1961 Belgian Grand Prix

Previous race

Von Trips won at Zandvoort to claim the first World Championship Grand Prix victory by a German driver, and the first win of his career. The Dutch race made history in another way: all 15 starters were classified as finishers and no driver made a pit stop — a feat that has never been repeated.

Entrants

Innes Ireland returns at Team Lotus after his Monaco injury, with new Lotus 21s for Ireland and Jim Clark. Ferrari runs a fourth car — painted in Belgian racing yellow — for Olivier Gendebien, entered by Ecurie Nationale Belge. The Equipe Nationale Belge also entered a pair of Emeryson chassis for Willy Mairesse and Lucien Bianchi, but both were found to have terminal chassis damage in practice. Mairesse secured the use of a Team Lotus spare machine and eventually both Mairesse and Bianchi took over the older Lotus 18s of non-starters Marsh and Seidel.

At BRP, the single available Lotus 18 was to be shared between Cliff Allison and Henry Taylor, with the faster qualifier taking the race start. Allison crashed heavily on his very first practice lap at Blanchimont, rolling the car and suffering fractures to both knees and his pelvis. The injuries end his Formula One career. The organisers pay starting money to 19 of the 25 invited entries — 16 pre-selected plus the three fastest of the remainder; three cars without guaranteed money chose not to race after practising.

Practice

Phil Hill takes pole alongside von Trips. Gendebien qualifies third despite using a less powerful engine than the works Ferraris, his knowledge of the Spa roads compensating for the power deficit. Ginther and John Surtees (Reg Parnell Cooper) share the second row.