1961 season in Formula 1: Ferrari's return to the top after a tragic end

1961 season in Formula 1: Ferrari's return to the top after a tragic end

The term "turbulent" doesn't fit many other sports better than Formula 1. And at the same time, it also describes very well the situation in the sport in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The world is quickly forgetting about Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio's series of titles with Ferrari, Maserati and Mercedes. Between 1957 and 1964, only one driver took more than one world title - Jack Brabham. The Australian won his second in a row with Cooper in 1960 and went into the following season as favourite. At least as expected…

Among the Ferrari drivers, there is only 1 title in the last 4 seasons and the "black horses" are ambitious to return to the top. They do it with an interesting trio of pilots – the Americans Phil Hill and Richie Ginther, as well as the German Wolfgang von Trips. Although 10 Italians started at least once during the season, none did so for Ferrari.

The calendar does not start according to the Reds' plan. Stirling Moss and Lotus win the first race in Monaco, but the Italians put 3 cars in the top 5, a clear hint of what will happen by the end of the year. In the next two starts, von Trips and Hill each traded a win and a second place, making them favorites for the title with 5 starts to go.

In France, the situation is not developing according to their strategy. Wolfgang drops out and Phil is 9th. Fortunately for them, Giancarlo Baghetti surprisingly took the win. So in Great Britain and Germany, Hill and Trips dominated again to reach their home race at Monza.

The German has a solid lead in the standings with two wins, two second places and one fourth place. At the same time, Hill has one win, two second and two third places.

What follows is one of the greatest tragedies in F1 history. At Monza, Von Tripp's Ferrari crashed Jim Clark's Lotus. After contact between the two, Wolfgang's car flew into the stands and killed 15 of the spectators, as well as the driver himself. The race ends anyway, and Phil Hill wins it. With this, he leads his team-mate by 1 point in the general classification and the battle for the title is decided...

Ferrari has known for a long time that it will take the success of the constructors as well. Thus, the "black horses" do not travel to the USA for the last race of the season. The Scuderia won everything possible during the track season, but lost one of its most talented drivers. forever…

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