1961 German Grand Prix

Previous race

Von Trips won at Aintree in heavy rain, completing a Ferrari 1-2-3 ahead of Hill and Ginther. Moss charged through to second before retiring with brake failure. Baghetti, who had arrived at Aintree unbeaten in Formula One, crashed out early.

Between-race developments

Henry Taylor suffered a serious accident during the British Grand Prix and has stepped away from single-seater racing. Olivier Gendebien takes over his seat at BRP for the remainder of the season. The Solitude Grand Prix, run on a seven-mile circuit near Stuttgart one week after Aintree, was won by Innes Ireland in a works Lotus.

Milestones

This is the 100th World Championship race since the series began in 1950. The German Grand Prix returns to the Nürburgring for the first time since 1958, after the 1959 race was held at AVUS and the 1960 event was run to Formula Two regulations.

Entrants

Jack Brabham has the new Coventry-Climax V8 engine available in his factory Cooper for the first time. Ferrari enters four cars, with Willy Mairesse joining the works trio of von Trips, Hill, and Ginther; Mairesse’s car carries an older engine. Porsche fields four cars, with Edgar Barth joining Bonnier, Gurney, and Hans Herrmann.

Practice

Phil Hill sets a lap of 8:55.2 — the first time anyone has lapped the Nürburgring Nordschleife in under nine minutes, nearly six seconds faster than Brabham’s best. Moss is third quickest, Bonnier completes the front row. Von Trips, Graham Hill, and Gurney fill the second row.