1959 Formula One season

The 1959 Formula One season was the 13th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1959 World Championship of Drivers and the 1959 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, contested concurrently over a nine race series ^[1] which commenced on 10 May and ended on 12 December. The season also included a number of non-championship Formula One races.

Jack Brabham won the World Championship of Drivers ^[1] in a sport still reeling from the death of several drivers, including reigning champion Mike Hawthorn. The International Cup for F1 Manufacturers was awarded to Cooper–Climax.^[1]

Season summary

Vanwall's withdrawal, believed to have been a result of the high mortality rate of the 1958 season^{[citation needed]}, left Ferrari as the only race-winning team in the Championship^{[citation needed]}. Similarly, Juan Manuel Fangio and Mike Hawthorn's retirement meant that for the very first time no world champion was on the grid. Cooper's revolutionary rear-engined cars, powered by the compact Coventry-Climax 2.5 litre engine, won five races with Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss and Bruce McLaren. BRM also landed its maiden victory in the hands of Jo Bonnier. Aston Martin appeared with a car which, in the face of Cooper's rear-engined revolution, was outdated and overweight.

The German Grand Prix was held for the second time on the very high speed AVUS circuit, where Ferrari's Jean Behra was killed during an unrelated sports car race at the wheel of a Porsche.

Ferrari's Tony Brooks took the fight to the Coopers and going into the final race he, Moss or Brabham could win the title. Moss retired from the race, the inaugural United States Grand Prix, giving Brabham the lead. Brabham ran out of fuel on the last lap but pushed his car across the line to finish fourth. With Brooks unable to do better than third, Brabham became the first Australian World Champion while Cooper won the Constructors' crown.

Season review

Rnd	Race	Circuit	Date	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Constructor	Tyre	Report
1	Monaco Grand Prix	Monaco	10 May	Stirling Moss	Jack Brabham	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	D	Report
2	Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis	30 May	Johnny Thomson	Johnny Thomson	Rodger Ward	Watson-Offenhauser	F	Report
3	Dutch Grand Prix	Zandvoort	31 May	Jo Bonnier	Stirling Moss	Jo Bonnier	BRM	D	Report
4	French Grand Prix	Reims	5 July	Tony Brooks	Stirling Moss	Tony Brooks	Ferrari	D	Report
5	British Grand Prix	Aintree	18 July	Jack Brabham	Stirling Moss Bruce McLaren	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	D	Report
6	German Grand Prix	AVUS	2 August	Tony Brooks	Tony Brooks	Tony Brooks	Ferrari	D	Report
7	Portuguese Grand Prix	Monsanto	23 August	Stirling Moss	Stirling Moss	Stirling Moss	Cooper-Climax	D	Report
8	Italian Grand Prix	Monza	13 September	Stirling Moss	Phil Hill	Stirling Moss	Cooper-Climax	D	Report
9	United States Grand Prix	Sebring	12 December	Stirling Moss	Maurice Trintignant	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	D	Report

There were 3 scheduled Grands Prix in 1959 that were canceled. The Argentine Grand Prix, scheduled to be held in January, was cancelled because with heroes such as Juan Manuel Fangio and Jose Froilan Gonzalez having retired, there was no local interest and the race was promptly cancelled. The Belgian Grand Prix was scheduled to be held in June but it was canceled due to a dispute over start money. And finally, the Moroccan Grand Prix was scheduled to be held in October at Ain-Diab but it was cancelled for monetary reasons.^[2] The Indianapolis 500 also counted towards the 1959 USAC Championship, and was run for USAC Championship cars, but did not count towards the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1959 FIA World Championship.

Australian Jack Brabham (pictured in 1966) won his 1st of 3 driver's championships, driving for Cooper

