1968 United States Grand Prix

Championship standings

Graham Hill and Denny Hulme are level on points going into Watkins Glen with two races remaining. Ickx is out of contention after breaking his leg in Canada.

Previous race

Hulme and McLaren delivered a 1–2 for the McLaren team at Mont-Tremblant, with Rodríguez third for BRM. Chris Amon led 72 of 90 laps in his Ferrari before his transmission failed on lap 73. Hill dropped from second to fifth as a vibration problem worsened, leaving him level on points with Hulme.

Between-race developments

Jacky Ickx crashed during qualifying in Canada when his throttle stuck open, breaking his leg. Ferrari replaces him with Derek Bell for Watkins Glen.

Entrants

Mario Andretti, who practiced at Monza but was banned from starting, is entered in a third Lotus for his first World Championship race start. Bobby Unser returns in the second BRM. McLaren run a third car for Dan Gurney. Henri Pescarolo is entered for Matra Sports but his V12 blew up in practice; he does not start. Jackie Oliver suffered a wheel failure and crashed the second Lotus heavily during practice.

Practice

On the first practice day, Stewart and Amon traded times, with Stewart posting the session’s best. Stewart’s car developed a broken stub-axle during the second day and he could not improve on his time. Graham Hill then bumped Amon from second, before Mario Andretti — making his first ever Formula One appearance at a circuit he had not previously seen — put his Lotus on pole by 0.07 seconds over Stewart’s best, to the delight of the 93,000-strong crowd. It was the first Formula One pole position of Andretti’s career and his first ever start.