Ranking the 10 best 'point-less' F1 races

There used to be an extensive calendar of non-championship Formula 1 contests, which are celebrated in a special edition of Autosport magazine out this week. Some of them were minor events, but others were full grands prix, just as significant to their competitors as their points-paying equivalents.

The last non-championship F1 race was held at Brands Hatch in 1983 (above), when Keke Rosberg (Williams) beat Tyrrell driver Danny Sullivan by 0.5 seconds. However, it doesn't make Autosport's list of the 10 best non-championship F1 races that deserve to be remembered...

PLUS: The 10 best curios of non-championship Formula 1

10. 1973 BRDC International Trophy, Silverstone

Snow is not normally associated with F1, but it was a key element in the outcome of the 25th International Trophy at Silverstone, which combined 13 three-litre F1 cars and 16 stock-block five-litre F5000 machines.

Poleman Emerson Fittipaldi's Lotus suffered clutch failure at the start, leaving new team-mate Ronnie Peterson in front. But Jackie Stewart's Tyrrell outbraked the Swede into Stowe on lap two and started to pull away - until he atypically spun at Becketts and fell to sixth.

"Peterson arrived into a Becketts gone suddenly greasy wet and slid off on to the grass. Stewart, with an instant's more warning, held himself on the track and passed by into the lead" Autosport

That put Peterson back in front, as Stewart mounted a charge. He scythed through to second and, on his softer tyre compound, caught the leading Lotus, but struggled to find a way by until snow arrived on lap 32 of 40.

"Peterson arrived into a Becketts gone suddenly greasy wet and slid off on to the grass," reported Autosport's Pete Lyons. "Stewart, with an instant's more warning, held himself on the track and passed by into the lead.

"Peterson rejoined with a plume of tyre smoke into second place and rapidly made up half of his lost ground, but the surface was getting ever wetter and three laps from the end he gave up his hopes of a first F1 victory and let Stewart go."

Stewart crossed the line 10.4s ahead, recording an average speed of 132.8mph, then the fastest race held in the UK since the closure of Brooklands, despite the snow.

9. 1971 Questor Grand Prix, Ontario

A 'Race of Two Worlds'-style race at the new Ontario Motor Speedway pitted Formula 1 cars against Formula A (to become F5000) machinery. It would prove to be a one-sided contest, apart from the Penske-entered Lola T192 Formula A machine of Mark Donohue, but it was still an enthralling event.

Due to the smaller tank capacity of the Formula As, the Questor GP was run over two heats of 32 laps each. The circuit used part of the oval and an infield, creating a 3.2-mile course, and there were 30 starters for the first heat.

Stewart took pole but was overpowered by Jacky Ickx's Ferrari at the start of heat one. The Tyrrell stayed with Ickx and slipstreamed into the lead at the start of lap five. He then drew away as Chris Amon's Matra hounded Ickx.

Behind the lead trio, Mario Andretti - up from 12th - started challenging Donohue for fourth. Andretti would later claim that "Mark was driving brilliantly, he didn't make any mistakes at all", but the three-litre flat-12 in Andretti's Ferrari outgunned the five-litre V8 shortly before half distance.

Ickx was then forced to pit with a puncture, allowing Andretti into third. With 12 laps to go, Stewart led Amon by 4.5s, with Andretti another 5s back. When the Matra suffered a flat tyre, Andretti moved up to second and started closing rapidly on Stewart, who was also having trouble with his rubber.

"As they started the penultimate lap the Ferrari was pushing the Tyrrell," wrote Lyons in Autosport's report. "Stewart was weaving to try to break the draft, but it was hopeless. The flat-12 rushed by almost contemptuously."

Donohue lost a seemingly certain third place with an engine issue, handing the spot to Jo Siffert's BRM.

Lyons reported that Andretti "jumped the rolling start by a grand margin" to lead heat two from pole. Stewart nevertheless grabbed the lead on the second lap. Donohue rose briefly to third, but his fine performance ended with fuel pump issues.

Stewart narrowly won a fine duel for second even with shredded Goodyears, but Andretti was the clear winner in his Firestone-shod Ferrari, despite a misfire

Having allowed Stewart to build a lead of 3.2s, Andretti started chipping away at the gap, the power of the Ferrari offsetting the small advantage of the Tyrrell through the corners.

