1968 French Grand Prix
The 1968 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Rouen-Les-Essarts Circuit on 7 July 1968. It was race 6 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 60-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx after he started from third position. John Surtees finished second for the Honda team and Matra driver Jackie Stewart came in third.
| 1968 French Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 The Rouen Les Essarts circuit in 1968 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 7 July 1968 | ||
| Official name | LIV Grand Prix de France | ||
| Location | Rouen-Les-Essarts, Grand-Couronne, France | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 6.542 km (4.065 mi) | ||
| Distance | 60 laps, 392.520 km (243.901 mi) | ||
| Weather | Wet | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Brabham-Repco | ||
| Time | 1:56.1 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 | BRM | |
| Time | 2:11.5 on lap 19 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | Honda | ||
| Third | Matra-Ford | ||
The French driver Jo Schlesser had a fatal accident on the second lap of the race, when he lost control in the then-new Honda RA302 chassis which overturned and caught fire partially due to its magnesium content. He was chosen as driver when regular Honda F1 driver John Surtees refused to drive the new car, opting for the older RA301 chassis, on the grounds that the new car was unsafe. This race was a turning point in Formula One as the death of Schlesser prompted many safety precautions in later races.
This was also the last F1 race to take place at Rouen-Les Essarts.
Classification
Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |  |
Brabham-Repco | 1:56.1 | — |
| 2 | 28 |  |
Matra-Ford | 1:57.3 | +1.2 |
| 3 | 26 | .svg.png){kind=small} |
Ferrari | 1:57.7 | +1.6 |
| 4 | 8 |  |
McLaren-Ford | 1:57.7 | +1.6 |
| 5 | 24 | |
Ferrari | 1:57.8 | +1.7 |
| 6 | 10 | |
McLaren-Ford | 1:58.0 | +1.9 |
| 7 | 16 | |
Honda | 1:58.2 | +2.1 |
| 8 | 6 |  |
Matra | 1:58.9 | +2.8 |
| 9 | 12 | |
Lotus-Ford | 1:59.1 | +3.0 |
| 10 | 20 | |
BRM | 1:59.3 | +3.2 |
| 11 | 14 | |
Lotus-Ford | 2:00.2 | +4.1 |
| 12 | 34 |  |
Lotus-Ford | 2:00.3 | +4.2 |
| 13 | 22 | |
BRM | 2:00.8 | +4.7 |
| 14 | 4 | .svg.png){kind=small} |
Brabham-Repco | 2:00.8 | +4.7 |
| 15 | 36 | |
BRM | 2:01.1 | +5.0 |
| 16 | 32 | |
Cooper-BRM | 2:01.2 | +5.1 |
| 17 | 18 | |
Honda | 2:04.5 | +8.4 |
| 18 | 30 | |
Cooper-BRM | 2:05.5 | +9.4 |
Race
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 | |
Ferrari | 60 | 2:25:40.9 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | 16 | |
Honda | 60 | + 1:58.6 | 7 | 6 |
| 3 | 28 | |
Matra-Ford | 59 | + 1 Lap | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | 30 | |
Cooper-BRM | 58 | + 2 Laps | 17 | 3 |
| 5 | 8 | |
McLaren-Ford | 58 | + 2 Laps | 4 | 2 |
| 6 | 36 | |
BRM | 57 | + 3 Laps | 14 | 1 |
| 7 | 22 | |
BRM | 57 | + 3 Laps | 12 | |
| 8 | 10 | |
McLaren-Ford | 56 | + 4 Laps | 6 | |
| 9 | 6 | |
Matra | 56 | + 4 Laps | 8 | |
| 10 | 24 | |
Ferrari | 55 | + 5 Laps | 5 | |
| 11 | 34 | |
Lotus-Ford | 54 | + 6 Laps | 11 | |
| NC | 20 | |
BRM | 53 | Not Classified | 10 | |
| Ret | 2 | |
Brabham-Repco | 45 | Fuel Leak | 1 | |
| Ret | 4 | |
Brabham-Repco | 15 | Fuel Pump | 13 | |
| Ret | 12 | |
Lotus-Ford | 14 | Halfshaft | 9 | |
| Ret | 32 | |
Cooper-BRM | 14 | Accident | 15 | |
| Ret | 18 | |
Honda | 2 | Fatal Accident | 16 | |
| DNS | 14 | |
Lotus-Ford | Accident in practice | |||
Notes
- Milestones:
- 1st Win - Jacky Ickx
- 1st Pole Position - Jochen Rindt
- 1st Fastest Lap - Pedro Rodríguez
- On lap 14, after Graham Hill retired from the race, Hill gave his helmet visor to Jo Siffert on-track due to Siffert's helmet not having a visor.
Championship standings after the race
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
- "1968 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- "Grand Prix Results: French GP, 1968". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- "France 1968 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
Further reading
- Lang, Mike (1982). Grand Prix! Vol 2. Haynes Publishing Group. pp. 70–71. ISBN 0-85429-321-3.
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