Formula 1

About the season

Jim Clark and Lotus dominated the season - and Clark did it while skipping Monaco to race the Indianapolis 500 instead, which he won in a rear-engined Lotus-Ford, the first non-American winner in 49 years. Clark remains, to this day, the only driver to win the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 in the same year. His Indy win also signalled that the rear-engined revolution, which had already reshaped European racing for years, had finally arrived on America's oval tracks too. 1965 was also the last season of the 1.5-litre engine formula before the sport returned to larger, 3-litre engines in 1966. Jim Clark won the 1965 Drivers' Championship with 54 points (Lotus-Climax), 14 points ahead of the runner-up. Lotus-Climax won the Constructors' Championship with 54 points, 9 points ahead of the runner-up. Across 10 completed races this season, there were 86 retirements. 4 different drivers won a race this season. Jim Clark took the most race wins, 6 in total. Clark won the season-opening race, the South African Grand Prix. The most dominant win of the season came at the Monaco Grand Prix, with a margin of 64.0 seconds. Gregory made the biggest gain of the season at the German Grand Prix, from grid position 19 to finishing 8 (up 11 places). The Italian Grand Prix saw the most retirements of the season, with 14 drivers failing to finish. The closest finish of the season came at the Mexican Grand Prix, with a gap of just 2.890 seconds. Ginther won the Mexican Grand Prix, the final race of the season.