Team and driver changes

Dubbed "the return to power", the new formula of 3 litre naturally-aspirated engines was met with enthusiasm. Not all projects were finished in time for the start of the season, however. Coventry Climax had decided to quit their business of building racing engines, despite winning their latest championship in 1965, so most British teams had to find new contracts:^[5]

• Brabham collaborated with Australian company Repco. Their 3 litre V8 was ready in time.
• Cooper worked with Maserati to receive an updated version of their 1957 engines.
• Lotus had put their hope in a new H16 engine design from BRM, but it was finished too late and very heavy. So they began the season with a hastily prepared and uncompetitive 2 litre Climax V8. (The team would return to their winning form after a switch to Cosworth DFV engines for 1967.) Peter Arundell was back at Lotus, having recovered from his crash during the 1964 season. Mike Spence, who had replaced him in 1965, was signed by the private Reg Parnell Racing team.

Two teams made their debut this year:

• Bruce McLaren had left Cooper to set up his own team. He entered the McLaren M2B, designed by Robin Herd. During the season, McLaren trialled a Ford V8 and a Serenissima V8, switching around multiple times but not finding the right recipe.
• Dan Gurney departed from Brabham to also enter his own team. He had worked with famous car designer Carroll Shelby since 1962 to set up All American Racers. They built an F1 chassis, dubbed the 'Eagle Mk1', and Gurney drove the car himself. The chassis was delayed until the second race of the season and the new Weslake 3 litre V12 was only ready with three races left. They used Climax four-stroke engines until then.

Calendar changes

• The South African Grand Prix at the Prince George Circuit was relegated to non-championship status, because 1.5 litre engines were allowed on the grid while that was no longer the case in the F1 championship.^[8]
• The French Grand Prix was moved from the Charade Circuit to Reims-Gueux.
• The British Grand Prix was moved from Silverstone to Brands Hatch, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits.

Technical regulations

• A new engine formula was introduced, heralded as "the return of power". The maximum allowed engine displacement was doubled from 1.5 to 3 litres for naturally-aspirated engines. Compressed engines (using a turbocharger or supercharger) were allowed for the first time since 1960, with a maximum engine displacement of 1.5 litres.^[9][10][11]
• The minimum weight was raised from 450 kg (990 lb) to 500 kg (1,100 lb).^[9][10][11]

Sporting regulations

• Driver completing less than 90% of the race distance would not be classified and did not receive points, even if they finished in the top six.^[12][13]
• The maximum race distance was reduced from 500 km (310 mi) to 400 km (250 mi).^[14]

Rounds 1 to 3

The 1966 season started off with the Monaco Grand Prix. The twisty track seemed for a large part to negate the difference in power between the 3 litre Ferrari engines and the 2 litre BRM and Climax engines (used by Lotuses). 1963 and 1965 champion Jim Clark qualified on pole position in the Lotus-Climax, ahead of 1964 champion John Surtees for Ferrari. On the second row started the two BRMs of Jackie Stewart and 1962 champion Graham Hill. At the start, Clark's car got jammed in first gear and was passed by everyone. Surtees and Stewart created a gap to the rest of the field. Under normal circumstances, the Ferrari would soon leave the BRM behind, but Surtees' rear axle failed and he retired on lap 16. Stewart was out on his own, followed by Jochen Rindt in the Cooper-Maserati and Hill, before Lorenzo Bandini rose up to second place in the Ferrari. Clark was charging back to the front of the field, but spent a lot of time behind Hill. Clark dove through into the first corner to take third place - Rindt had retired with engine failure - but the Lotus's left-rear suspension failed later in the lap and the reigning champion was out of the race. Stewart held on to take his second career win, ahead of Bandini and Hill. Bob Bondurant finished in fourth place to get three BRMs in the points. Behind came three Coopers but none of them were classified and did not receive championship points.^[15]

At first, Stewart was setting the pace during practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, but on the high-speed circuit, Surtees qualified on pole in his Ferrari, more than three seconds ahead of Rindt in the Cooper-Maserati. Stewart started third, while Clark could only manage tenth. As the flag was waved, rain was falling at the far end of the track. Stewart and Hill crashed in the Masta Kink, already known as the most dangerous corner, and the Scot got trapped under his car in a pool of leaking fuel for 25 minutes. Hill and Bondurant, who had both crashed as well, borrowed a spectator's toolkit to free him. Another five cars retired within the first lap of the race, including Clark. Surtees led the race, ahead of Rindt and Bandini, and that became the finishing order as well. Behind them finished 1959 and 1960 champion Jack Brabham and Rindt's teammate Richie Ginther. Two other drivers were still running but were not classified, making it two races in a row that championship points were held back under the new rule. Following his crash, Stewart became a strong advocate of improving driver safety in not only Grand Prix but motor racing in general.^[16]

