The1959 Formula One season was the 13th season ofFIAFormula One motor racing. It featured the 10thWorld Championship of Drivers, the secondInternational Cup for F1 Manufacturers and five non-championship Formula One races. The World Championship was contested over nine races between 10 May and 12 December 1959.
At the beginning of the year, there were no world champions on the grid. Five-time championJuan Manuel Fangio had retired afterlast year, as had reigning championMike Hawthorn. Tragically, just three months after Hawthorn was crowned, he lost his life in a road accident.
Going into the final race, there were three drivers that could clinch their first championship.Jack Brabham driving forCooper ran out of fuel but pushed his car over the line to win his first Drivers' Championship.[1] He was the firstAustralian champion. Cooper also won their first Manufacturers' title.[2]
Two F1 drivers lost their lives in racing accidents. Firstly,Jean Behra raced in thesports car race that preceded the1959 German Grand Prix atAVUS. Rain had been falling and the track was slippery.[3] After two teammates had already crashed, Behra'sPorsche 718 RSK went over the top of the 43degreebanked turn and he incurred askull fracture when he struck aflagpole with his head.[4] AndIvor Bueb crashed hisBRPFormula Two car at theCharade Circuit. He was thrown from the car and died six days later in hospital.[5]
The followingteams anddrivers competed in the 1959FIAWorld Championship.
Note: The above list does not reflect competitors in the1959 Indianapolis 500.
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With theArgentine Grand Prix gone, the season began at the latest point in the year since1952, with theMonaco Grand Prix on 10 May 1959.Jean Behra forFerrari,Jack Brabham forCooper andStirling Moss, driving a Cooper forRob Walker, were fighting forpole position. It was Moss who set the fastest time in the end, with Behra and Brabham within half a second in second and third. On race day, Behra had the best start and went round the outside of Moss through the first hairpin. The loneworksPorsche, driven byWolfgang von Trips, spun on someoil on the second lap and was collected by three other drivers. The leading trio were nose-to-tail until, on lap 22, Behra's Ferrari developed an oil leak and retired. At half distance, only eight cars were left running, with Moss at a sizeable lead over Brabham andTony Brooks, third in the championship last year. On lap 81, however, Moss sensed a vibration and visited thepits. Nothing was visibly wrong, so he rejoined in the lead, but later that lap, histransmission failed and his race was over. This left Brabham (Cooper) to claim his first career podium and win, 20 seconds ahead of Brooks (Ferrari) and two laps ahead of veteran racer and last year's Monaco winnerMaurice Trintignant (Cooper).[9]
TheIndianapolis 500 sawRodger Ward take his first of two career victories. There was no overlap between the Indy 500 and F1 drivers. It would be the last year in which the race counted towards the F1 championship.
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For theDutch Grand Prix,Jo Bonnier, driving for theBRM works team, clinched his first career pole, ahead of Brabham, who achieved the same lap time but at a later moment, and Moss, two tenths behind. Bonnier held the lead at the start, but lost it on the second lap to seventh-startingMasten Gregory. On lap 12, Gregory's Cooper started jumping out ofgear, so Bonnier went by. Brabham inherited second place and then challenged theSwede for the lead, but then had to manage similar problems to his teammate.Aston Martin were making their debut this race, but both cars soon retired withengine failure. Meanwhile, Moss was up to third place and the fastest man on track. He passed Brabham on lap 49 by out-braking him into Tarzan corner and then grabbed the lead on lap 60 when Bonnier was held up by a backmarker. A mere three laps later, however, the Cooper's transmission failed, causing Moss to retire from the lead for the second time in a row. Bonnier scored his first and only career win, ahead of Brabham and Gregory.[10]
TheFrench Grand Prix received the honorary title ofEuropean Grand Prix and was contested on the public highways aroundReims. The Ferrari team entered five cars and their high-speed advantage put three of them on the first two rows of the grid. Pole position was for Brooks, ahead of championship leader Brabham and Ferrari teammatePhil Hill. Fifth-starting Moss, who had moved to theBRP team, passed three cars into the first corner, but was overtaken himself by seventh-starting Gregory. On lap 6, Trintignant, in the surprisingly quick Cooper, was the next driver to grab second place. Gregory retired when he was overcome by the summer heat, which reached 44 °C (111 °F) in the sun. His team then saw that theAmerican's face was cut by thebitumen andstones that were becoming dislodged.Ron Flockhart took a stone to theeye but raced on to take sixth place.Graham Hill retired when one of those rocks went through hisradiator. While Trintignant stopped to cool off, Bonnier's engine had seized, but the Swede pushed his car a fullkilometer back to the pits. At the front, Brooks was leading Hill and Brabham and that became the order at the finish. Moss got up to second briefly but then retired when hisclutch failed. He asked for apush start from bystanders, knowing that it would get him disqualified, but longing for the shade of the garages.[11]
In the Drivers' Championship,Jack Brabham (Cooper) was leading with 19 points, ahead ofTony Brooks (Ferrari) with 14 andPhil Hill (Ferrari) with 9. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Cooper was leading with 18 points, ahead of Ferrari with 16 andBRM with 8.
