1966 Mexican Grand Prix

The 1966 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca on 23 October 1966. It was race 9 of 9 in both the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the fifth Mexican Grand Prix^[1] and the first to be run under the new three-litre Formula.^[2] It was held over 65 laps of the 5 km (3.1 mi) circuit for a race distance of 325 km (202 mi).

1966 Mexican Grand Prix
Race details
Date	October 23, 1966
Official name	V Gran Premio de Mexico
Location	Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca, Mexico City, Mexico
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.000 km (3.107 miles)
Distance	65 laps, 325.000 km (201.946 miles)
Weather	Warm, clear
Pole position
Driver	John Surtees	Cooper-Maserati
Time	1:53.18
Fastest lap
Driver	Richie Ginther	Honda
Time	1:53.75
Podium
First	John Surtees	Cooper-Maserati
Second	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco
Third	Denny Hulme	Brabham-Repco
Lap leaders

The race was won by British driver John Surtees driving a Cooper T81-Maserati, his first victory since leaving Scuderia Ferrari to join Cooper. Surtees led home reigning world champion Australian owner-driver Jack Brabham, driving a Brabham BT20-Repco,^[3] by eight seconds. A lap down in third place, also driving a Brabham BT20, was Brabham's teammate New Zealander Denny Hulme.

Surtees's victory promoted him to second place in the championship, vaulting past Austrian driver Jochen Rindt of the Cooper works team.

Race report

John Surtees dominated to take his first win since transferring from Ferrari to Cooper in mid season. He took the lead from Jack Brabham on lap 6 and was never challenged. With Jim Clark suffering gearbox problems and both BRMs retiring, Richie Ginther was the only contender left. However he too had mechanical problems, and dropped back. Brabham rallied at the end to close, but Surtees had lapped the entire field up to second. The first year of 3-litre engines had resulted in wins for five different makes of car, using five different engines.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	7	John Surtees	Cooper-Maserati	1:53.18	—
2	1	Jim Clark	Lotus-BRM	1:53.50	+0.32
3	12	Richie Ginther	Honda	1:53.56	+0.38
4	5	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	1:53.95	+0.77
5	8	Jochen Rindt	Cooper-Maserati	1:54.19	+1.01
6	6	Denny Hulme	Brabham-Repco	1:54.21	+1.03
7	3	Graham Hill	BRM	1:54.61	+1.43
8	11	Pedro Rodríguez	Lotus-Climax	1:54.78	+1.60
9	15	Dan Gurney	Eagle-Climax	1:54.93	+1.75
10	4	Jackie Stewart	BRM	1:55.90	+2.72
11	18	Mike Spence	Lotus-BRM	1:55.98	+2.80
12	19	Jo Siffert	Cooper-Maserati	1:55.99	+2.81
13	22	Jo Bonnier	Cooper-Maserati	1:56.49	+3.31
14	14	Ronnie Bucknum	Honda	1:56.59	+3.41
15	17	Bruce McLaren	McLaren-Ford	1:56.84	+3.66
16	9	Moisés Solana	Cooper-Maserati	1:57.44	+4.26
17	10	Innes Ireland	BRM	1:57.46	+4.28
18	2	Peter Arundell	Lotus-BRM	2:00.79	+7.61
19	16	Bob Bondurant	Eagle-Weslake	2:02.88	+9.70
Source:[4][5]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	7	John Surtees	Cooper-Maserati	65	2:06:35.34	1	9
2	5	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	65	+ 7.88	4	6
3	6	Denny Hulme	Brabham-Repco	64	+ 1 lap	6	4
4	12	Richie Ginther	Honda	64	+ 1 lap	3	3
5	15	Dan Gurney	Eagle-Climax	64	+ 1 lap	9	2
6	22	Jo Bonnier	Cooper-Maserati	63	+ 2 laps	12	1
7	2	Peter Arundell	Lotus-BRM	61	+ 4 laps	17
8	14	Ronnie Bucknum	Honda	60	+ 5 laps	13
Ret	11	Pedro Rodríguez	Lotus-Climax	49	Differential	8
Ret	17	Bruce McLaren	McLaren-Ford	40	Engine	14
Ret	19	Jo Siffert	Cooper-Maserati	33	Suspension	11
Ret	8	Jochen Rindt	Cooper-Maserati	32	Suspension	5
Ret	10	Innes Ireland	BRM	28	Transmission	16
Ret	4	Jackie Stewart	BRM	26	Oil Leak	10
Ret	16	Bob Bondurant	Eagle-Weslake	24	Fuel System	18
Ret	3	Graham Hill	BRM	18	Engine	7
Ret	1	Jim Clark	Lotus-BRM	9	Gearbox	2
Ret	9	Moisés Solana	Cooper-Maserati	9	Overheating	15
DNS	18	Mike Spence	Lotus-BRM	0	Accident
Source:[6]

Notes

• This was the 10th win for a Maserati-powered car.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jack Brabham 42 (45) 1 2 John Surtees 28 1 3 Jochen Rindt 22 (24) 3 4 Denny Hulme 18 1 5 Graham Hill 17 Source:[7]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Brabham-Repco 42 (49) 2 Ferrari 31 (32) 3 Cooper-Maserati 30 (35) 4 BRM 22 5 Lotus-BRM 13 Source:[7]

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 5 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.