the penultimate lap, Clark's engine seized and the positions were now Gurney-Bandini-Surtees. The title was back in Hill's grasp. Realizing that 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 so as to let Surtees through. Bandini dutifully did so and Surtees finished second, thus winning the World Championship by one point over Hill (40 to 39).

Classification

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	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

Notes

• 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
    • 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
  • Jim Clark nearly managed this. If his engine hadn't blown in the last lap, he would've done just enough to win the championship.
• In another first, three constructors were fighting for the championship.
  • Ferrari (43pts) needed either
    • 1st
    • 2nd, with the top BRM 3rd or lower
    • 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
  • Again, if Jim Clark's engine hadn't blown, then Lotus-Climax would've won the Constructors' Championship

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

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

• 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.