1962 Formula One season

Ricardo Rodríguez suffered a fatal crash during practice for his home race, the non-championship Mexican Grand Prix.

Reigning champion Phil Hill (Ferrari) was running third at the time, inheritering second but later getting overtaken by Trevor Taylor (Lotus).

[5] Jim Clark scored his first career pole in the Monaco Grand Prix, ahead of Graham Hill and Bruce McLaren.

[6] The Belgian Grand Prix saw Graham Hill qualify on pole, ahead of McLaren, Taylor and home hero Mairesse.

Clark held on to take the win, but getting up to the final corner of lap 26, Taylor crashed with Mairesse, the Lotus cutting down a telegraph pole and the Ferrari landing upside down on fire.

The French Grand Prix saw Jim Clark qualify on pole position in his Lotus, ahead of championship leader Graham Hill for BRM and Bruce McLaren for Cooper.

Fifth-starting John Surtees was in second after the first lap and challenged Hill for the lead, but had to pit when his engine had trouble picking up fuel.

Clark took the lead, but was caught by Hill within three laps, confirming to the Lotus team that their car was not running well, and they decided to retire from the race.

Further drama ensued when Hill's BRM engine had jammed with ten laps to go, paving the way for Dan Gurney taking his first and Porsche's only win.

[9] During the British Grand Prix, Clark scored his third pole position of the year, this time ahead of Surtees and Ireland.

The top three remained unchanged throughout the race, with Clark taking an unchallenged win and even getting close to lapping championship leader Hill, who came home in fourth.

During practice, Carel Godin de Beaufort was running his Porsche with a large camera mounted to the rear by the German television crew.

The device fell off, however, and championship leader Hill was the unlucky victim, unable to avoid it, breaking his oil lines and quickly spinning off the track.

Gurney started on pole, ahead of Hill and Clark, but the race was delayed for over an hour, after a sudden downpour made the track incredibly slippery.

At half-distance, Clark had recovered to fourth place, mastering the wet conditions and gaining at least five seconds per lap on the leading trio.

[11] In the Drivers' Championship, Graham Hill (BRM) was still holding onto the lead with 28 points, ahead of Jim Clark (Lotus) with 21 and John Surtees (Lola) with 19.

BRM scored a comfortable 1–2, while close fighting and a light rain shower provided exciting battles, from which Bruce McLaren came up to complete the podium.

Hill could cruise to the finish but still won the race almost 50 seconds ahead of McLaren and home hero Tony Maggs.

[14] The Drivers' Championship was settled with Graham Hill (BRM) on 42 points, winning his first title, ahead of Jim Clark (Lotus) on 30 and Bruce McLaren (Cooper) on 27.