The was the 13th
FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on
May 20 ,
1962 , and ended on
December 29 after nine races.
Ferrari were completely eclipsed in 1962, partly as a result of internal upheavals, partly because the British teams had made great progress. BRM finally came good with
Graham Hill taking the championship after a season long battle with the revolutionary monocoque Lotus 25 driven by Jim Clark.
Dan Gurney gave Porsche their only grand prix win at Rouen, and Cooper won their last race until 1966. Lola made their first of their sporadic forays into grand prix racing, and
Jack Brabham emerged as a constructor, scoring his first points in his own car.
Stirling Moss , one of the great drivers, crashed heavily before the championship season begun and never raced in a grand prix again. He remained the most successful English driver in terms of wins until 1991 when
Nigel Mansell overtook him, after competing in many more races. Ricardo Rodriguez became the youngest driver to score championship points with his fourth place in Belgium (20 years, 123 days), a record which stood for 38 years before
Jenson Button , aged 20 years, 67 days, broke it at the
2000 Brazilian Grand Prix .
