Graham Hill clinched the 1962 Formula One World Drivers' Championship after Jim Clark's retirement, also securing BRM's first and only Manufacturers' Cup.
Key Facts
- Race length
- 82 laps
- Winner
- Graham Hill (BRM)
- Championship lead (pre-race)
- Hill led Clark by 9 points
- Clark's retirement cause
- Oil leak with 20 laps remaining
- Season round
- 9th and final race of 1962 season
- Podium
- Hill, McLaren, Maggs (all Cooper-Climax except BRM)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Heading into the final race, Graham Hill led Jim Clark by nine points in the Drivers' Championship. Clark could still win the title by winning the race, as only each driver's top five results counted. Clark took pole position and led the race comfortably, putting him on course to claim the championship.
The 1962 South African Grand Prix was held at East London on 29 December 1962. Jim Clark led for most of the 82-lap race before an oil leak forced his retirement approximately 20 laps from the finish, allowing Graham Hill to take victory in his BRM ahead of Bruce McLaren and Tony Maggs, both in Cooper-Climaxes.
Hill's victory secured him the 1962 World Drivers' Championship, his first title. The result simultaneously delivered BRM their first and only International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. Clark's mechanical failure denied him what would have been an early championship, though he would go on to win the title the following year.