1963 Formula One season

[2] Every pole position and race in the 1963 championship were won by British drivers, the first time that this was achieved by any single nation.

With little driver changes in the front-running teams and constructors withholding to introduce new designs to the narrow streets of Monte Carlo, the battle between the 1962 championship protagonists was expected to restart.

Only five drivers were guaranteed a starting place: the previous World Champions or winners of the Monaco Grand Prix.

Clark was still suffering from gearbox issues, so Hill took pole position, ahead of Dan Gurney (Brabham) and local hero Willy Mairesse (Ferrari).

Then when Hill's gearbox broke, his win looked sealed, expect the heaviest storm of the day flooded the track.

Five drivers crashed and it was discussed to stop the race, but Clark cautiously completed the laps, ahead of McLaren and Gurney.

Gurney had climbed to fourth, but a strut underneath the car had come loose and a pit stop brought him back down the order.

[5] In the Drivers' Championship, Jim Clark (Lotus) was leading with 18 points, ahead of Richie Ginther (BRM with 11 and Bruce McLaren (Cooper) and Dan Gurney (Brabham), both with 10.

Championship leader Jim Clark scored another pole position at the French Grand Prix, ahead of Graham Hill and Dan Gurney.

Jack Brabham was catching the leading Lotus, but when the rain fell, Clark was again the fastest man on track and took the chequered flag to complete another "grand slam" and a hattrick of wins.

[7] For the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Clark scored a fourth consecutive pole position, ahead of Gurney and Hill.

[8] Clark looked unstoppable going into the German Grand Prix, putting his Lotus on pole once again, ahead of Surtees and Bandini (BRM).

Clark held the lead at the start and was expected to run away with it, but sixth-starting Richie Ginther overtook him and so did Surtees, later in the first lap.

There were multiple heavy crashes during the race: Surtees's teamamte Willy Mairesse came off worst with a broken arm.

[9] Clark was now 20 points ahead in the championship, and he would clinch the title if he won the Italian Grand Prix, no matter the results of his rivals.

The organisers quickly agreed, seeing that there was a petition going to refuse the race unless the banking was eliminated, and declared to use the road circuit only for the rest of the weekend.

Hill got the best start and was followed by Clark, before the traditional slipstreaming commenced and the lead changes hands multiple times through the next laps.

This gifted Clark the lead, but without a slipstream, the Climax engine was not up for it, so Hill and Gurney caught him and they formed a new trio at the front.

But Hill's clutch gave out just after half-distance and Gurney's BRM had trouble with its fuel system, so Clark was left alone once more and his pace dropped.

[10] Jim Clark (Lotus) led the championship with 51 points, ahead of Richie Ginther (BRM, 24) and John Surtees (Ferrari, 22).

On the basis of points, Ginther could still get level with Clark, but only the six best results in the season would count towards the championship, so on the minute chance that he would win the last three races, a number of third and second-place finishes would be discounted.

Even with the title in the pocket, Jim Clark was not easing off and fought for pole position for the United States Grand Prix, but it was 1962 champion Graham Hill that snatched it by a tenth of a second.

[12] Going into the final race, the South African Grand Prix, Ginther (29 points), Hill (25) and Surtees (22) could all still finish runner-up in the championship.