1966 Monaco Grand Prix

1966 Monaco Grand Prix
Race details
Date	22 May 1966
Official name	XXIV Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco
Location	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco
Course	Street Circuit
Course length	3.145 km (1.954 miles)
Distance	100 laps, 314.500 km (195.400 miles)
Weather	Overcast, Mild, Dry
Pole position
Driver	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax
Time	1:29.9
Fastest lap
Driver	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari
Time	1:29.8
Podium
First	Jackie Stewart	BRM
Second	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari
Third	Graham Hill	BRM
Lap leaders

The 1966 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Monaco on 22 May 1966. It was race 1 of 9 in both the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the first World Championship event of a new era for Formula One, for which engine regulations were altered from 1.5 litres of maximum engine displacement to 3.0 litres. The race was the 24th Monaco Grand Prix.

The race was won by British driver Jackie Stewart driving a BRM P261. He took a forty-second victory over the Ferrari 246 of Italian driver Lorenzo Bandini. It was Stewart's second Grand Prix victory after winning the Italian Grand Prix the previous year. Stewart's team-mate, fellow Briton Graham Hill finished a lap down in third position in his BRM P261. The only other driver to be classified as a finisher was American driver Bob Bondurant driving a BRM P261 entered privately by Team Chamaco Collect.

Race report

The first World Championship race of the new 3-litre engine formula was held in Monaco. Few teams were ready for the new regulations with several teams starting the race with 1965 engines still in place, or had adapted heavier sports car racing engines to suit.

Some sessions were filmed for the movie Grand Prix. It was the debut race of the McLaren racing team, and the Repco V8 in the back of Brabham's new 1966 BT19 chassis. The British-licensed as well as based and New Zealand-owned McLaren team debuted not in British racing green nor in New Zealand's traditional racing colours of green, black and silver, but instead in white and green in order for Grand Prix director John Frankenheimer to be able to use the McLaren as a double for the fictional Yamura cars in the film. John Surtees, though still recovering from a crash at Mosport Park, led for 14 laps from Jackie Stewart, Jochen Rindt and Denny Hulme until his differential broke, handing the lead to Stewart. Hulme retired whilst Graham Hill and Jim Clark disputed third place before Clark's suspension gave out. Meanwhile, Lorenzo Bandini was smashing the lap record before having to ease off to prevent the front brakes wearing out. Stewart won from Bandini with Graham Hill third and Bob Bondurant fourth the only other car past the line in a race of extreme attrition. New rules meant that cars had to complete 90% of the race distance to be classified and eligible for points, meaning that whilst Guy Ligier and Jo Bonnier were still racing, they were considered far enough behind to have actually retired. To this day, this race holds the record for having the fewest classified finishers in a single race in Formula One history.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	4	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	1:29.9	—
2	17	John Surtees	Ferrari	1:30.1	+0.2
3	12	Jackie Stewart	BRM	1:30.3	+0.4
4	11	Graham Hill	BRM	1:30.4	+0.5
5	16	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	1:30.5	+0.6
6	8	Denny Hulme	Brabham-Climax	1:31.1	+1.2
7	10	Jochen Rindt	Cooper-Maserati	1:32.2	+2.3
8	15	Bob Anderson	Brabham-Climax	1:32.5	+2.6
9	9	Richie Ginther	Cooper-Maserati	1:32.6	+2.7
10	2	Bruce McLaren	McLaren-Ford	1:32.8	+2.9
11	7	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	1:32.8	+2.9
12	6	Mike Spence	Lotus-BRM	1:33.5	+3.6
13	14	Jo Siffert	Brabham-BRM	1:34.4	+4.5
14	18	Jo Bonnier	Cooper-Maserati	1:35.0	+5.1
15	21	Guy Ligier	Cooper-Maserati	1:35.2	+5.3
16	19	Bob Bondurant	BRM	1:37.3	+7.4
DNS	20	Phil Hill	Lotus-Climax	1:42.2	+12.3

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	12	Jackie Stewart	BRM	100	2:33:10.5	3	9
2	16	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	100	+ 40.2	5	6
3	11	Graham Hill	BRM	99	+ 1 Lap	4	4
4	19	Bob Bondurant	BRM	95	+ 5 Laps	16	3
Ret	9	Richie Ginther	Cooper-Maserati	80	Transmission	9
NC	21	Guy Ligier	Cooper-Maserati	75	+ 25 Laps	15
NC	18	Jo Bonnier	Cooper-Maserati	73	+ 27 Laps	14
Ret	4	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	60	Suspension	1
Ret	10	Jochen Rindt	Cooper-Maserati	56	Engine	7
Ret	14	Jo Siffert	Brabham-BRM	35	Clutch	13
Ret	6	Mike Spence	Lotus-BRM	34	Suspension	12
Ret	7	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	17	Gearbox	11
Ret	17	John Surtees	Ferrari	16	Transmission	2
Ret	8	Denny Hulme	Brabham-Climax	15	Transmission	6
Ret	2	Bruce McLaren	McLaren-Ford	9	Oil Leak	10
Ret	15	Bob Anderson	Brabham-Climax	3	Engine	8
DNS	20	Phil Hill	Lotus-Climax		Camera car
WD	1	Chris Amon	McLaren-Ford
WD	3	Peter Arundell	Lotus-BRM
WD	5	Richard Attwood	BRM
Source:

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut race for French driver Guy Ligier.
• This was BRM's fourth win of the Monaco Grand Prix, thereby breaking the old record of three wins in Monte Carlo set by Cooper at the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix.
• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for McLaren.
• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Repco, the first Australian and Oceanian engine supplier in Formula One.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Jackie Stewart	9
2	Lorenzo Bandini	6
3	Graham Hill	4
4	Bob Bondurant	3
Source:

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	BRM	9
2	Ferrari	6
Source:

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.