1967 Monaco Grand Prix

Coordinates: 43°44′4.74″N 7°25′16.8″E / 43.7346500°N 7.421333°E / 43.7346500; 7.421333

  1967 Monaco Grand Prix

Race details
Race 2 of 11 in the 1967 Formula One season
Date	May 7, 1967
Official name	XXV Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco
Location	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco
Course	Street Circuit
Course length	3.145 km (1.954 mi)
Distance	100 laps, 314.500 km (195.400 mi)
Pole position
Driver	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco
Time	1:27.6
Fastest lap
Driver	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax
Time	1:29.5
Podium
First	Denny Hulme	Brabham-Repco
Second	Graham Hill	Lotus-BRM
Third	Chris Amon	Ferrari

The 1967 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on May 7, 1967. It was the second round of the 1967 Formula One season, albeit four months after Pedro Rodríguez's unexpected victory at Kyalami. The 100-lap race was won by Brabham driver Denny Hulme after he started from fourth position. Graham Hill finished second for the BRM team and Ferrari driver Chris Amon came in third.

Between these races, the usual pre-season races had produced some unusual results, with Dan Gurney winning at Brands Hatch, in the Race of Champions in his Eagle-Weslake, and Mike Parkes taking the BRDC International Trophy for Ferrari.

The straight after the Gasworks hairpin was lengthened by moving the 'Start and Finish' closer to Ste-Devote.^[1]

Report

Entry

A total of 17 Formula One cars were entered for the event. The field was bolstered by a pair of Formula Two Matras. The Monaco circuit with its tight layout, gave the 3-litre cars no advantage, thus many top teams entered their drivers in 2 or 2.5-litre cars. In fact the Formula Two Matras were powered by 1.6-litre Cosworth engines. Honda was back with John Surtees, with a V12 engine and the Anglo American Racers were at Monaco for the first time, with their Eagle-Weslake.^[1]

Qualifying

Jack Brabham took pole position for Brabham Racing Organisation, in their Brabham-Climax BT19, averaging a speed of 80.779 mph, around the 1.954 miles (3.145 km) course. Brabham was joined on the front row by Ferrari's Lorenzo Bandini. The next row featured Surtees in the Honda and Denny Hulme in the second Brabham. The third row was an all Scottish affair, with Jim Clark (Lotus-Climax) ahead of Jackie Stewart's BRM.^[2]

Race

The opening few laps were eventful – Bandini going into the lead. Brabham's Repco engine blew up almost immediately, at Spélugues cruve, and he spun in front of Bruce McLaren and Jo Siffert who collided taking avoiding action. Only Siffert damaged his car and had to pit for repairs. Brabham continued, but was losing oil from Mirabeau to the port, whilst Clark had to take to the escape road after slipping on Brabham's oil.^[1][3][4]

On lap two Clark went off and dropped to the rear of the field, while Hulme and Stewart managed to pass Bandini into the lead after he too slipped on Brabham's oil. Hulme stayed in front until the sixth lap when Stewart swept past, until his crownwheel and pinion broke on lap 14. Hulme re-took the lead. The race settled down with Bandini second, McLaren third, after the departure of Surtees, with an engine failure. Clark's heroic battle from 14th up to fourth ended with broken shock absorber on lap 43.This promoted Chris Amon to fourth.^[3][4]

In the second half of the race, Bandini began to close in on Hulme. McLaren was holding Amon at bay until he was forced into the pits to change a battery. This dropped him behind Amon and Graham Hill.^[3][4]

On lap 82 disaster struck. Bandini's chase ended in horror when he clipped the chicane and hit a hidden mooring head, with the car turning over and exploded into flames amongst the straw bales. Bandini was trapped underneath his car. The rescue operation was hopelessly inadequate, the intervention was very slow and precious minutes passed before the fire was extinguished and Bandini was rescued and rushed to hospital. The rescue was not helped by a helicopter carrying a television camera crew, as it hovered at low level, the downdraught from the rotor blades fanned what remained of the fire, which reignited with a new ferocity.^[1][3][4][5]

Meanwhile, Hulme continued to lead the race to the finish unchallenged. Just eight laps to go, Amon suffered a puncture and dropped to third, with second going to Hill.^[3][4]

Post Script

Bandini suffered horrendous burns and died of these injuries three days later - the tragedy overshadowing Hulme's first victory on one of the world's most difficult circuits. When the news broke, many of the star drivers were travelling to the United States to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.^[1][3][4][6] This was the last Monaco Grand Prix that was to run for 100 laps.

Following the sad events of this race, straw bales were banned from Grand Prix circuits. The development of fire-retardant fuel systems and flameproof clothing for drivers and marshals was accelerated, and never again would a TV camera crew be allowed to fly a helicopter low over a burning car.^[5]

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	9	Denny Hulme	Brabham-Repco	100	2:34:34.3	4	9
2	14	Graham Hill	Lotus-BRM	99	+ 1 Lap	8	6
3	20	Chris Amon	Ferrari	98	+ 2 Laps	14	4
4	16	Bruce McLaren	McLaren-BRM	98	+ 3 Laps	10	3
5	11	Pedro Rodriguez	Cooper-Maserati	96	+ 4 Laps	16	2
6	5	Mike Spence	BRM	96	+ 4 Laps	12	1
Ret	18	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	81	Fatal Accident	2
Ret	6	Piers Courage	BRM	64	Spun Off	13
Ret	12	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	42	Suspension	5
Ret	7	John Surtees	Honda	32	Engine	3
Ret	17	Jo Siffert	Cooper-Maserati	31	Oil Pressure	9
Ret	4	Jackie Stewart	BRM	14	Differential	6
Ret	10	Jochen Rindt	Cooper-Maserati	14	Gearbox	15
Ret	23	Dan Gurney	Eagle-Weslake	4	Fuel Pump	7
Ret	2	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Matra-Ford	4	Injection	11
Ret	8	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	0	Engine	1
DNQ	15	Bob Anderson	Brabham-Climax
DNQ	1	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra-Ford
DNQ	22	Richie Ginther	Eagle-Climax
Source:[3]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 3 1 Denny Hulme 12 1 2 Pedro Rodríguez 11 6 3 Graham Hill 6 2 4 John Love 6 2 5 John Surtees 4

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 3 1 Brabham-Repco 12 1 2 Cooper-Maserati 11 3 3 Lotus-BRM 6 2 4 Cooper-Climax 6 2 5 Honda 4

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References