"The power difference was the deciding factor, reckoned Lyons. "On the ninth lap Mario shot by on the main straight."

Andretti quickly pulled away as Stewart fell back into Amon's clutches. The Matra tracked the Tyrrell relentlessly but could not find a way by.

"Neither driver was making any mistakes and it was a real lesson in superb car control for the entranced 68,000," wrote Lyons. "Going around the last lap they could not have been closer, but Amon just could not do it."

So Stewart narrowly won a fine duel for second even with shredded Goodyears, but Andretti was the clear winner in his Firestone-shod Ferrari, despite a misfire.

"I never drove a car that handled so well," said the victor. European machinery had won, but there was a home hero behind the wheel. The event was generally regarded as a success, but it was not repeated.

8. 1952 Daily Mail International Trophy, Boreham

Combining F1 and F2 machinery was not uncommon in the 1950s and 1960s. Such was the dearth of competitive F1 machinery in 1952-53 that the world championship was run for F2 cars, but there were still F1 races. One of those took place at the Boreham circuit in Wiltshire in 1952, where 35 F1 and F2 cars battled for the Daily Mail International Trophy.

Luigi Villoresi's 4.5-litre Ferrari started from pole on the five-wide front row, with the powerful BRM V16s of Jose Froilan Gonzalez and Ken Wharton among the main opposition. At least, they should have been.

A torrential downpour changed the balance of power and gave up-and-coming British ace Mike Hawthorn another chance to shine in his two-litre F2 Cooper-Bristol.

Villoresi led early on, ahead of the Ferraris of Louis Rosier and Francisco Landi, with Hawthorn next after Gonzalez went off in the lurid BRM. The 1.5-litre supercharged engine's power delivery meant the BRMs were all at sea and the more circumspect Wharton plummeted backwards.

Hawthorn (pictured in July's British GP), who had already impressed earlier in the year, went the other way, grabbing second in "a superb display of driving on an almost waterlogged track", according to Autosport, which reported that the gap to Villoresi was then less than 20s.

"Notwithstanding the dreadful weather conditions, there is something comical about one of the world's most powerful racing cars in the hands of an acknowledged master, about to be challenged by a tiny two-litre machine driven by a youngster with no Formula racing experience up till this season."

On lap 30 of 67, Hawthorn sensationally took the lead, "the crowd almost going delirious with excitement". The Cooper-Bristol then stormed away, opening up a 40s lead in a dozen laps. But, as the track dried, the Ferrari started to close back in. Villoresi retook the lead, only for Hawthorn to snatch it back again immediately.

Eventually the V12 pulled clear and, with Hawthorn starting to lose power, he fell prey to Landi's Ferrari too. Landi provided one more element of excitement in the rollercoaster contest, his exuberant charge failing to usurp Villoresi by just 10s after nearly two and a half hours of competition.

Hawthorn finished third, winning the F2 category by nearly 40s, having once again served notice of his ability.

7. 1975 BRDC International Trophy, Silverstone

The reigning world champion and the next two world title winners made the 27th International Trophy a memorable one for the 45,000 spectators. There was one car from each of the main world championship teams, plus some privateers, and it was a rare case at that time of no F5000 machines being required to bolster numbers. All cars were also on the same Goodyear rubber.

James Hunt took pole and held off the Ferrari of Niki Lauda at the start. The Hesketh, Ferrari and reigning world champion Fittipaldi's McLaren quickly pulled clear at the front of the field, their lap times almost at qualifying pace. In a preview to their Dutch GP squabble, Hunt seemed comfortable out front, despite Lauda constantly shadowing him.

"Hunt was holding his own beautifully, the Hesketh coming around like the cutting edge of an axe, literally sucking the Ferrari and the McLaren - which was wiggling raggedly - along with it," wrote Lyons.

Fittipaldi tried to go all the way around the outside in a classic 'Silverstone-type finish', but it was Lauda that crossed the line ahead by a scant 0.1s

Then, after 24 of 40 laps, the Hesketh's Cosworth DFV engine blew, Hunt throwing his arm into the air at Copse as Lauda and Fittipaldi swept past.

