The last great BRM that got Stewart off the mark

The journey BRM made to the sharp end of the Formula 1 grid was a painful one, littered with humiliating failures, but during the 1960s it struck a rich seam of form before mediocrity crept back in.

With the P261 it conceivably hit its competitive peak, for while this car did not carry any of its drivers to the world championship it came tantalisingly close; it won races in both the 1.5-litre and 3-litre F1 eras; and it enabled a young Jackie Stewart to announce himself on the international stage and win the Tasman series for 2.5-litre cars. The P261's success was also achieved against a typically BRM background of politics and disorganisation behind the scenes.

Engineer Tony Rudd was a key figure in BRM's renaissance. Nicknamed "Moleskin Harry" because of his weather-beaten coat and diffident demeanour, he contributed to the design of several BRMs in the 1950s. He might have remained a peripheral figure but for a revolt instigated by drivers Graham Hill, Dan Gurney and Jo Bonnier in 1960: at an ill-tempered meeting they demanded of team proprietor Sir Alfred Owen that Rudd be elevated to oversee car design and race weekend operations.

This latter field was one in which BRM noticeably fell short but, owing to the involvement of team eminences grise such as Raymond Mays and chief engineer Peter Berthon, change had to be enacted diplomatically to avoid bruising egos. After another tempestuous season in 1961 - BRM, like the rest of the British teams, wasn't as prepared as Ferrari for the 1.5-litre formula - Owen promoted Rudd to be both chief engineer and team manager, but said unless BRM won at least two GPs in 1962 the team would fold.

Fortunately, Rudd's new V8-powered P57 chassis was handy enough for Hill to claim four grands prix and the drivers' title, as well as two further victories in 1963. Hill's chief competition in 1962 was Jim Clark, and Clark's car was the new and genre-defining monocoque-chassis Lotus 25. He was but an engine seizure away from winning the drivers' title in 1962 and beat Hill to it convincingly the following season.

During 1962 it became clear BRM would have to develop a monocoque chassis as a riposte to the Lotus, which was both lighter and, owing to a more laid-down driving position, more aerodynamically efficient - a major advantage in this period of small-displacement engines.

In tandem BRM worked on a new gearbox, and on revising the engine with a flat-plane crank and a simplified exhaust system which could be more aerodynamically shaped. But progress was continually stymied by side projects which BRM, as a small wing of a larger engineering company, was expected to complete.

The perceived success of the gas turbine car led to still more projects being funnelled in the direction of BRM's Bourne workshops: F2 and F3 engines, an approach from Chrysler to develop a four-wheel-drive Indy 500 entry, and a host of non-automotive engineering schemes

"The first dash of cold water came very early in 1963, when Sir Alfred called a meeting," wrote Rudd in his autobiography It Was Fun. "Sir Alfred told us that Rover wished to run at Le Mans to try for the special prize for the first turbine-engined car to average 150kmh for 24 hours. He had agreed to provide the car. I was to design it...

"We always realised that we would have to race the old [F1] cars in the first two or three races until the monocoques were ready but, with all the turbine distractions, the three races became six..."

Though beset by problems, including "throttle lag best measured with a calendar rather than a stopwatch", the gas-turbine Rover-BRM made it to the finish at the 24 Hours in June 1963 and claimed the 25 million Francs bounty.

Rudd's new F1 car, designated P61, made its 'race' debut - it ran in practice at Zandvoort - in the French GP at Reims two weeks later. It was only a semi-monocoque, since a subframe cradled the V8 and transmission - the price of getting involved in side projects - but the initial impressions were good as Hill qualified on the front row... only to stall at the start of the race.

As it became clear the P61 lacked torsional rigidity, Hill pushed back against continuing to race it and it appeared just once more, at Monza, as Hill saw out the season with the older car.

Rudd was already troubleshooting but his labours on a 'MkII' version of the P61, designated the P261, were held back by further work on the dreaded Le Mans project. This time BRM's partners wanted to design an all-new car with enclosed bodywork sculpted by William Towns. The perceived success of the gas turbine car led to still more projects being funnelled in the direction of BRM's Bourne workshops: F2 and F3 engines, an approach from Chrysler to develop a four-wheel-drive Indy 500 entry, and a host of non-automotive engineering schemes.

Somehow the team completed the new car and fettled the new six-speed gearbox for the beginning of the 1964 F1 season. Having traced the P61's flex issues to the subframe's mounting to the tub, Rudd extended the side pontoons of the monocoque rearwards around the engine. The V8 was now almost completely different from its original spec, although a further revision was in the works in which the gas flow across the cylinder heads was reversed, enabling the exhausts to exit inside the vee, behind the driver's head.

