Denny Hulme won the title for Brabham, while Lotus found its footing with the Cosworth DFV engine.
Denny Hulme took the 1967 Drivers' Championship for Brabham with 51 points. Jack Brabham was second on 46 and Jim Clark third on 41, while Brabham's team won the Manufacturers' Cup. The eleven-race series ran from January to October.
The 1967 Formula One season was the 21st year of FIA Formula One racing, and it ended with Denny Hulme taking the Drivers' Championship for Brabham. The title was decided on the last weekend in Mexico, and it came after a season in which Lotus found its footing with the Cosworth DFV engine and a Ferrari driver died after a crash at Monaco. The eleven races ran from 2 January to 22 October.
How did Denny Hulme win the 1967 title?
Denny Hulme won the Drivers' Championship for Brabham with 51 points, ahead of his teammate Jack Brabham on 46 and Jim Clark on 41. Brabham's team also took the Manufacturers' Cup with 63 points. Hulme did not take a single pole position all season, which made him the first champion to win without one.
Hulme's title came from steady results rather than qualifying speed. He won at Monaco and at the Nurburgring, finished second at Mosport and then took third at Mexico, the last round, which was enough to seal the championship. He is still the only New Zealander to become world champion.
Only Niki Lauda repeated the feat of winning a title without a pole position, and he did it in 1984. Hulme's record stands alone in that respect.
Denny Hulme's steady run to the 1967 title, set against a Monaco tragedy and Lotus's move to Cosworth power.
What happened to Lorenzo Bandini at Monaco?
Lorenzo Bandini crashed in the Monaco Grand Prix after losing an early lead and trying to close back on the front runners. He clipped the chicane at the harbour front, hit a hidden mooring and his Ferrari overturned and burst into flames. Marshals needed several minutes to free him, and Bandini died three days later.
Before the accident, Hulme had pulled away to a lead of around 15 seconds. He finished one lap ahead of Graham Hill's Lotus and two laps ahead of Chris Amon's Ferrari. Only six cars were classified at the finish, the same small number that had finished the opening race in South Africa.
The FIA moved quickly after the crash. Circuit organisers were banned from using straw bales along the track, because they had helped the fire spread, and television crews were told to keep their helicopters higher. Those changes were a direct response to the tragedy at Monaco.
Bandini's death was not the only loss of the year. Bob Anderson, a British driver, died after a test at Silverstone, when his Brabham slid off in wet conditions and hit a marshals' post.
Who moved teams before the 1967 season?
Several drivers changed teams for 1967. Pedro Rodriguez moved to Cooper, John Surtees left for Honda and Graham Hill swapped BRM for Lotus. McLaren ran BRM engines after dropping Ford, and Ferrari cut its operation to a single car for Chris Amon after Bandini's death.
Amon's Ferrari drive was his first full-time Formula One seat since 1964. Ferrari had earlier brought back Mike Parkes and Ludovico Scarfiotti for two races before reducing the team to one car. Hill's arrival at Lotus replaced Peter Arundell, while Mike Spence came in at BRM after gaining experience with Reg Parnell's private team.
Matra introduced its first Formula One chassis, the MS7, for the last two races of the season. Jean-Pierre Beltoise, a Formula Two driver, was granted the seat, which made the new car a late-season experiment rather than a title push.
Mid-season changes were just as frequent. Pedro Rodriguez was injured in a Formula Two race at Pergusa, and Richard Attwood and Jacky Ickx stepped in for him at Cooper. That run was Ickx's Formula One debut, and he went on to win the Formula Two title that year.
How did the Cosworth switch change Lotus?
Lotus moved to the Cosworth DFV from the third race of 1967, after working with Climax and BRM engines since 1966. The Ford Motor Company funded the project, and the change gave the team a real chance to challenge at the front. Before that, Lotus had hoped to use the new engines earlier, but they were not ready for Monaco.
The first Cosworth-powered race for Lotus was the Dutch Grand Prix, which had been brought forward to early June. Graham Hill took pole, and the Lotus team showed a clear step up in speed. Hill's engine seized on lap 11, but Clark charged through to take the lead and won comfortably.
The Cosworth engines were fast but not yet reliable. Both Lotus cars retired from the French race before half distance, and Hill missed the German Grand Prix after a practice crash wrote off his car.
Which races opened the 1967 season?
The South African Grand Prix returned to the calendar at Kyalami. Jack Brabham took pole, but Pedro Rodriguez won in his Cooper after the leader, John Love, stopped for extra fuel. John Surtees finished third for Honda, and Hulme and Brabham were classified several laps down, which still left them in the points.
Monaco came next. Hulme took his first win of the year there, although the result is overshadowed by Bandini's crash.
How did the Dutch and Belgian rounds play out?
The Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort gave Clark his first win of the season for Lotus. He pulled away from Brabham and Hulme, who finished second and third, and the three Ferraris followed behind the leaders. Clark kept adding about a second a lap to his advantage as the race went on.
