1962 United States Grand Prix

Infobox Grand Prix race report
Type = F1
Country = United States
Grand Prix = United States
Official name = V United States Grand Prix
Date = October 7
Year = 1962
Race_No = 8
Season_No = 9
Location = Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course Watkins Glen, New York
Course = Permanent road course
Course_mi = 2.35
Course_km = 3.78
Distance_laps = 100
Distance_mi = 235
Distance_km = 378
Weather = Sunny
Pole_Driver = flagicon|UK Jim Clark
Pole_Team = Lotus-Climax
Pole_Time = 1:15.8
Fast_Driver = flagicon|UK Jim Clark
Fast_Team = Lotus-Climax
Fast_Time = 1:15.0
Fast_L

First_Driver = flagicon|UK Jim Clark
First_Team = Lotus-Climax
Second_Driver = flagicon|UK Graham Hill
Second_Team = BRM
Third_Driver = flagicon|New Zealand Bruce McLaren
Third_Team = Cooper-Climax

The 1962 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 7, 1962 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York.

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ummary

New Lotus star Jim Clark of Scotland took his third victory of the season, and the third of his career, to keep alive his hopes of catching Graham Hill for the 1962 World Driver's Championship with one race remaining. Hill finished nine seconds back in second place for BRM, while Bruce McLaren was third, despite being a lap down.

"For the third consecutive year, Ferrari had decided not to make the trip across the Atlantic for the American race. It had been a miserable year for the team, finishing sixth in the eight-team Constructor's Championship (without a victory), after winning it the year before. The powerful new V8 engines built by Climax and BRM for the second year of the 1.5-liter formula had taken the series by storm, and Ferrari's advantage from 1961 had been completely erased."

"Also, as a result, American Phil Hill was again without a drive in his home country, and, worse yet, he learned from a reliable source at The Glen that he had been fired!"

In Friday's qualifying session, Graham Hill, Hill's BRM teammate Richie Ginther, Clark and Jack Brabham (using his own BT3 model for just the second time) all bettered the previous year's lap record of 1:18.2. Clark then went out and shattered the absolute course record, set under the 2.5-liter formula by Stirling Moss, with a staggering 1:15.8. Damp and misty conditions on Saturday prohibited anyone improving their Friday time, so the top six were Clark in the Lotus, Ginther and Hill's BRM's, American Dan Gurney in a Porsche, Brabham, and McLaren's Cooper.

By race time on Sunday, there were 40,000 fans braving the cold winds and a threat of rain. At the start, Clark led off the grid, while Hill jumped into second behind him. With Ginther, Brabham, Gurney and McLaren following, the two Championship rivals pulled away, already lowering the F1 track record on lap 3! Gurney got by Brabham and Ginther and briefly took third place, but on lap 11, Ginther retook the spot behind his teammate when Gurney slid half off the track, inches from the Armco, on a patch of oil in the Loop.

On lap 12, the two leaders were already coming up to lap the tail-enders. When Clark was delayed in the traffic, Hill took the lead away from him. By lap 19, however, Clark had lowered the lap record to 1:15.4, well under his qualifying time, and retaken the lead for good. Ginther was struggling with a deteriorating gearbox and began to fall back until a missed shift on lap 35 blew the engine and ended a fine run.

As Clark continued comfortably ahead of Hill, McLaren was now hounding Gurney for third place. The New Zealander's Cooper slid by on lap 57, and soon after, Gurney began losing power in the Porsche's engine. Brabham closed the gap between them, and when he grabbed fourth place from the American on lap 69, he claimed the first Championship points ever scored by the Brabham make.

Clark and Hill were the only cars on the lead lap toward the end as both lapped repeatedly under their grid times. Clark eventually clocked a 1:15.0 on lap 70 for the fastest lap of the race, and eased off from his biggest lead of 17 seconds to take the second consecutive American Grand Prix win for Team Lotus. "I planned to get in front and stay there," Clark said. "I set up the car for dry weather just before we started. I sure am glad the weather held up!" Indeed, moments after the Scot had taken the checkered flag, a drizzle began to fall.

Classification

* Scuderia Ferrari were entered for the race as #1, 2 and 3, but nominated neither cars nor drivers.
* #7 was allocated to Rob Walker Racing Team, but this entry was not fulfilled either.

F1 race report
Name_of_race = United States Grand Prix
Year_of_race = 1962
Previous_race_in_season = 1962 Italian Grand Prix
Next_race_in_season = 1962 South African Grand Prix
Previous_year's_race = 1961 United States Grand Prix
Next_year's_race = 1963 United States Grand Prix

References

* Doug Nye (1978). "The United States Grand Prix and Grand Prize Races, 1908-1977." B. T. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-1263-1
* James T. Crow (January, 1963). "Grand Prix of the U.S.". "Road & Track", 62-66.
* "The Formula One Record Book", John Thompson, 1974.