1968 French Grand Prix

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 third lap of the race,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> when he lost control in the then-new Honda RA302 chassis which overturned and caught fire partially due to its magnesium content.Template:Citation needed 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	Template:Flagicon Jochen Rindt	Brabham-Repco	1:56.1	—
2	28	Template:Flagicon Jackie Stewart	Matra-Ford	1:57.3	+1.2
3	26	Template:Flagicon Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:57.7	+1.6
4	8	Template:Flagicon Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	1:57.7	+1.6
5	24	Template:Flagicon Chris Amon	Ferrari	1:57.8	+1.7
6	10	Template:Flagicon Bruce McLaren	McLaren-Ford	1:58.0	+1.9
7	16	Template:Flagicon John Surtees	Honda	1:58.2	+2.1
8	6	Template:Flagicon Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	1:58.9	+2.8
9	12	Template:Flagicon Graham Hill	Lotus-Ford	1:59.1	+3.0
10	20	Template:Flagicon Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	1:59.3	+3.2
11	14	Template:Flagicon Jackie Oliver	Lotus-Ford	2:00.2	+4.1
12	34	Template:Flagicon Jo Siffert	Lotus-Ford	2:00.3	+4.2
13	22	Template:Flagicon Richard Attwood	BRM	2:00.8	+4.7
14	4	Template:Flagicon Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	2:00.8	+4.7
15	36	Template:Flagicon Piers Courage	BRM	2:01.1	+5.0
16	32	Template:Flagicon Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Cooper-BRM	2:01.2	+5.1
17	18	Template:Flagicon Jo Schlesser	Honda	2:04.5	+8.4
18	30	Template:Flagicon Vic Elford	Cooper-BRM	2:05.5	+9.4

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	26	Template:Flagicon Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	60	2:25:40.9	3	9
2	16	Template:Flagicon John Surtees	Honda	60	+ 1:58.6	7	6
3	28	Template:Flagicon Jackie Stewart	Matra-Ford	59	+ 1 lap	2	4
4	30	Template:Flagicon Vic Elford	Cooper-BRM	58	+ 2 laps	17	3
5	8	Template:Flagicon Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	58	+ 2 laps	4	2
6	36	Template:Flagicon Piers Courage	BRM	57	+ 3 laps	14	1
7	22	Template:Flagicon Richard Attwood	BRM	57	+ 3 laps	12
8	10	Template:Flagicon Bruce McLaren	McLaren-Ford	56	+ 4 laps	6
9	6	Template:Flagicon Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	56	+ 4 laps	8
10	24	Template:Flagicon Chris Amon	Ferrari	55	+ 5 laps	5
11	34	Template:Flagicon Jo Siffert	Lotus-Ford	54	+ 6 laps	11
NC	20	Template:Flagicon Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	53	+ 7 laps	10
Ret	2	Template:Flagicon Jochen Rindt	Brabham-Repco	45	Fuel leak	1
Ret	4	Template:Flagicon Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	15	Fuel pump	13
Ret	12	Template:Flagicon Graham Hill	Lotus-Ford	14	Halfshaft	9
Ret	32	Template:Flagicon Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Cooper-BRM	14	Accident	15
Ret	18	Template:Flagicon Jo Schlesser	Honda	2	Fatal accident	16
DNS	14	Template:Flagicon Jackie Oliver	Lotus-Ford		Accident in practice
Sources:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

File:Schlesser.jpg

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

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British driver Vic Elford.
• This race saw the first pole position for Jochen Rindt and an Austrian driver, the first fastest lap for Pedro Rodríguez and a Mexican driver and the first Grand Prix win for Jacky Ickx and a Belgian driver.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Template:Flagicon Graham Hill	24
6	2	Template:Flagicon Jacky Ickx	16
1	3	Template:Flagicon Jackie Stewart	16
1	4	Template:Flagicon Denny Hulme	12
1	5	Template:Flagicon Pedro Rodríguez	10
Source: <ref name="champ">Template:Cite web</ref>

Constructors' Championship standings

	Pos	Constructor	Points
	1	Template:Flagicon Lotus-Ford	29
	2	Template:Flagicon McLaren-Ford	19
2	3	Template:Flagicon Ferrari	19
	4	Template:Flagicon Matra-Ford	19
2	5	Template:Flagicon BRM	17
Source: <ref name="champ"/>

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

Further reading

• Template:Cite book

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