At the Belgian Grand Prix, Dan Gurney took the win in his Eagle. The start was dramatic, with Mike Parkes crashing his Ferrari on the first lap and breaking a leg and a wrist. Gurney set a new lap record during the race and won by more than a minute from Jackie Stewart and Chris Amon.
What happened in France and Britain?
The French round moved to the Bugatti layout of the Circuit de la Sarthe, replacing Reims-Gueux. Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme finished first and second for Brabham, and Jackie Stewart took third, a lap down. Only six cars were classified at the flag, and both Lotus cars had retired from the lead before half distance.
At Silverstone, Clark won the British Grand Prix in front of Hulme and Chris Amon, with the Lotus pair at the front of the grid. Hill led for a time, until a suspension screw failed and sent him into the pits on lap 55. His engine gave up ten laps afterwards. Clark took a comfortable win in the end, and Amon passed Brabham near the finish.
Why did Germany and Canada matter?
The German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring was run on a circuit that tested drivers and cars alike. Clark took pole, and his right-rear wheel began to deflate on lap 3, which forced him to back off. Gurney took the lead and built a gap of more than 40 seconds before his driveshaft broke on lap 13.
Hulme inherited the win, with Brabham second and Amon third. Canada came next at Mosport, a race intended as a one-off to mark 100 years of Canadian independence. Rain returned during the warm-up, and Brabham won more than a minute ahead of Hulme. Clark's engine was soaked and cut out just after he took the lead on lap 58.
How did Monza, Watkins Glen and Mexico settle the title?
At Monza, John Surtees won the Italian Grand Prix by 0.2 seconds from Brabham. Clark qualified on pole and held the lead for a time, but he ran out of fuel while leading and dropped to third. The win was Honda's last until 2006, and it came from a battle that went to the final corner.
Clark took the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, and his win was comfortable until the right-rear suspension broke two laps from the flag. Hill could not catch him, so he finished second, and Hulme took third a lap down. Clark's three wins that year came at Zandvoort, Silverstone and Watkins Glen.
The final round in Mexico decided the title. Brabham needed to win, and Hulme had to finish fifth or lower for Brabham to overtake him. Hill retired when his driveshaft broke. Brabham won, and Clark set a new lap record to finish second, lapping everyone except the winner. Hulme finished third, which was enough to take the title.
How did the 1967 round results break down?
The table below lists each round's winner. It shows Brabham and Lotus trading the lead, while Ferrari and Cooper took a few individual victories along the way.
| Round | Grand Prix | Winner | Car | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Africa | Pedro Rodriguez | Cooper | Only six classified finishers |
| 2 | Monaco | Denny Hulme | Brabham-Repco | Bandini crashed and died three days later |
| 3 | Netherlands | Jim Clark | Lotus | First race with the Cosworth DFV |
| 4 | Belgium | Dan Gurney | Eagle | New lap record |
| 5 | France | Jack Brabham | Brabham-Repco | Hulme second, Stewart a lap down in third |
| 6 | Great Britain | Jim Clark | Lotus | Hulme second, Amon third |
| 7 | Germany | Denny Hulme | Brabham-Repco | Clark's wheel deflated early on |
| 8 | Canada | Jack Brabham | Brabham-Repco | Won by more than a minute |
| 9 | Italy | John Surtees | Honda | Won by 0.2 seconds |
| 10th | United States | Jim Clark | Lotus | Hill second, Hulme third |
| 11 | Mexico | Jack Brabham | Brabham-Repco | Clark second, Hulme third to take the title |
What did the 1967 points table show?
The Brabham-Repco cars won five of the eleven races, Lotus took three, and Cooper, Eagle and Honda each won one. That spread explains why the constructors' fight was decided by reliability as much as raw pace.
The standings moved in several directions across the season. Hulme led with 16 points after four rounds, with Rodriguez and Amon both on 11. After seven rounds, Hulme led with 37 points, Brabham was second on 25, and Clark and Amon shared third with 19.
The final classification gave Hulme 51 points, Brabham 46 and Clark 41. Brabham's team scored 63 points to win the Manufacturers' Cup, ahead of Lotus on 44 and Cooper on 28. Only the best five results counted from the first six rounds, and the best four from the last five.
Frequently asked questions
How many championship races were held in 1967?
There were eleven championship races, starting with South Africa on 2 January and ending in Mexico on 22 October. Six other Formula One races were held that year, but none counted towards the title.
Did Ferrari run more than one car after Bandini's death?
No. After Bandini's death the team ran a single car for Chris Amon. Earlier in the year, Parkes and Scarfiotti had filled extra seats for a couple of races.
Why did Lotus change engines in 1967?
Lotus had used Climax and BRM engines since 1966 before moving to the Cosworth DFV. The Ford Motor Company helped fund the development of that new engine.
Who was the only New Zealander to win the title?
Denny Hulme was the only New Zealander to win the world title, and he did it with Brabham in 1967. Only Niki Lauda has matched his feat of winning without taking a pole position.
How were points awarded in 1967?
Points went to the top six classified finishers. Formula Two cars were not eligible for points, and the Manufacturers' Cup counted only the highest-placed driver from each team in each race.
