South African Grand Prix 1962 - Race Schedule and Countdown

Graham Hill closed out his championship season in perfect fashion with victory at the inaugural South African Grand Prix at Prince George Circuit, cementing his status as 1962's worthy champion. The newly crowned World Champion dominated proceedings on the challenging seaside circuit near East London, leading home Bruce McLaren's Cooper-Climax and local hero Tony Maggs to complete an all-British podium. Hill's fifth victory of the season came at the first World Championship race held at the coastal circuit, where the combination of fast straights and technical corners suited his precise, controlled driving style. The race was held on December 29th as an end-of-year finale, with the championship already secured at Watkins Glen two months earlier, but Hill's commanding performance demonstrated that his title triumph was built on genuine speed and racecraft, not just reliability.

Hill's BRM P57 proved perfectly matched to the Prince George Circuit's demands, and he controlled the race from the front with characteristic intelligence and mechanical sympathy. The champion-elect managed his equipment perfectly through the grueling afternoon, maintaining consistent lap times while managing tire wear and fuel consumption in the heat. McLaren pushed hard throughout to secure second place, the New Zealander finishing the season third in the championship with 27 points and confirming his status as one of the sport's most complete drivers. Maggs completed an excellent afternoon for Cooper with third place, the South African enjoying his home Grand Prix with a strong performance that delighted the local crowd. The race came against limited opposition as several top teams and drivers chose to skip the end-of-year race held on a different continent, with Jim Clark notably absent after his frustrating title-losing campaign.

The South African Grand Prix marked the end of a transitional season that had seen BRM finally deliver on their long-held promise while establishing Jim Clark as the driver to beat going forward. Hill's championship victory was richly deserved, rewarding not just his performances in 1962 but years of perseverance and development that had finally brought BRM to championship-winning status after a decade of disappointments. The South African triumph provided the perfect bookend to Hill's championship year, allowing him to celebrate his achievement far from the British winter with BRM's dedicated team members who had made the long journey south. As 1962 drew to a close, Hill became Britain's first World Champion since Mike Hawthorn in 1958, while the paddock recognized that Clark's dominance was merely postponed, not prevented. The mid-engine revolution that had begun with Cooper in 1959 was now complete, with all competitive teams adopting rear-engine layouts and pushing the technical boundaries of chassis design and aerodynamics.