When Surtees was not granted a drive with Ferrari in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he left the Italian team and, with that, gave up his F1 drive as well. He found a seat at Cooper, where Ginther had left to return to his old team Honda. Bandini qualified on pole for the French Grand Prix, with old teammate Surtees and new teammate Mike Parkes beside him on the first row. At the start, Surtees fell back with fuel pick-up issues, before he retired on lap 5. Brabham got up to second place, the only driver able to follow Bandini's pace. On lap 32, the Australian inherited the lead as the Ferrari's throttle cable broke. The Italian took a piece of string from a straw bale lining the track and tied it to his throttle, operating it by hand and actually nursing his car back to the pits, but finished out of the points. Brabham won the race, ahead of Parkes in his first race and Brabham's teammate Denny Hulme.^[17]

In the Drivers' Championship, Jack Brabham (Brabham-Repco) took the lead with 12 points, ahead of Lorenzo Bandini (Ferrari, 10 points), followed by Surtees, Stewart and Rindt (all 9 points). In the Manufacturers' Championship, Ferrari had the lead with 21 points, ahead of Brabham (12) and BRM and Cooper (both 9).

Rounds 4 to 6

The British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch saw the Brabham duo of Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme qualify at the front, ahead of Dan Gurney in the Eagle, Graham Hill for BRM and Jim Clark for Lotus. Next came John Surtees in the Cooper, to make it five different constructors in the top six. At the start, it was Brabham and Hill who led away, until it started raining and Jochen Rindt pitted for rain tyres. Rindt got up to second place, pressing Brabham for the lead, while Surtees was third. As the rain dried, however, Rindt fell back and Surtees retired, leaving Brabham and Hulme to finish first and second. Behind them came Hill, Clark and Rindt.^[18]

Brabham and Hulme again qualified first and second for the Dutch Grand Prix, ahead of Clark, still driving a 2 litre Climax-powered Lotus. Hulme's engine went wrong on lap 17, eventually retiring on lap 37, and leaving Brabham vulnerable to Clark's offense. While lapping some backmarkers, the Brit passed the Australian and pulled out a substantial lead. At half-distance, Graham Hill was the only driver not lapped by Clark and Brabham, but then, a shock absorber on the Lotus's crankshaft broke and punched a hole in the water pump, leading to his engine coolant to leak away. This forced a pit stop and brought him down to third place. Brabham won his third race in a row, ahead of Hill.^[19]

The German Grand Prix was run at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. In fear of a dull race with not enough entries, the FIA allowed Formula Two entries to race simultaneously. They would not be eligible for F1 championship points. The lighter 2 litre cars topped the timings in qualifying, with Clark, Surtees and Stewart occupying the front row. But at the start, the more powerful 3 litre cars got away better: Surtees held the lead, but Brabham and Lorenzo Bandini were his nearest rivals. John Taylor spun off in the rain that had started falling. He got trapped in a burning wreck but was rescued by F2 driver Jacky Ickx. At the end of the first lap, Brabham had taken the lead, ahead of Surtees, Rindt and Clark. The latter crashed out of the race on lap 11, while the podium places remained unchanged.^[20]

After winning four consecutive races, Jack Brabham (Brabham) had a sizeable lead in the Drivers' Championship with 39 points, ahead of Graham Hill (BRM, 17 points) and John Surtees and Jochen Rindt (teammates at Cooper, both on 15 points). In the Manufacturers' Championship, Brabham led with 39 points, ahead of Ferrari (23) and BRM (22).

Rounds 7 to 9

The teams that had had to make due with limited power until now, could finally take delivery of new 3 litre engines for the Italian Grand Prix: BRM introduced H16 engines for the works team and their customer Team Lotus, the Eagle was powered by the new Weslake V12, and Honda were on the grid for the first time this year with their own V12. Much to the joy of the tifosi, Ferrari teammates Mike Parkes and Ludovico Scarfiotti qualified at the front, ahead of Jim Clark (Lotus), John Surtees (Cooper) and Lorenzo Bandini (Ferrari). Championship leader Jack Brabham started in sixth but felt not much pressure, as Surtees had to win all three remaiining races to stop the Australian from claiming the title. Scarfiotti took the lead at the start but was down to seventh at the end of the first lap. His teammate Bandini replaced him at the front. Brabham went by on lap 4 but then retired with an oil leak. Successively, Surtees, Bandini and Clark retired as well, giving the lead back to Scarfiotti, ahead of Parkes and Denny Hulme (Brabham). Jochen Rindt's front tyre deflated coming out of the last corner, the Austrian crossing the finish line while spinning and eventually ending up in the grass. With Surtees' retirement, Brabham had clinched the Drivers' Championship of 1966.^[21]

As per usual, the championship ended overseas, firstly with the United States Grand Prix. Freshly crowned champion Brabham qualified on pole with last year's champion Clark next to him. Bandini started third but quickly took the lead, before Brabham went back through on lap 10. Bandini later repassed the Australian but then retired with an engine failure. Half way through the race, Brabham retired as well. Clark had been left behind by the leading duo but inherited the race win. Rindt ran out of fuel and slowed down. He did finish the race, but his last lap took so long that it was forfeited, putting him a lap behind but still second in the classification, as Surtees in third was even further behind.^[22]

