1961 British Grand Prix

Previous race

The French Grand Prix produced one of the most dramatic finales of the season. All three works Ferrari drivers retired — von Trips with engine trouble on lap 18, Hill after spinning and stalling on lap 38, Ginther with an engine failure three laps into his lead — leaving Baghetti’s fourth Ferrari in a slipstream battle with Dan Gurney’s Porsche. On the final straight, Baghetti dived out of Gurney’s slipstream and passed him yards before the finish line. Baghetti became the first, and so far only, driver to win his debut World Championship race outright. The result also gave Porsche their first Formula One podium.

Entrants

Baghetti joins the works Ferrari trio as a fourth entry. Rob Walker runs the experimental Ferguson P99 for Jack Fairman; Moss also drives the car in practice. The P99 is the first four-wheel drive car ever entered for a World Championship race, and also the last front-engined car to be entered.

Milestones

Tony Maggs makes his Formula One World Championship debut, becoming the first South African driver to start a World Championship race.

Weather

Torrential rain affects qualifying and the race start.

Practice

Phil Hill, Richie Ginther, Jo Bonnier (Porsche), and Wolfgang von Trips all set identical lap times in qualifying. Moss lines up on the second row alongside von Trips.