Sunday 18th June 1961

The organisers of the Belgian Grand Prix invited 25 entries, but were only going to pay starting money to 19: sixteen pre-selected cars plus the 3 fastest of the remaining 9. The race was completely dominated by the Ferrari team, with the four works drivers finishing 1-2-3-4. While Graham Hill made an amazing start to the lead from the third row, he could not hold off the Italian cars and all had passed him by the end of the first lap. There was some excitement for fifth place, with Graham Hill and Surtees passing each other for the position until Hill had to retire with an oil leak on the 24th lap.