1968 French Grand Prix

1968 French Grand Prix
The Rouen Les Essarts circuit in 1968
Race details
Date	7 July 1968
Official name	LIV Grand Prix de France
Location	Rouen-Les-Essarts, Grand-Couronne, France
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	6.542 km (4.065 miles)
Distance	60 laps, 392.520 km (243.901 miles)
Weather	Wet
Pole position
Driver	Jochen Rindt	Brabham-Repco
Time	1:56.1
Fastest lap
Driver	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM
Time	2:11.5 on lap 19
Podium
First	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari
Second	John Surtees	Honda
Third	Jackie Stewart	Matra-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1968 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Rouen-Les-Essarts Circuit on 7 July 1968. It was race 6 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 60-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx after he started from third position. John Surtees finished second for the Honda team and Matra driver Jackie Stewart came in third.

The French driver Jo Schlesser had a fatal accident on the second lap of the race, when he lost control in the then-new Honda RA302 chassis which overturned and caught fire partially due to its magnesium content. He was chosen as driver when regular Honda F1 driver John Surtees refused to drive the new car, opting for the older RA301 chassis, on the grounds that the new car was unsafe. This race was a turning point in Formula One as the death of Schlesser prompted many safety precautions in later races.

This was also the last F1 race to take place at Rouen-Les Essarts.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	2	Jochen Rindt	Brabham-Repco	1:56.1	—
2	28	Jackie Stewart	Matra-Ford	1:57.3	+1.2
3	26	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:57.7	+1.6
4	8	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	1:57.7	+1.6
5	24	Chris Amon	Ferrari	1:57.8	+1.7
6	10	Bruce McLaren	McLaren-Ford	1:58.0	+1.9
7	16	John Surtees	Honda	1:58.2	+2.1
8	6	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	1:58.9	+2.8
9	12	Graham Hill	Lotus-Ford	1:59.1	+3.0
10	20	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	1:59.3	+3.2
11	14	Jackie Oliver	Lotus-Ford	2:00.2	+4.1
12	34	Jo Siffert	Lotus-Ford	2:00.3	+4.2
13	22	Richard Attwood	BRM	2:00.8	+4.7
14	4	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	2:00.8	+4.7
15	36	Piers Courage	BRM	2:01.1	+5.0
16	32	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Cooper-BRM	2:01.2	+5.1
17	18	Jo Schlesser	Honda	2:04.5	+8.4
18	30	Vic Elford	Cooper-BRM	2:05.5	+9.4

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	26	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	60	2:25:40.9	3	9
2	16	John Surtees	Honda	60	+ 1:58.6	7	6
3	28	Jackie Stewart	Matra-Ford	59	+ 1 Lap	2	4
4	30	Vic Elford	Cooper-BRM	58	+ 2 Laps	17	3
5	8	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	58	+ 2 Laps	4	2
6	36	Piers Courage	BRM	57	+ 3 Laps	14	1
7	22	Richard Attwood	BRM	57	+ 3 Laps	12
8	10	Bruce McLaren	McLaren-Ford	56	+ 4 Laps	6
9	6	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	56	+ 4 Laps	8
10	24	Chris Amon	Ferrari	55	+ 5 Laps	5
11	34	Jo Siffert	Lotus-Ford	54	+ 6 Laps	11
NC	20	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	53	Not Classified	10
Ret	2	Jochen Rindt	Brabham-Repco	45	Fuel Leak	1
Ret	4	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	15	Fuel Pump	13
Ret	12	Graham Hill	Lotus-Ford	14	Halfshaft	9
Ret	32	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Cooper-BRM	14	Accident	15
Ret	18	Jo Schlesser	Honda	2	Fatal Accident	16
DNS	14	Jackie Oliver	Lotus-Ford		Accident in practice
Sources:

Jo Schlesser's Honda RA302 crashes at Virage des Six Frères, igniting the magnesium body and killing Schlesser.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Graham Hill	24
6	2	Jacky Ickx	16
1	3	Jackie Stewart	16
1	4	Denny Hulme	12
1	5	Pedro Rodríguez	10
Source:

Constructors' Championship standings

	Pos	Constructor	Points
	1	Lotus-Ford	29
	2	McLaren-Ford	19
2	3	Ferrari	19
	4	Matra-Ford	19
2	5	BRM	17
Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Further reading

• Lang, Mike (1982). Grand Prix! Vol 2. Haynes Publishing Group. pp. 70–71. ISBN 0-85429-321-3.