1968 French Grand Prix
The Grand Prix of France in 1968 took place on July 7, instead of on the track Rouen -les- Essarts and was the sixth race of the Formula 1 season 1968.
- 3.1 Start -up
- 3.2 race
- 4.1 Drivers' Championship
- 4.2 Constructors' Championship
Reports
Background
After the Grand Prix of France in the years before had taken place one after the other at the Circuit de Charade, the Circuit de Reims - Gueux and the Bugatti circuit, he was first held in 1968 again near Rouen since 1964.
Honda was planning for the first time the use of the newly developed type 302 with air-cooled engine, the factory driver John Surtees had tested in the weeks before. Since this stopped the car for not yet mature, he refused to deny so that the race and has been reported with the already proven Type 301 for the Grand Prix. However, since CEO Soichiro Honda visited the race, they wanted to bring to the start of the new racing car essential. It was decided to report the car under the team name " Honda France" and to let piloting of the popular French racing driver Jo Schlesser as a guest.
Since Brian Redman still missing through injury, the Cooper works team dedicated to Formula 1 newcomer Vic Elford and also lent Johnny Servoz - Gavin as cast for the second car of Matra from.
Since Dan Gurney still had no Weslake engines for his Eagle team is available and, unlike the Grand Prix of the Netherlands two weeks earlier and did not get the opportunity to go as an additional driver in a factory team at the start, he paused this weekend.
Training
During training, Jackie Oliver crashed at high speed without getting hurt seriously. His Lotus 49 was there but so badly damaged that repair until the race was no longer possible and thus Oliver had to do without for the start.
Jochen Rindt secured in the works Brabham, the first pole position of his Grand Prix career and shared the front row with the Matra MS10 Jackie Stewart and the Ferrari 312 of Jacky Ickx. Denis Hulme and Chris Amon qualified for the second row.
Race
The race started in light rain. Almost all the drivers chose Intermediates as tires. Only Jacky Ickx drove off on full wet tires, which proved after the first round as the right decision because he could gain the lead and easily settle. Behind it Rindt and Stewart dueled for second place, followed by Surtees.
At the start of the third round Schlesser lost control of the new Honda. The car overturned and caught fire. The gasoline from the tank still full and the chassis made of magnesium burned so intense that for Schlesser any help came too late. After Jim Clark, Mike Spence and Ludovico Scarfiotti he was the fourth Formula 1 driver who died this year. Among the fours however, he was the only one who was killed during a Grand Prix.
Although the brightly burning wreck was partly on the track, the race was not canceled. Jochen Rindt suffered when passing the accident site by the heat and debris lying around a puncture that forced him to make a pit stop. Meanwhile overtook Surtees the runner-up Stewart and held that position until he in turn was overtaken in the seventh round of Pedro Rodríguez. The leading in the championship and the ninth started Graham Hill finally overtook Stewart and took to his failure because of breakage of the drive shaft to the fourth rank.
In the 19th round Ickx came from off the track and was consequently overtaken by Rodríguez and Surtees. Within just a game but he fought his way back to the top, defended this position until the finish and thus presented his first victory in only his eighth Grand Prix safe. Rodríguez lost because of extensive pit stops second place at Surtees, the thought of this, although he also had to make a short stop.
Vic Elford finished his Grand Prix debut after a good performance in fourth place. Pedro Rodríguez could be credited to the fastest lap of the race in his Formula 1 career for the first time.
Message list
Classifications
Line-up
1 Due to an error the race management, the starting positions of Vic Elford and Jo Schlesser were reversed.
Race
WM stands after the race
The first six of the race were 9, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point (s).