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	Driver	Rounds
Dr Ing F. Porsche KG	Behra-Porsche-Porsche	RSK	Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4	D	Maria Teresa de Filippis	1
Dr Ing F. Porsche KG	Porsche	718 RSK 718/2	Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4	D	Wolfgang von Trips	1, 6
Equipe Nationale Belge	Cooper-Climax	T51	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	D	Lucien Bianchi	1
Equipe Nationale Belge	Cooper-Climax	T51	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	D	Alain de Changy	1
Jean Lucienbonnet	Cooper-Climax	T45	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	D	Jean Lucienbonnet	1
Owen Racing Organisation	BRM	P25	BRM P25 2.5 L4	D	Harry Schell	1, 3–8
					Jo Bonnier	1, 3–8
					Ron Flockhart	1, 4–5, 7–8
Cooper Car Company	Cooper-Climax	T51	Climax FPF 2.5 L4	D	Bruce McLaren	1, 4–9
					Jack Brabham	1, 3–9
					Masten Gregory	1, 3–7
					Giorgio Scarlatti	8
R.R.C. Walker Racing Team	Cooper-Climax	T51	Climax FPF 2.5 L4	D	Stirling Moss	1, 3, 6–9
R.R.C. Walker Racing Team	Cooper-Climax	T51	Climax FPF 2.5 L4	D	Maurice Trintignant	1, 3–9
British Racing Partnership	BRM	P25	BRM P25 2.5 L4	D	Stirling Moss	4–5
	BRM	P25	BRM P25 2.5 L4		Hans Herrmann	6
	Cooper-Climax	T51	Climax FPF 1.5 L4		Ivor Bueb	1
	Cooper-Borgward		Borgward 1500 RS 1.5 L4		Ivor Bueb	5
	Cooper-Borgward		Borgward 1500 RS 1.5 L4		Chris Bristow	5
High Efficiency Motors	Cooper-Maserati	T45	Maserati 250S 2.5 L4	D	Roy Salvadori	1, 4, 9
	Cooper-Maserati	T45	Maserati 250S 2.5 L4		Jack Fairman	8
	Cooper-Climax	T45	Climax FPF 2.5 L4		Jack Fairman	5
Team Lotus	Lotus-Climax	16	Climax FPF 2.5 L4	D	Graham Hill	1, 3–8
					Pete Lovely	1
					Innes Ireland	3–4, 6–9
					Alan Stacey	5, 9
John Fisher	Lotus-Climax	16	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	D	Bruce Halford	1
Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	246 156	Ferrari 155 2.4 V6 Ferrari D156 1.5 V6	D	Jean Behra	1, 3–4
					Phil Hill	1, 3–4, 6–9
					Tony Brooks	1, 3–4, 6–9
					Cliff Allison	1, 3, 6, 8–9
					Olivier Gendebien	4, 8
					Dan Gurney	4, 6–8
					Wolfgang von Trips	9
Scuderia Ugolini	Maserati	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	D	Giorgio Scarlatti	1, 4
Scuderia Ugolini	Maserati	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	D	Carel Godin de Beaufort	4
Monte Carlo Auto Sport	Maserati	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	D	André Testut	1
David Brown Corporation	Aston Martin	DBR4	Aston Martin RB6 2.5 L6	A	Roy Salvadori	3, 5, 7–8
David Brown Corporation	Aston Martin	DBR4	Aston Martin RB6 2.5 L6	A	Carroll Shelby	3, 5, 7–8
Ecurie Maarsbergen	Porsche	718 RSK	Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4	D	Carel Godin de Beaufort	3
Scuderia Centro Sud	Cooper-Maserati	T51	Maserati 250S 2.5 L4	D	Ian Burgess	4–6, 8
					Colin Davis	4, 8
					Hans Herrmann	5
					Mario Araujo de Cabral	7
	Maserati	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6		Asdrúbal Fontes Bayardo	4
	Maserati	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6		Fritz d'Orey	4–5
Vandervell Products	Vanwall	VW 59	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4	D	Tony Brooks	5
J.B. Naylor	JBW-Maserati	59	Maserati 250S 2.5 L4	D	Brian Naylor	5
Ace Garage – Rotherham	Cooper-Climax	T51	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	D	Trevor Taylor	5
Alan Brown Equipe	Cooper-Climax	T45	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	D	Mike Taylor	5
Alan Brown Equipe	Cooper-Climax	T45	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	D	Peter Ashdown	5
Gilby Engineering	Cooper-Climax	T43	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	D	Keith Greene	5
United Racing Stable	Cooper-Climax	T51	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	D	Bill Moss	5
R.H.H. Parnell	Cooper-Climax	T51 T45	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	D	Henry Taylor	5
R.H.H. Parnell	Cooper-Climax	T51 T45	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	D	Tim Parnell	5
David Fry	Fry-Climax	F2	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	D	Mike Parkes	5
Dennis Taylor	Lotus-Climax	12	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	D	Dennis Taylor	5
Dorchester Service Station	Lotus-Climax	16	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	D	David Piper	5
Jean Behra	Behra-Porsche-Porsche	RSK	Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4	D	Jean Behra	6
Ottorino Volonterio	Maserati	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	D	Giulio Cabianca	8
Leader Cards Inc.	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	Midget	Offenhauser 1.7 L4	F	Rodger Ward	9
OSCA Automobili	Cooper-OSCA	T43	OSCA 2.0 L4	D	Alejandro de Tomaso	9
Camoradi USA	Tec-Mec-Maserati	F415	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	D	Fritz d'Orey	9
Taylor-Crawley Racing Team	Cooper-Climax	T45	Climax FPF 2.5 L4	D	George Constantine	9
Blanchard Automobile Co.	Porsche	718 RSK	Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4	G	Harry Blanchard	9
Connaught Cars-Paul Emery	Connaught-Alta	C	Alta GP 2.5 L4	D	Bob Said	9
Ecurie Bleue	Cooper-Climax	T51	Climax FPF 2.5 L4	D	Harry Schell	9
Phil Cade	Maserati	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	D	Phil Cade	9

