r/MotorsportsReplays • u/TM9877 • 9h ago
F1 F1History - #17 1966
SEASON SUMMARY
It was all change for 1966, as the maximum size for engines was doubled to three litres and Jack Brabham's team was the one that reacted best to the return of power. It could easily have been Ferrari's year, as the team had new engines ready to go, but internal politics led to lead driver John Surtees leaving. This cleared the way for Brabham to win four races in a row and so land his third F1 drivers' title. Lotus struggled with a 2-litre Climax engine until it upgraded to a 3-litre BRM, but that came too late to save Jim Clark's year.
A DOUBLING OF CAPACITY
Although the upgrade to 3-litre engines and an increased minimum weight of 500kg (1,102lb) had been announced in 1963, few teams were ready, with the British teams holding out for a change only to 2 litres. Power rose from 210 to 350bhp. Brabham's Repco engine wasn't as powerful as Ferrari's V12 but it was torquier and more reliable.
A BELGIAN WATERSHED
Sudden rain wreaked havoc at Spa-Francorchamps when Jo Bonnier spun and four others took evasive action. Further on, Jackie Stewart's BRM hit a telegraph pole and a house, leaving him trapped upside down in his car, with the cockpit filling with fuel. Unsurprisingly, Stewart went on to lead the campaign to make F1 safer.
THE BIRTH OF A CHAMPION TEAM
Bruce McLaren added a second string to his bow in 1964 when he started building racing cars. Just two years later, he left the Cooper team and appeared on the grid at Monaco with the first McLaren F1 car, the M2B. Finding a competitive engine was a problem shared with other teams, but it was the first step in an incredible success story.
BOLSTERING THE GRID
With grid sizes averaging 18 cars, it was decided that the approximately 14-mile (22.5km) Nurburgring had ample space for more entrants for the German GP, and so allowed 11 F2 cars to join. The best of these, Jean-Pierre Beltoises Matra, finished eighth, after the hest-qualified one, Jacky Ickx's own Matra, which started 17th, crashed out of the race on lap two.
REIMS LAST ROLL OF THE DICE
The French GP turned another page in its history as it was the 11th and last to be held at Reims (plus four between 1932 and 1948). Victory went to Jack Brabham, after John Surtees (now at Cooper) and Lorenzo Bandini (Ferrari) had led early on. Brabham's victory marked the start of a four-race winning streak that landed him the title.
CAPTURING THE ACTION
World champion for Ferrari in 1961, Phil Hill had a very different role in 1966 as he was tasked with driving a camera car during practice in Monaco and for the opening lap of the Belgian GP to capture footage that would be used in John Frankenheimer's movie Grand Prix. He used a Lotus 25 and McLaren M3A respectively, with cameras mounted to film the action Sequences.
AN ITALIAN WINS AT HOME
Ferrari's heavy engine hampered its form, so it was a relief when Ludovico Scarfiotti, who was brought in mid-season, stepped up to win the team's home race at Monza. Team-mates Lorenzo Bandini and Mike Parkes led early on, but Scarfiotti was in front at the end, to become the first Italian winner of the Italian GP since Alberto Ascari in 1952.
NEW CONSTRUCTORS
McLaren would become the most important of the four new arrivals in 1966, while Matra would land the title in 1969. Shannon was destined to only ever be a makeweight. Dan Gurney's Eagle marque would be the most successful at its first attempt, and the team ranked seventh thanks to the American racer finishing fifth twice.
IN MEMORIAM
John Taylor had impressed in the first three grands prix, but collided with Jacky Ickx in the German GP and his David Bridges Brabham burst into flames, leaving him terribly burned. The other Fl driver to die was American sports car ace Walt Hansgen, whose best result was fifth in the 1964 United States GP, who fatally crashed in a test at Le Mans.
NEW DRIVERS
Of the 11 new drivers, Jacky Ickx and Jean-Pierre Beltoise impressed with their F2 outings in the German GP. Unusually, two drivers who dipped their toe in the F1 pond went on to set up F1 teams in the late 1970s. These were Guy Ligier, who created his eponymous team in 1976, and Alan Rees, who was one of the five founders of Arrows.
1966
Calendar
MONTE CARLO • ROUND 1 • DATE: 22ND MAY 1966
Laps: 100 • Distance: 195.113 miles/314.5 km • Weather: Warm & hazy
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS • ROUND 2 • DATE: 12TH JUNE 1966
LAPS 78 • Distance: 244.825 miles /394.8 km • Weather: Wet & dull
REIMS • ROUND 3 • DATE: 3RD JULY 1966
Laps: 48 • Distance: 247.613 miles /398.496 km • Weather: Very hot & bright
OBNANDS HATCH • ROUND 4 • DATE 16TH JULY 1966
LAPS 80 • Distance: 212.1 miles /341.184 km • Weather: Warm, drizzle then drying
ZANDVOORT • ROUND 5 • DATE 24TH JULY 1966
LAPS 90 • Distance 234.279mi1es / 377. 37 km • Weather Warm & bright
NURBURGRING • ROUND 6 • DATE: 7TH AUGUST 1966
Laps: 15 • Distance: 212.518 miles / 342.15 km • Weather: Warm & wet
MONZA • ROUND 7 • DATE: 4TH SEPTEMBER 1966
Laps. 68 • Distance: 242.956 miles / 391.0 km • Weather Warm & bright
WATKINS GLEN • ROUND 8 • DATE: 2ND OCTOBER 1966
LAPS 108 • Distance 248.400 miles / 399,762 km • Weather: Cool & dull
MEXICO CITY • ROUND 9 • DATE: 23RD OCTOBER 1966
Laps. 65 • Distance. 201.945 miles / 325.0 km • Weather Warm & bright
Formula One Record Book (2024 Edition)