The best constructor of the 1.5 Litre Period

Obviously, Lotus was the most successful constructor during the 1.5L period.


Let’s think about that for a minute.


Yes, Lotus had 22 victories during the period, winning 47% of all the Championship races staged form 1961-1965.


In comparison BRM had 11 victories (23%) and Ferrari 9 (19%). All of the other constructors combined had just 5 wins (11%).


But let’s look at some other indicators and then decide which constructor was the most successful. We’ll look at the top 5 constructors:


Lotus 255 starts 114 finishes 44.7% finish/starts 22 wins 8.6% wins/starts 30 podiums 11.8% podiums/starts 252 points
.99 points/start

BRM 120 starts 82 finishes 68.3% finish/starts 11 wins 9.2% wins/starts 37 podiums 30.8% podium/starts 220 points
1.83 points/start

Ferrari 109 starts 69 finishes 63.3% finish/starts 9 wins 8.3% wins/starts 35 podiums 32.1% podium/starts 177 points
1.62 points/start

Brabham 129 starts 62 finishes 48.1% finish/starts 2 wins 1.6% wins/starts 16 podiums 12.4% podium/starts 109points
.85 points/start

Cooper 161 starts 85 finishes 52.8% finish/start 1 win .6% wins/starts 15 podiums 9.3% podium/starts 111 points
.69 ponts/start


Yes, Jim Clark was the greatest driver. But BRM was the better car. Ive read more than enough about the Chapman/Clark chemistry. But I think Clark would have won 4 championships had he been with BRM.


Rebuttals cheerfully entertained, as long as you don't quote Vince Lombardi.