1959 World Championship of Drivers – final standings

Points were awarded on an 8-6-4-3-2 basis to the first five finishers at each Grand Prix with an additional point going to the driver who set the fastest lap. Only the best five results contributed to the World Championship.

Pos.	Driver	MON	500	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	USA	Pts.^[a]
1	Jack Brabham	1		2	3	1	Ret	Ret	3	(4)	31 (34)
2	Tony Brooks	2		Ret	1	Ret	1	9	Ret	3	27
3	Stirling Moss	Ret		Ret	DSQ	2	Ret	1	1	Ret	25.5
4	Phil Hill	4		6	2		3	Ret	2	Ret	20
5	Maurice Trintignant	3		8	11	5	4	4	9	2	19
6	Bruce McLaren	5			5	3	Ret	Ret	Ret	1	16.5
7	Dan Gurney				Ret		2	3	4		13
8	Jo Bonnier	Ret		1	Ret	Ret	5	Ret	8		10
9	Masten Gregory	Ret		3	Ret	7	Ret	2			10
10	Rodger Ward		1							Ret	8
11	Jim Rathmann		2								6
12	Johnny Thomson		3								5
13	Harry Schell	Ret		Ret	7	4	7	5	7	Ret	5
14	Innes Ireland			4	Ret		Ret	Ret	Ret	5	5
15	Olivier Gendebien				4				6		3
16	Tony Bettenhausen		4								3
17	Cliff Allison	Ret		9			Ret		5	Ret	2
18	Jean Behra	Ret		5	Ret		DNS				2
19	Paul Goldsmith		5								2
—	Roy Salvadori	6		Ret	Ret	6		6	Ret	Ret	0
—	Ron Flockhart	Ret			6	Ret		7	13		0
—	Ian Burgess				Ret	Ret	6		14		0
—	Wolfgang von Trips	Ret					DNS			6	0
—	Johnny Boyd		6								0
—	Graham Hill	Ret		7	Ret	9	Ret	Ret	Ret		0
—	Duane Carter		7								0
—	Harry Blanchard									7	0
—	Carroll Shelby			Ret		Ret		8	10		0
—	Giorgio Scarlatti	DNQ			8				12		0
—	Alan Stacey					8				Ret	0
—	Eddie Johnson		8								0
—	Carel Godin de Beaufort			10	9						0
—	Paul Russo		9								0
—	Fritz d'Orey				10	Ret				Ret	0
—	A. J. Foyt		10								0
—	Chris Bristow					10					0
—	Mario de Araujo Cabral							10			0
—	Colin Davis				Ret				11		0
—	Gene Hartley		11								0
—	Henry Taylor					11					0
—	Bob Veith		12								0
—	Peter Ashdown					12					0
—	Al Herman		13								0
—	Ivor Bueb	DNQ				13					0
—	Jimmy Daywalt		14								0
—	Chuck Arnold		15								0
—	Giulio Cabianca								15		0
—	Jim McWithey		16								0
—	Hans Herrmann					Ret	Ret				0
—	Jack Fairman					Ret			Ret		0
—	Bruce Halford	Ret									0
—	Eddie Sachs		Ret								0
—	Al Keller		Ret								0
—	Dick Rathmann		Ret								0
—	Bill Cheesbourg		Ret								0
—	Don Freeland		Ret								0
—	Ray Crawford		Ret								0
—	Don Branson		Ret								0
—	Bob Christie		Ret								0
—	Bobby Grim		Ret								0
—	Jack Turner		Ret								0
—	Jud Larson		Ret								0
—	Jimmy Bryan		Ret								0
—	Red Amick		Ret								0
—	Len Sutton		Ret								0
—	Pat Flaherty		Ret								0
—	Mike Magill		Ret								0
—	Chuck Weyant		Ret								0
—	Brian Naylor					Ret					0
—	David Piper					Ret					0
—	Mike Taylor					Ret					0
—	Alejandro de Tomaso									Ret	0
—	George Constantine									Ret	0
—	Bob Said									Ret	0
—	Alain de Changy	DNQ									0
—	Lucien Bianchi	DNQ									0
—	Maria Teresa de Filippis	DNQ									0
—	Pete Lovely	DNQ									0
—	Jean Lucienbonnet	DNQ									0
—	André Testut	DNQ									0
—	Bill Moss					DNQ					0
—	Keith Greene					DNQ					0
—	Mike Parkes					DNQ					0
—	Trevor Taylor					DNQ					0
—	Dennis Taylor					DNQ					0
—	Tim Parnell					DNQ					0
—	Asdrúbal Fontes Bayardo				DNS						0
—	Phil Cade									DNS	0
Pos.	Driver	MON	500	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	USA	Pts.

