1968 Mexican Grand Prix
The 1968 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca on November 3, 1968. It was race 12 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.
| 1968 Mexican Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | November 3, 1968 | ||
| Official name | VII Gran Premio de Mexico | ||
| Location | Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca, Mexico City, Mexico | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.000 km (3.107 mi) | ||
| Distance | 65 laps, 325.000 km (201.946 mi) | ||
| Weather | Sunny, Mild, Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Lotus-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:45.22 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 | Lotus-Ford | |
| Time | 1:44.23 on lap 52 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Lotus-Ford | ||
| Second | McLaren-Ford | ||
| Third | Lotus-Ford | ||
|
Lap leaders
| |||
This race was to determine the World Drivers' Championship, contested between Britons Graham Hill in the Lotus 49B-Ford and Jackie Stewart in the Matra MS10-Ford, and defending champion, New Zealander Denny Hulme in the McLaren M7A-Ford. The race was moved back a week so as not to clash with the Mexico City Summer Olympics, which ended on October 26.
Hulme started with a mathematical chance of becoming world champion, but his McLaren broke a rear suspension member early, crashed, and caught fire.[1] Jo Siffert took the lead, but had to pit with a broken throttle cable. Stewart fell back with when his engine started to misfire, his car's handling began going off, and had a fuel-feed problem. Hill won this race and his second Drivers' Championship, after Stewart fell back to seventh after an engine problem with his Matra.[2]
The Mexican government's effort to curb civil unrest led to a switch from military police to unarmed policemen and track marshals for crowd control; by race end, spectators were encroaching on the track itself.[2] This was one reason for the ultimate cancellation of future Mexican Grands Prix.[2]
Classification
Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | |
Lotus-Ford | 1:45.22 | — |
| 2 | 6 |  |
Ferrari | 1:45.62 | +0.40 |
| 3 | 10 |  |
Lotus-Ford | 1:46.01 | +0.97 |
| 4 | 1 | |
McLaren-Ford | 1:46.04 | +0.82 |
| 5 | 14 |  |
McLaren-Ford | 1:46.29 | +1.07 |
| 6 | 5 | |
Honda | 1:46.49 | +1.27 |
| 7 | 15 | |
Matra-Ford | 1:46.69 | +1.47 |
| 8 | 3 | .svg.png){kind=small} |
Brabham-Repco | 1:46.80 | +1.58 |
| 9 | 2 | |
McLaren-Ford | 1:47.00 | +1.78 |
| 10 | 4 |  |
Brabham-Repco | 1:47.07 | +1.85 |
| 11 | 12 |  |
Lotus-Ford | 1:47.67 | +2.45 |
| 12 | 8 | |
BRM | 1:47.80 | +2.58 |
| 13 | 21 |  |
Matra | 1:48.38 | +3.16 |
| 14 | 11 | |
Lotus-Ford | 1:48.44 | +3.22 |
| 15 | 7 | .svg.png){kind=small} |
Ferrari | 1:49.24 | +4.02 |
| 16 | 23 | |
Matra-Ford | 1:49.27 | +4.05 |
| 17 | 18 | |
Cooper-BRM | 1:49.48 | +4.26 |
| 18 | 17 |  |
Honda | 1:49.96 | +4.74 |
| 19 | 22 | |
BRM | 1:50.28 | +5.06 |
| 20 | 9 | |
Matra | 1:50.43 | +5.21 |
| 21 | 19 | |
Cooper-BRM | 1:50.57 | +5.35 |
Race
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | |
Lotus-Ford | 65 | 1:56:43.95 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | 2 | |
McLaren-Ford | 65 | + 1:19.32 | 9 | 6 |
| 3 | 11 | |
Lotus-Ford | 65 | + 1:40.65 | 14 | 4 |
| 4 | 8 | |
BRM | 65 | + 1:41.09 | 12 | 3 |
| 5 | 17 | |
Honda | 64 | + 1 Lap | 18 | 2 |
| 6 | 16 | |
Lotus-Ford | 64 | + 1 Lap | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | 15 | |
Matra-Ford | 64 | + 1 Lap | 7 | |
| 8 | 18 | |
Cooper-BRM | 63 | + 2 Laps | 17 | |
| 9 | 9 | |
Matra | 62 | + 3 Laps | 20 | |
| 10 | 3 | |
Brabham-Repco | 59 | Oil pressure | 8 | |
| Ret | 23 | |
Matra-Ford | 57 | Ignition | 16 | |
| Ret | 14 | |
McLaren-Ford | 28 | Suspension | 5 | |
| Ret | 22 | |
BRM | 25 | Engine | 19 | |
| Ret | 19 | |
Cooper-BRM | 21 | Engine | 21 | |
| Ret | 5 | |
Honda | 17 | Overheating | 6 | |
| Ret | 6 | |
Ferrari | 16 | Transmission | 2 | |
| Ret | 12 | |
Lotus-Ford | 14 | Broken wing | 11 | |
| Ret | 1 | |
McLaren-Ford | 10 | Suspension | 4 | |
| Ret | 21 | |
Matra | 10 | Suspension | 13 | |
| Ret | 7 | |
Ferrari | 3 | Ignition | 15 | |
| Ret | 4 | |
Brabham-Repco | 2 | Ignition | 10 | |
| DNS | 17 | |
McLaren-BRM | 0 | Engine | ||
Notes
- Pole position: Jo Siffert - 1:45.22
- Fastest lap: Jo Siffert - 1:44.23 on lap 52
- Coming into this race, 3 drivers had a chance to win the title, making Hill the only driver to be involved in two 3-way battles.
- Graham Hill (39pts) needed either
- A podium place, with Stewart 2nd or lower
- 4th or 5th, with Hulme 2nd or lower and Stewart 3rd or lower
- 6th, with Hulme 2nd or lower and Stewart 4th or lower
- Hulme 2nd or lower and Stewart 5th or lower
- Jackie Stewart (36pts) needed either
- 1st
- 2nd, with Hulme 3rd or lower and Hill 4th or lower
- 3rd, with Hulme 2nd or lower and Hill 6th or lower
- 4th, with Hulme 3rd or lower and Hill 7th or lower
- Denny Hulme (33pts) needed
- 1st with Hill 4th or lower
- Graham Hill (39pts) needed either
- This was Jackie Oliver's first podium finish.
Championship standings after the race
|
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
- Kettlewell, Mike. "Grand Prix Racing South of the Border", in Ward, Ian, executive editor. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974) Volume 12, p.1332.
- Kettlewell, p.1332.
- "1968 Mexican Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- "The start of the 3-litre era". 8WForix. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- "Mexico 1968 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
Further reading
- Lang, Mike (1982). Grand Prix! Vol 2. Haynes Publishing Group. pp. 82–83. ISBN 0-85429-321-3.
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