1962 Italian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Hill leads with 28 points, Clark second on 21 and Surtees third on 19. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, BRM leads with 31 points, Lotus 27, Cooper 23.

Previous race

Hill won in the wet at the Nürburgring, mastering the conditions to hold off Surtees and Gurney, the first six finishing positions covered by six different constructors. Clark forgot to turn on his fuel pump at the start, dropped to 26th, passed seventeen cars on the opening lap, but eased off after near-crashes mid-race and finished fourth. The Brabham BT3 debuted but retired after nine laps with a broken throttle.

Entrants

Ferrari brings five cars to their home race — an expanded squad including Lorenzo Bandini and Willy Mairesse on a part-time basis alongside the regular drivers. The Lotus team has gone through all of their gearboxes during the race weekend; two crates of spare parts have been flown in, but Clark and Trevor Taylor start with no further spares available.

Practice

Roy Salvadori’s Bowmaker-Yeoman Lola’s fire extinguisher exploded in his face during practice.

Track changes

The race is held on Monza’s road circuit, abandoning the banked oval section which had been used in previous years.