Key
Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	Second place
Bronze	Third place
Green	Other points position
Blue	Other classified position
Blue	Not classified, finished (NC)
Purple	Not classified, retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
White	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not practice (DNP)
	Excluded (EX)
	Did not arrive (DNA)
	Withdrawn (WD)
	Did not enter (cell empty)
Text formatting	Meaning
Bold	Pole position
Italics	Fastest lap

Italics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded – point shared equally between drivers sharing fastest lap)
Bold indicates pole position

1959 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers – final standings

Points were awarded on an 8–6–4–3–2 basis to the first five finishers at each round (excluding the Indianapolis 500). However, a manufacturer only received points for its highest placed car in each round, and only the best five results from the eight races were retained.

Pos.	Manufacturer	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	USA	Pts.^[a]
1	Cooper-Climax	1	(2)	(3)	1	(4)	1	1	1	40 (53)
2	Ferrari	2	(5)	1		1	3	2	(3)	32 (38)
3	BRM	Ret	1	6	2	5	5	7		18
4	Lotus-Climax	Ret	4	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	5	5
—	Cooper-Maserati	6		Ret	Ret	6	10	11	Ret	0
—	Aston Martin		Ret		6		6	10		0
—	Porsche	Ret	10			DNS			7	0
—	Maserati	DNQ		8	Ret	WD	WD	15	DNS	0
—	Cooper-Borgward				10					0
—	JBW-Maserati				Ret					0
—	Vanwall				Ret					0
—	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser								Ret	0
—	Cooper-OSCA								Ret	0
—	Tec-Mec-Maserati								Ret	0
—	Connaught-Alta				WD				Ret	0
—	Behra-Porsche-Porsche	DNQ				DNS				0
—	Fry-Climax				DNQ					0
Pos.	Manufacturer	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	USA	Pts.

Bold results counted to championship totals.

Non-championship races

Other Formula One races also held in 1959, which did not count towards the World Championship.

Race Name	Circuit	Date	Winning driver	Constructor	Report
VII Glover Trophy	Goodwood	30 March	Stirling Moss	Cooper-Climax	Report
XIV BARC Aintree 200	Aintree	18 April	Jean Behra	Ferrari	Report
XI BRDC International Trophy	Silverstone	2 May	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	Report
VI International Gold Cup	Oulton Park	26 September	Stirling Moss	Cooper-Climax	Report
IV Silver City Trophy	Snetterton	10 October	Ron Flockhart	BRM	Report

Notes

^ ^a ^b Only the best 5 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c World Championship of Drivers and International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, 1974 FIA Yearbook, Grey section, pages 118 to 121
^ "Grand Prix Cancelled". Autosport. Retrieved 23 January 2016.

[points-3] Only the best 5 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

[FIA-1] World Championship of Drivers and International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, 1974 FIA Yearbook, Grey section, pages 118 to 121

[2] "Grand Prix Cancelled". Autosport. Retrieved 23 January 2016.

[1]

[2]

[a]