F1 driver standings
Standings
| # | Driver | MCO | NLD | BEL | FRA | GBR | DEU | ITA | USA | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (USA) Phil Hill (Ferrari) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 34 (38) | |
| 2 | (DEU) Wolfgang von Trips (Ferrari) | 4R | 1 | 2 | R | 1 | 2 | R | 33 | |
| 3 | (GBR) Stirling Moss (Lotus, Ferguson) | 1 | 4 | 8 | R | DSQ/R | 1 | R | R | 21 |
| = | (USA) Dan Gurney (Porsche) | 5 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 21 |
| 5 | (USA) Richie Ginther (Ferrari) | 2 | 5 | 3 | 15R | 3 | 8 | R | 16 | |
| 6 | (GBR) Innes Ireland (Lotus) | DNS | R | 4 | 10 | R | R | 1 | 12 | |
| 7 | (GBR) Jim Clark (Lotus) | 10 | 3 | 12 | 3 | R | 4 | R | 7 | 11 |
| = | (NZL) Bruce McLaren (Cooper) | 6 | 12 | R | 5 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
| 9 | (ITA) Giancarlo Baghetti (Ferrari) | 1 | R | R | 9 | |||||
| 10 | (GBR) Tony Brooks (BRM) | 13R | 9 | 13 | R | 9 | R | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| 11 | (AUS) Jack Brabham (Cooper) | R | 6 | R | R | 4 | R | R | R | 4 |
| = | (GBR) John Surtees (Cooper) | 11R | 7 | 5 | R | R | 5 | R | R | 4 |
| 13 | (BEL) Olivier Gendebien (Emeryson, Ferrari, Lotus) | DNQ | 4 | 11 | 3 | |||||
| = | (GBR) Jackie Lewis (Cooper) | 9 | R | R | 9 | 4 | 3 | |||
| = | (SWE) Jo Bonnier (Porsche) | 12R | 11 | 7 | 7 | 5 | R | R | 6 | 3 |
| = | (GBR) Graham Hill (BRM) | R | 8 | R | 6 | R | R | R | 5 | 3 |
| 17 | (GBR) Roy Salvadori (Cooper) | 8 | 6 | 10 | 6 | R | 2 | |||
| (FRA) Maurice Trintignant (Cooper) | 7 | R | 13 | R | 9 | |||||
| (NLD) Carel Godin de Beaufort (Porsche) | 14 | 11 | R | 16 | 14 | 7 | ||||
| (ITA) Lorenzo Bandini (Cooper) | R | 12 | R | 8 | ||||||
| (GBR) Cliff Allison (Lotus) | 8 | |||||||||
| (USA) Roger Penske (Cooper) | 8 | |||||||||
| (DEU) Hans Herrmann (Porsche) | 9 | 15 | 13 | |||||||
| (CAN) Peter Ryan (Lotus) | 9 | |||||||||
| (USA) Masten Gregory (Cooper, Lotus) | DNQ | DNS | 10 | 12 | 11 | R | 11/R | |||
| (GBR) Henry Taylor (Lotus) | DNQ | 10 | R | 11 | ||||||
| (GBR) Tim Parnell (Lotus) | R | 10 | ||||||||
| (USA) Hap Sharp (Cooper) | 10 | |||||||||
| (ZAF) Tony Maggs (Lotus) | 13 | 11 | ||||||||
| (CHE) Michael May (Lotus) | R | 11 | DNS | |||||||
| (GBR) Ian Burgess (Lotus, Cooper) | DNS | DNS | 14 | 14 | 12 | |||||
| (ITA) Renato Pirocchi (Cooper) | 12 | |||||||||
| (GBR) Trevor Taylor (Lotus) | 13 | |||||||||
| (GBR) Tony Marsh (Lotus) | DNS | R | 15 | |||||||
| (GBR) Keith Greene (Gilby) | 15 | |||||||||
| (GBR) Gerry Ashmore (Lotus) | R | 16 | R | |||||||
| (DEU) Wolfgang Seidel (Lotus) | DNS | 17 | R | R | ||||||
| (FRA) Bernard Collomb (Cooper) | R | NC | ||||||||
| (BEL) Lucien Bianchi (Emeryson, Lotus) | DNQ | R | R | R | ||||||
| (BEL) Willy Mairesse (Lotus, Ferrari) | R | R | R | |||||||
| (GBR) Jack Fairman (Ferguson, Cooper) | DSQ | R | ||||||||
| (ITA) Giorgio Scarlatti (De Tomaso) | R | |||||||||
| (ITA) Massimo Natili (Cooper) | R | |||||||||
| (MEX) Ricardo Rodriguez (Ferrari) | R | |||||||||
| (ITA) Gaetano Starrabba (Lotus) | R | |||||||||
| (ITA) Nino Vaccarella (De Tomaso) | R | |||||||||
| (ITA) Roberto Bussinello (De Tomaso) | R | |||||||||
| (GBR) Brian Naylor (JBW) | R | |||||||||
| (ITA) Roberto Lippi (De Tomaso) | R | |||||||||
| (USA) Jim Hall (Lotus) | R | |||||||||
| (USA) Lloyd Ruby (Lotus) | R | |||||||||
| (USA) Walt Hansgen (Cooper) | R | |||||||||
| (BEL) Andre Pilette (Emeryson) | DNQ | |||||||||
| # | Driver | MCO | NLD | BEL | FRA | GBR | DEU | ITA | USA | Points |
Table key, points system and championship rules
- Highlight: Rookie
- Bold: pole position
- Underline: fastest lap
- Bold & underline: pole & fastest lap
- DNQ: Did not qualify
- NC: Not classified
- DSQ: Disqualified
- DNS: Did not start
The top six classified finishers of each race were awarded points on the following basis:
- 1st (9)
- 2nd (6)
- 3rd (4)
- 4th (3)
- 5th (2)
- 6th (1)
Only the best five results counted towards the championship.
Numbers shown without parentheses are the points scored that counted towards the championship; numbers in parentheses are the total number of points scored.
Race to the title
The Race to the title graph shows how the title race played out over the course of the season between the top five drivers of 1961. Reigning world champion Jack Brabham, who finished 11th, is also shown.