The 3-litre formula and a return to power, but British teams were struggling to find suitable power plants to the new specification. Lotus and BRM were forced to run bored- out versions of their previous years engines until more complex units could be introduced.

The canny Jack Brabham had long since reached an agreement with the Australian car parts manufacturer Repco to produce a new engine. Despite its simple design and modest power output, it proved to be very effective and the 40-year old Australian duly took his third World Championship.

Dan Gurney and Bruce McLaren both followed Brabham's path and became driver/constructors with the Eagle and McLaren marques respectively.