John Surtees won the 1966 Mexican Grand Prix in a Cooper T81-Maserati, finishing the Formula One season finale in second place in the drivers' championship.
Key Facts
- Race number in season
- 9 of 9
- Circuit length
- 5 km
- Race distance
- 325 km
- Laps
- 65
- Victory margin (Surtees over Brabham)
- 8 seconds
- Formula introduced
- First Mexican GP under three-litre Formula
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The 1966 Mexican Grand Prix was the ninth and final round of the 1966 Formula One season, held under the newly introduced three-litre engine regulations. John Surtees, having left Scuderia Ferrari mid-season to join Cooper, arrived seeking a strong result to improve his championship standing.
Held on 23 October 1966 at the Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca circuit in Mexico City, the race ran over 65 laps. John Surtees drove his Cooper T81-Maserati to victory, finishing eight seconds ahead of reigning world champion Jack Brabham in a Brabham BT20-Repco, with Brabham's teammate Denny Hulme taking third a lap down.
Surtees's victory elevated him to second place in the 1966 World Championship of Drivers, overtaking Jochen Rindt of the Cooper works team. Jack Brabham had already secured the drivers' title, and Brabham also claimed the constructors' equivalent, the International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.