We’re heading into the most glamorous week of the Formula 1 season as the Grand Prix circus descends on Monaco for the race that still captures the attention of the world, petrolheads or not.
Back in the 1960s, Graham Hill was not simply the only man to win the triple crown and a double F1 world champion, he was ‘Mr. Monaco’, winning the race there five times in seven years.
The first of those came in 1963 and was reported on in the May 31st edition of “Autosport”, which included a glorious photo of Hill’s win on the front cover.
Badged up as the “Grand Prix of Europe”, it was the first of ten races in that season’s championship, in which Hill would ultimately relinquish his world champion’s crown to Jim Clark.
It was Clark that looked set to win the 100-lap race, leading by nearly 16 seconds on the 78th lap before his gearbox failed, leaving Hill to lead home a BRM one-two, team-mate Richie Ginther in second. Hill set a new race record with an average speed of 116.55kph.
Gregor Grant’s fascinating account of the entire race weekend is available here.