With the Hesketh no longer leading the way, the pace slackened and the top two stayed tied together. A front wheel vibration hampered Lauda in the closing stages and Fittipaldi, increasingly comfortable as the race wore on, harassed the Ferrari.

On the final lap, Fittipaldi got a run out of Club and through Abbey, forcing Lauda to move to the inside on the approach to the final Woodcote right-hander.

Fittipaldi tried to go all the way around the outside in a classic 'Silverstone-type finish', but it was the Ferrari that crossed the line ahead by a scant 0.1s.

6. 1960 International Gold Cup, Oulton Park

"That the British public really loves Grand Prix-style racing was proved beyond doubt," said Autosport of the 1960 Oulton Park Gold Cup, which attracted 30,000 spectators. The Gold Cup, which began in 1954, was one of the major events in the UK and, of the leading F1 teams, only Ferrari was absent from the 1960 edition.

Stirling Moss took pole by over a second in Rob Walker's Lotus 18. Behind, Jim Clark (works Lotus), Jack Brabham (Cooper) and Graham Hill (BRM) all recorded the same time.

Brabham grabbed the lead at the start, while Innes Ireland's Lotus jumped from sixth to second from the 4-3-4 grid to lead the chase.

Ireland and Clark soon overcame Brabham, while Moss recovered from a less-than-ideal first lap. As Ireland edged away, Moss and Brabham engaged in a fierce duel.

"Stirling tried everything, but whenever he sought to pass, the Cooper-Climax was there, hurled round by the determined Australian," wrote Autosport's Gregor Grant. "After 10 laps Brabham and Moss were seven seconds behind Ireland, going at it hammer and tongs to the huge delight of the crowd."

Team Lotus's 1-2 was spoiled when Ireland and Clark attempted to lap Brian Naylor's JBW-Maserati. The backmarker apparently failed to see Clark and contact was made, putting both out. Then Ireland went off at Cascades and rejoined behind the Brabham-Moss battle.

"Now came a really superb piece of driving, for in less than three laps Ireland was once again in the lead," reported Grant. "To overtake both Moss and Brabham is something that could only happen once in a blue moon!"

As Ireland edged away, Moss attacked Brabham once more and finally made it by. Moss closed in but Ireland looked in command until his Lotus failed him.

Moss was left to cruise home to one of his few fortunate victories.

5. 1969 BRDC International Trophy, Silverstone

The 21st Silverstone International Trophy attracted 14 cars, including two Ferraris and the Lotus 49s of reigning world champion Hill and Jochen Rindt - though they missed the best of the practice conditions on the Friday.

Stewart started at the back in his Matra MS10 as the newer MS80, which he had qualified on pole, was poor in the wet on unsuitably wide wheel rims and the track was very wet for the beginning of the race. That meant Brabham started at the front and he duly led team-mate Ickx, then built a lead of around half a minute while Ickx battled the Frank Williams-run Brabham of Piers Courage.

Brabham still held a 9.8s advantage going on to the final lap, when the BT26A ran out of fuel. He coasted over the line with no power, but Rindt was 2.2s too late

Meanwhile, Rindt was putting on an impressive charge after an early misfire had briefly dropped him to 11th. By lap 10 he was sixth and catching Stewart. Fourth-placed Denny Hulme suffered an engine failure just as Stewart caught him, giving Rindt another place, and the Lotus was soon with the Matra.

"This brought the prospect of the two drivers who are probably the best Grand Prix pilots in the world having a duel," wrote Autosport's Simon Taylor. "But now that the track was drying a little Stewart was beginning to find his narrow tyres an embarrassment and, after getting alongside at Becketts on lap 19, the irrepressible Rindt sneaked past at Maggotts on lap 20."

Just before half-distance of the 52-lapper, Rindt despatched the battling Ickx and Courage to take second. He looked capable of closing on the leader, but Brabham responded.

"A pit signal went out to Brabham, and wily Jack pulled out a little more speed, still driving superbly," wrote Taylor. "At lap 29 the gap was 27s."

Rindt kept charging, but Brabham still held a 9.8s advantage going on to the final lap. Then the BT26A slowed as Brabham ran out of fuel. He coasted over the line with no power, but Rindt was 2.2s too late.

