1961 Elite Racing League season

All information on this page is not part of canon.

1961 Elite Racing League season
Previous: 1960	Next: 1962

Drivers Champion	Manufacturers Champion
Template:AUS Jack Brabham	Template:GBR Cooper-Climax

The 1961 Elite Racing League season was the 2nd season of the FIA's Formula One motor racing support series (the series would remain a support series until 1997.) The Drivers Championship was retained by Jack Brabham from Australia whilst his team, Cooper-Climax, won the Constructors Championship for the second time also successfully retaining it from the previous year. Brabham won his second Drivers Championship at the final race in the United States whilst Cooper won the Constructors Championship with three races to go.

Season Review

The European Grand Prix was moved from the undeveloped (at the time) Imola circuit near San Marino to the Aintree Motor Racing Circuit to further solidify the championship's British roots and fanbase.

Many Formula 1 drivers on the grid for this season also participated in the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race so the FIA placed a support race at Sebring and calling it the United States Grand Prix, this would prove to be a good move as fans liked the Grand Prix.

The Portuguese Grand Prix made its debut at the Boavista street track however this would only be a short term event as races at the track were scrapped following the 1962 season out of safety reasons.

Rnd	Race	Circuit	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Constructor
1	Template:GBR British Grand Prix	Silverstone	Template:AUS Jack Brabham	Template:AUS Jack Brabham	Template:AUS Jack Brabham	Template:GBR Cooper-Climax
2	European Grand Prix	Aintree	Template:GBR Jim Clark	Template:AUS Jack Brabham	Template:AUS Jack Brabham	Template:GBR Cooper-Climax
3	Template:FRA French Grand Prix	Reims-Geuex	Bruce McLaren	Bruce McLaren	Bruce McLaren	Template:GBR Cooper-Climax
4	Monaco Grand Prix	Monaco	Template:USA Phil Hill	Jo Bonnier	Bruce McLaren	Template:GBR Cooper-Climax
5	Italian Grand Prix	Monza	Bruce McLaren	Template:GBR Jim Clark	Template:GBR Jim Clark	Template:GBR Lotus-Climax
6	Dutch Grand Prix	Zandvoort	Template:AUS Jack Brabham	Template:GBR Jim Clark	Template:AUS Jack Brabham	Template:GBR Cooper-Climax
7	Portuguese Grand Prix	Boavista	Bruce McLaren	Jo Bonnier	Template:AUS Jack Brabham	Template:GBR Cooper-Climax
8	Template:USA United States Grand Prix	Sebring	Template:GBR Jim Clark	Bruce McLaren	Template:GBR Jim Clark	Template:GBR Lotus-Climax

Teams and Drivers

Vanwall withdrew from the championship after only one season due to financial issues. Maserati entered the series this year, also the field was expanded from 9 drivers to 12.

Team	Constructor	Engine	Tyres	#	Driver	Rounds
Template:GBR Cooper Car Company	Cooper-Climax	Climax FPF 2.5 L4	Template:Dunlop	1	Template:AUS Jack Brabham	All
				2	Bruce McLaren	All
				3	Template:USA Roger Penske	All
Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	Ferrari 155 2.4 V6	Template:Dunlop	4	Template:USA Phil Hill	All
				5	Template:USA Richie Ginther	All
Template:GBR Team Lotus	Lotus-Climax	Climax FPF 2.5 L4	Template:Dunlop	6	Template:GBR Jim Clark	All
				7	Template:GBR John Surtees	All
				8	Template:BEL Lucien Bianchi	All
Maserati Factory Team	Maserati	Maserati Tipo 6 1.5 L4	Template:Dunlop	9	Lorenzo Bandini	All
				10	Roberto Lippi	All
Porsche Racing	Porsche	Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4	Template:Dunlop	11	Jo Bonnier	All
				12	Template:USA Dan Gurney	All

Drivers Championship

Pos.	Driver	Points
1	Template:AUS Jack Brabham	45
2	Bruce McLaren	42
3	Template:GBR Jim Clark	38
4	Template:USA Phil Hill	21
5	Jo Bonnier	18
6	Template:GBR John Surtees	15
7	Roberto Lippi	7
8	Template:USA Dan Gurney	5
9	Template:BEL Lucien Bianchi	4
10	Template:USA Roger Penske	3
11	Template:USA Richie Ginther	2
12	Lorenzo Bandini	0

Constructors Championship

Pos.	Constructor	Points
1	Template:GBR Cooper-Climax	90
2	Template:GBR Lotus-Climax	55
3	Ferrari	23
4	Porsche	23
5	Maserati	7