Although the Maranello cars had the jump on the competition in 1961, by 1962 the British teams had caught up some of their lost impetus and the season saw a sterling battle between Clark's Lotus and Graham Hill's BRM. The championship was eventually resolved at the very last round, in favour of Hill - who had taken four superb victories during the season in Holland, Germany, Italy and that final race in South Africa. Clark scored in Belgium, England and the United States and was within a few laps of winning his first world title when his engine failed.
The season started in Holland where Hill scored his own first Grand Prix win and BRM's second - at the same circuit where they opened their tally in 1959. Hill won at95.44mph from Lotus's new driver Trevor Taylor, who surprised many by his performance. John Surtees, making the switch from two to four wheels, in a Lola, had a lucky escape when a wishbone on the car broke at high speed. One driver who was not so lucky in 1962 was Stirling Moss who crashed heavily and inexplicably during a non-championship race at Goodwood on Easter Monday. 32-year-old Moss was released, bleeding and partially paralysed, from his wrecked Lotus and, although he recovered to what would be regarded as full fitness by any other person, his racing career was over: the fine edge had gone forever from his judgement and reactions.
Moss never did gain the world title he so thoroughly deserved, a mixture of national pride, when he drove sub-standard machinery simply because it was British, and bad luck keeping that honour from him. He had risen from his first appearance at Prescotthill-climb, in a 500cc Cooper on 9 May 1945, through almost every kind of racing, to be a works Formula One driver for Mercedes, Maserati, Vanwall and Connaught. He also drove BRMs, Lotuses; Coopers and many more. He was second in the World Championship for Drivers four times but he never won. The end of Moss's career severed a link with an earlier generation of drivers and left a space at the pinnacle of racing for someone else to fill.
The man who was to fill it was the young Scot who finished second in the 1962 championship,
Jim Clark. Clark was born on 4 March 1936 and began his motoring career in the early 1950s, first in local rallies and then in circuit races. Early support from the Scottish Border Reivers team led Clark through saloon, Formula Junior, sports car and Formula Two racing, to a contract for Formula One with Lotus. In all his career, Clark never lost faith with Lotus and never drove for another Grand Prix team. Clark and Lotus were a combination whose story is woven into the web of racing for many years; he was a worthy successor to fill the void left by Moss.
Clark collected his first Grand Prix win at Spa in 1962, beating Graham Hill and Phil Hill into second and third places-and averaging 131.59 mph in the process, with a fastest lap at 133.95 mph. The season saw the first championship victory for both Porsche and their lanky Californian driver, Dan Gurney, who inherited victory at Rouen when race leader Graham Hill's engine went - off song twelve laps from home. The only other winner in 1962 was Bruce Mcl.aren, who won the Monaco Grand Prix at an average speed of 70.46 mph, after leader Graham Hill retired with no oil pressure. PhiI Hill was just 1.3 seconds behind for Ferrari after making a tremendous effort to catch McLaren.