"Thanks to Jack and Jochen, it had been a first-class race," concluded Autosport.

4. 1955 Syracuse Grand Prix

This is arguably the most famous non-championship F1 race, at least from a UK perspective. It had been 31 years since a British driver had won a GP in a British car when dentist Tony Brooks (pictured driving a BRM at Aintree in 1956), who had not driven a contemporary F1 machine before, headed to the Sicilian circuit of Syracuse, a track he had not seen.

The underfunded Connaught team arrived a day late and practice running was further limited to minimise the wear on the cars (and ensure the crucial start money), which did not help Brooks learn what was then considered a driver's circuit. He nevertheless surprised the factory Maserati team by qualifying third.

Having not previously made a race start in the Connaught, a cautious Brooks was slow away as the Maserati 250Fs of Luigis Musso and Villoresi led the 15-car field. But Brooks quickly recovered to third and then picked off Villoresi. He engaged Musso for the lead, the duo swapping places as the Maserati repeatedly dived down the inside into the hairpin.

Brooks, expecting his disc brakes to last better than the Maserati's drums, kept his cool and out-accelerated the 250F on the exit. Despite limiting his revs to 6200rpm when the limit was 7000rpm to look after the fragile four-cylinder engine, Brooks broke the lap record and pulled away.

His consistent pace completely ground down the Maserati opposition and he crossed the line 51s clear of Musso, the only driver not to be lapped twice in the 2h25m encounter.

"The pace of the British car greatly surprised the organisers, and they ordered the 2.5-litre Alta engine to be stripped after the race for verification of capacity," reported Autosport, which ran a green cover for John Riseley-Prichard's full account in the 4 November 1955 issue.

"We have the drivers, and it now remains to give them machines worthy of their skill. This Connaught success may prove to be the turning point of the threatened export of top-line British pilots to Continental stables."

Interestingly, the success came the same week Mercedes announced its withdrawal from motorsport. Drivers of Italian cars would win the next three F1 drivers' titles but, by 1958, Vanwall and Cooper had well and truly expanded the British onslaught, one in which Connaught had played a small but significant part.

3. 1964 Mediterranean Grand Prix, Enna-Pergusa

The Sicilian circuit of Enna-Pergusa was described by Autosport as "the fastest non-banked circuit in Europe" and a lap of the three-mile track took less than 1m20s. Jo Siffert's privately run Brabham-BRM pipped Trevor Taylor to pole by 0.1s in a BRM-powered 1-2 for the 1964 Mediterranean Grand Prix, with Clark's Lotus-Climax 1.1s down in third.

Reigning F1 world champion Clark took the lead at the start, but Siffert powered by on lap three of 60. For much of the race, Ireland (BRP-BRM) was Siffert's closest challenger and even edged ahead several times, though Clark and his team-mate Mike Spence also formed part of the lead group.

"Clark was beside Siffert more than once but, despite the effort on the final lap, he just didn't have the steam to get by and they crossed the line as one. A truly exciting race" Autosport

The fight between Ireland and Clark grew intense during the middle portion of the race and Ireland's goggles were smashed by a stone. Clark finally made it by on lap 42, by which time Siffert was 3s ahead. He closed the gap, taking Ireland and Spence with him.

Clark and Ireland swapped places twice more, while Spence was forced to stop for fuel, leaving a Siffert-Clark-Ireland contest in the closing laps.

"Harried by Ireland and Clark throughout the 180-mile race, Siffert maintained the slightest of advantages to resist the final bid of Clark, whose Coventry Climax engine did not have the top end performance of the BRM," wrote Bill Gavin in Autosport's report.

"Clark was beside Siffert more than once but, despite the effort on the final lap, he just didn't have the steam to get by and they crossed the line as one. A truly exciting race."

Siffert averaged 133.9mph as he beat Clark by 0.1s. In a bizarre postscript, Autosport's reporter was thrown in an Italian prison cell after the race - for reasons not entirely clear but seemingly to do with track access - and his report photographs only made it back in time thanks to Clark bringing them!

2. 1974 Race of Champions, Brands Hatch

Autosport described the race as "a superb curtain raiser to the European F1 season" and Ickx's sensational wet-weather defeat of rising star Lauda was arguably the Belgian's last great F1 performance.

