Formula 1

About the season

1966 doubled the permitted engine capacity from 1.5 to 3 litres - an era remembered as "the return to power" - and teams scrambled for suitable new engines after Coventry Climax withdrew from development. Jack Brabham bet on reliability over raw power: he commissioned Australian firm Repco to build a modest but dependable V8 based on an Oldsmobile block, gambling that rivals would struggle with reliability in the formula's first year. The gamble paid off - Ferrari and Lotus both struggled to adapt to the new rules, while Brabham won the championship in a car bearing his own name, built by his own team - the only time in F1 history a driver has become world champion in a car of his own design. Jack Brabham won the 1966 Drivers' Championship with 42 points (Brabham-Repco), 14 points ahead of the runner-up. Brabham-Repco won the Constructors' Championship with 42 points, 11 points ahead of the runner-up. Across 9 completed races this season, there were 99 retirements. 5 different drivers won a race this season. Jack Brabham took the most race wins, 4 in total. Stewart won the season-opening race, the Monaco Grand Prix. The season's biggest upset win came from Brabham at the German Grand Prix, starting from grid position 5. The most dominant win of the season came at the German Grand Prix, with a margin of 44.4 seconds. The closest finish of the season came at the Italian Grand Prix, with a gap of just 5.800 seconds. Arundell made the biggest gain of the season at the United States Grand Prix, from grid position 19 to finishing 6 (up 13 places). The United States Grand Prix saw the most retirements of the season, with 14 drivers failing to finish. Surtees won the Mexican Grand Prix, the final race of the season.