Dan Gurney won the 1962 French Grand Prix, Porsche’s only Formula One World Championship race victory as a constructor.
The race took place on 8 July 1962 at Rouen-Les-Essarts, where Gurney drove Porsche’s 804. He started sixth, but a series of failures removed several leading contenders. Graham Hill had been controlling the race for BRM before fuel-injection and throttle-linkage trouble dropped him back, while Jim Clark retired with suspension problems. Gurney then took the lead and completed all 54 laps.
The victory was Gurney’s first in the Formula One World Championship and Porsche’s first—and still only—championship Grand Prix win with its own works car. Porsche also supplied the winning engine, making the result unique for the marque in the championship’s constructor and engine-supplier records.
The wording can cause confusion because Porsche has achieved many major victories outside Formula One, including at Le Mans. It also returned to F1 later as an engine supplier, but the 1962 French Grand Prix remains Porsche’s sole World Championship race win as a constructor.