Hunt's Firestone-shod Hesketh took pole in the dry, but Goodyear's new wets were what was needed in the appalling conditions on race day. Lauda's Ferrari started third on the grid, while Ickx's ageing Lotus 72 was only 11th having suffered engine issues in practice.

Carlos Reutemann's Brabham made a fine start (some felt too good) from row two to grab the lead, while Clay Regazzoni and Fittipaldi's McLaren went side-by-side at Druids, the duo running wide enough to allow Lauda to follow Fittipaldi past the other Ferrari.

Already Ickx had risen to fifth and he also took advantage to pass Regazzoni on the run to Kidney Bend (now known as Surtees). Lauda soon grabbed second and Reutemann started suffering with his front brakes locking. When he ran wide at Clearways at the end of lap seven, Lauda took the lead.

Another Reutemann moment at the same place a few laps later allowed Fittipaldi through and Ickx to get a run that allowed him to secure third on the run to Paddock. Reutemann held fourth for a while, but would eventually crash out.

Negotiating Tony Dean's Chevron in the spray then gave Ickx a chance to snatch second.

"It was really terribly difficult in the traffic because of the vision," explained Ickx. "That was how I passed Emerson; it was with traffic and I and I was able to have the luck - but I didn't see him as I passed!"

Ickx swept by on the outside into Paddock Hill Bend, as Fittipaldi got boxed in behind the F5000 car, and set off after Lauda. After three-quarters of the race, Ickx started to look like more of a threat.

"Lauda, who had been driving as superbly as Ickx on the streaming wet surface, was suddenly in trouble," reported Lyons. "Not big trouble, for it was merely that the soft rubber bump stop on his right rear suspension damper had torn away, but now the chassis was taking sharper blows from the Brands Hatch bumps.

"I knew that would be the best place to overtake Niki, but also that I would have to do it really very carefully" Jacky Ickx

"It was enough to destroy the equality between the two men."

After having a look at Paddock at the start of lap 34, Ickx committed to a bold move on the outside the next time around, coming from some way back and carrying remarkable extra speed into the downhill right-hander.

"I planned it," said Ickx, who went on to win by 1.5s. "I knew that would be the best place to overtake Niki, but also that I would have to do it really very carefully."

"That was the best moment of a very fine motor race," reckoned Lyons. "Some people say they dislike wet racing, but they cannot say there is anything wrong with it as a spectacle."

1. 1962 BRDC International Trophy, Silverstone

Clark and his Lotus 24 started as favourites for this race at Silverstone. Hill's BRM pipped Clark to pole, but in slippery conditions the Lotus took the early initiative.

After a slow start, Hill moved into second on lap three, but he could do nothing about Clark's early charge. The BRM started to lose its vertical exhaust pipes and briefly ceded second to the Lola of John Surtees, but Hill was soon back ahead.

Clark was around 25s clear until Hill started to catch him in the closing stages. With two laps to go the gap was still 6s, but Hill gained 4s on the penultimate tour and poor Lotus communication left the leader vulnerable.

"Team Lotus and Jimmy combined forces to lose," wrote Lotus mechanic Cedric Selzer in If You Have Come Second You Have Lost. "We gave Jimmy plus six seconds on Hill at the start of the last lap. In fact, this was the time of the previous lap."

"The last lap will be talked about for years to come," reported Grant. "Clark arrived at Club among one or two slower cars and swept up Abbey Curve to what he thought was victory. Meanwhile, Hill had threaded his way past the same cars and howled up Abbey closing all the way on Clark.

"Hill's BRM hurtled over the line in what looked like a photo-finish, arriving almost sideways in that last, desperate effort. No one could have been more astonished than Clark."

In Life at the Limit, Hill wrote: "I crossed the finish line in a big broadside and pipped him by about a car's length or less. It was a fantastic finish, one of the most thrilling I've ever had. To beat Jimmy Clark and Lotus at the same time made it doubly a pleasure, though I did feel a tiny bit sorry for Jimmy."

The Lotus led 51 of the race's 52 laps, but Hill had snatched victory in the final yards in a finish that Autosport described as "almost unparalleled in F1 racing".