While the P61 featured inboard coil-over shocks at the front and rear, the P261 reverted to a conventional outboard arrangement for the rear wishbones; the central mounting point above the gearbox on the P61 occupied real estate through which the central exhausts would pass once that engine was ready.

Hill showed a good turn of pace in early non-championship races. At Monaco, the opening round of the F1 season, he and team-mate Richie Ginther qualified third and eighth. Led initially by Clark and Dan Gurney, Hill moved to the front as mechanical attrition claimed his rivals. He ultimately took the chequered flag a lap ahead of second-placed Ginther.

Rudd had recruited former Vanwall chief mechanic Cyril Atkins to occupy that position at BRM, and this hire proved transformative as a team once characterised by indifferent preparation and poor reliability racked up consistent finishes. Though Hill would claim just one more victory in 1964, he retired only twice, and the two wins plus a trio of second places mid-season made him a title contender.

While Hill took a typically accomplished victory in Monaco, Clark was rampant throughout 1965, winning every time he finished, six races in all, and only failing to finish on three occasions (he skipped Monaco to win the Indy 500)

He went into the final round in the lead, five points ahead of Ferrari's John Surtees, but a churlish nudge from the other Ferrari of Lorenzo Bandini caused damage that forced Hill to limp home 11th. That, and the obtuse system of dropped scores (only a driver's six best results counted), handed Surtees the championship by a point.

The centre-exhaust engine and a new magnesium case for the gearbox were the headline developments during 1964. Over the winter the suspension geometry and pick-up points were tweaked, but the most significant change for the team was the arrival of F1 rookie Jackie Stewart, replacing Ginther.

At 25, Stewart came highly regarded based on his impressive form in the junior formulae, and had turned down previous F1 offers in favour of building his racecraft in F3 and F2. A sparkling one-off outing for Lotus, in the non-championship Rand Grand Prix at Kyalami in December 1964, suggested he was now ready. Less than a month later he was back at that venue with BRM for the season opener, now a fully fledged grand prix driver.

While Hill took a typically accomplished victory in Monaco, Clark was rampant throughout 1965, winning every time he finished, six races in all, and only failing to finish on three occasions (he skipped Monaco to win the Indy 500).

On one of those occasions Clark failed to finish, the Italian Grand Prix, Stewart and Hill finished one-two as Jackie claimed his maiden world championship race victory courtesy of his team-mate's slip-up at the Parabolica. A new cylinder head had brought the BRM V8's claimed power output to 220bhp.

F1 became a 3-litre formula in 1966 but internal politics meant BRM divided its resources, with Berthon and Aubrey Woods evaluating a V12 and Rudd proposing a 16-cylinder engine. The H16 - essentially two flattened-out V8s mated at the crankcase - arrived late and was overweight and excessively complex. Thus P261 enjoyed a final hurrah.

Having blitzed the eight-race Tasman series in the southern hemisphere with P261s powered by 1.9-litre versions of the V8, BRM contested the opening rounds of the 1966 F1 season with the same chassis. 2.1 litres was the greatest displacement which could be eked from the V8, but several other teams were just as under-prepared as BRM. Stewart won the season-opening Monaco GP by 40s from Bandini, and then qualified third at Spa, only to suffer a catastrophic accident during a downpour on the opening lap.

Hill and Stewart had to stick with P261s until after the German Grand Prix in August, prompting Hill to leave for Lotus at the end of the season. Stewart persisted for one more year before re-joining his old F3 comrade Ken Tyrrell, now running Matra's F1 cars. Stewart finished on the podium just twice in 1967 - one of those at the wheel of a P261, rolled out of retirement as the H16 engine continued to prove bothersome...

Race record
Starts: 65
Wins: 6
Poles: 5
Fastest laps: 4
Podiums: 17
Constructors' points: 109 (after dropped scores)

Specification
Chassis: Duralumin and steel monocoque
Suspension: Double wishbones, coil-over shock absorbers
Engine: BRM P56 90-degree V8
Engine capacity: 1498cc 
Power: 220bhp at 11,750rpm
Gearbox: BRM six-speed manual
Tyres: Dunlop 
Weight: 460kg
Notable drivers: Graham Hill, Richie Ginther, Jackie Stewart, Innes Ireland, David Hobbs