The last round of the season, the Mexican Grand Prix, saw Surtees back on pole, for the first time in a Cooper, ahead of Clark and Ginther. The Honda driver took the lead at the start, leading fifth-starting Rindt and fourth-starting Brabham. Surtees fell down to fifth but had charged back to first at the half-way point. He won the race, seven seconds ahead of Brabham and at least a lap ahead of Hulme and the rest of the field.^[23]

Jack Brabham had won the Drivers' Championship with 42 points, ahead of John Surtees (28) and Jochen Rindt (22). Jack It was Brabham's third Drivers' Championship (following wins in 1959 and 1960), moving him into the second place in the record standings, behind five-time champion Juan Manuel Fangio. He became the first and, so far, only driver to win the championship in a car carrying his own name. This was also the first time that a non-European or -British car had won the championship. The Brabham team also scored 42 points in the Manufacturers' Champions and won the title, ahead of Ferrari (31 points) and Cooper (30 points).

Grands Prix

More information Round, Grand Prix ...

Round	Grand Prix	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning constructor	Tyre	Report
1	Monaco Grand Prix	Jim Clark	Lorenzo Bandini	Jackie Stewart	BRM	D	Report
2	Belgian Grand Prix	John Surtees	John Surtees	John Surtees	Ferrari	D	Report
3	French Grand Prix	Lorenzo Bandini	Lorenzo Bandini	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	G	Report
4	British Grand Prix	Jack Brabham	Jack Brabham	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	G	Report
5	Dutch Grand Prix	Jack Brabham	Denny Hulme	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	G	Report
6	German Grand Prix	Jim Clark	John Surtees	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	G	Report
7	Italian Grand Prix	Mike Parkes	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari	F	Report
8	United States Grand Prix	Jack Brabham	John Surtees	Jim Clark	Lotus-BRM	F	Report
9	Mexican Grand Prix	John Surtees	Richie Ginther	John Surtees	Cooper-Maserati	D	Report

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World Drivers' Championship standings

Points towards the 1966 World Championship of Drivers were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis for the first six places at each race. Only the best five race results could be retained by each driver.

More information Pos., Driver ...

Pos. Driver MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER ITA USA MEX Pts.[lower-alpha 1] 1 Jack Brabham Ret (4) 1 1 1 1 Ret Ret 2 42 (45) 2 John Surtees Ret 1 Ret Ret Ret 2 Ret 3 1 28 3 Jochen Rindt Ret 2 4 (5) Ret 3 4 2 Ret 22 (24) 4 Denny Hulme Ret Ret 3 2 Ret Ret 3 Ret 3 18 5 Graham Hill 3 Ret Ret 3 2 4 Ret Ret Ret 17 6 Jim Clark Ret Ret DNS 4 3 Ret Ret 1 Ret 16 7 Jackie Stewart 1 Ret Ret 4 5 Ret Ret Ret 14 8 Mike Parkes 2 Ret Ret 2 12 = Lorenzo Bandini 2 3 NC 6 6 Ret Ret 12 10 Ludovico Scarfiotti Ret 1 9 11 Richie Ginther Ret 5 Ret Ret 4 5 12 Dan Gurney NC 5 Ret Ret 7 Ret Ret 5 4 = Mike Spence Ret Ret Ret Ret 5 Ret 5 Ret DNS 4 14 Bob Bondurant 4 Ret 9 Ret 7 DSQ Ret 3 = Jo Siffert Ret Ret Ret NC Ret Ret 4 Ret 3 = Bruce McLaren Ret DNS 6 DNS 5 Ret 3 17 Peter Arundell DNS Ret Ret Ret 12 8 6 7 1 = Jo Bonnier NC Ret NC Ret 7 Ret Ret NC 6 1 = Bob Anderson Ret 7 NC Ret Ret 6 1 = John Taylor 6 8 8 Ret 1 — Chris Irwin 7 0 — Ronnie Bucknum Ret 8 0 — Chris Amon 8 DNQ 0 — Guy Ligier NC NC NC 10 9 DNS 0 — Geki 9 0 — Chris Lawrence 11 Ret 0 — Giancarlo Baghetti NC 0 — Pedro Rodríguez Ret Ret1 Ret Ret 0 — Innes Ireland Ret Ret 0 — Trevor Taylor Ret 0 — Moisés Solana Ret 0 — Phil Hill DNS Ret DNQ 0 — Vic Wilson DNS 0 Drivers ineligible for Formula One points, because they drove with Formula Two cars — Jean-Pierre Beltoise 8 — Hubert Hahne 9 — Jo Schlesser 10 — Hans Herrmann 11 — Piers Courage Ret — Alan Rees Ret — Kurt Ahrens Jr. Ret — Jacky Ickx Ret — Silvio Moser DNS — Gerhard Mitter DNS Pos. Driver MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER ITA USA MEX Pts.

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Other points position Blue Other classified position Not classified, finished (NC) Purple Not classified, retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrawn (WD) Did not enter (cell empty) Text formatting Meaning Bold Pole position Italics Fastest lap

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• ¹ – Ineligible for Formula One points, because he drove with a Formula Two car.