TheFerrari team did not compete in theBritish Grand Prix overlabour disputes back inItaly.Tony Brooks borrowed aVanwall from his old team boss to, at least theoretically, be able to challengeJack Brabham for the lead in the championship. Brabham tookpole position in hisCooper, ahead ofRoy Salvadori in theAston Martin, who set the same time but at a later moment, andHarry Schell in theBRM. Salvadori went down to ninth at the start and Brooks, from his seventeenth starting place, fell even further. Brabham held the lead ahead of Schell andBonnier. After ten laps,Stirling Moss had gotten up to second place and on lap 25,Bruce McLaren went up to third, and so stayed the order until the finish. McLaren had managed to get side-by-side with Moss and finished two tenths of a second behind.[6]
Instead of the traditionalNürburgring, theGerman Grand Prix was held at theAVUS circuit, which consisted of twoAutobahn straights of 3.5 km (2.2 mi), linked together by ahairpin at one end and a 43degrebanked turn at the other.[12] With fears abouttyre safety, the Grand Prix was separated into two heats of one hour, adding the drivers' times together, andstreamlining was forbidden by stipulating that all cars had to have the front wheels exposed at all times. In the supportingsports car race, it was therain that caused peril: three of the leadingPorsches crashed out, of whichJean Behra came off worst. His car flew over the banking, his head struck aflagpole and theFrenchman was killed. In a gloomy atmosphere, Brooks took pole position for the Grand Prix, ahead of Moss and Gurney. Fifth-starting Gregory was up to second after the first hairpin and Moss retired soon after with a failingtransmission. Championship leader Brabham retired with the same issue. The remaining Coopers and Ferraris seemed equally strong and the lead switch hands multiple times, until theClimax engine broke and Gregory coasted to a standstill. Ferrari was 1-2-3 at the end of the first heat. After a short break to change tyres and mend some damage, nine cars were left to start the second heat.BRP driverHans Hermann lost hisbrakes and had a spectacular crash. He was thrown out and slid along the track while hiscarsomersaulted multiple times. The red cars from Italy showed their dominance, taking an easy victory and completing a victory lap three-abreast. After adding up the heats, Brooks was given the victory, three seconds ahead of Gurney and a minute ahead of Hill.[3]
ThePortuguese Grand Prix was run on the much appraisedMonsanto road course, and the twisty nature of the track gave the advantage to the lightweight Coopers: Mossqualified on pole, ahead of the two works drivers, Brabham and Gregory, and then came teammate Trintignant. Gurney was the first Ferrari in sixth. Eight-starting McLaren, the third works Cooper driver, joined the leading pack after the first lap. On lap 5, Phil Hill collided with Graham Hill and both retired on the spot. Moss was the fastest man on track, as he had been so many times, and this time, his car held on for him to take the win, a lap ahead of Gregory. Gurney had managed to get by Trintignant to take third. Brabham had crashed heavily on lap 24, but walked away unhurt, and McLaren retired with transmission failure.[13]
Even atMonza, the track synonymous with speed, the Cooper team was giving home favourite Ferrari a run for their money. Moss took pole, ahead of Brooks and Brabham. Brooks had a bad start and apiston broke, causing him to retire immediately. Moss let fifth-starting Hill by into the lead, to follow the Ferrari and conserve his tyres. Gurney completed the leading trio and positions changed every lap. Moss's plan worked, as Hill and Gurney had to change tyres on lap 33 and 34, so the only remaining fear was for his Cooper to let him down. But it held on, Moss even lapped the Ferrari ofCliff Allison, and took the win, ahead of Hill and Brabham.[14]
With one round to go, the Drivers' Championship had seenJack Brabham (Cooper) in the lead since the beginning. TheAustralian had gathered 31 points. ButStirling Moss (Cooper) andTony Brooks had scored two wins, just like Brabham, and were following on 25.5 and 23 points, respectively. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Cooper was leading with 38 points, ahead of Ferrari with 32 andBRM with 18.
The firstUnited States Grand Prix was held atSebring International Raceway, combining tworunways of theregional airport and a series of technical corners. For the first time since1951, three drivers were in contention for the title going into the final race.Jack Brabham would be the champion if he won the race. If he would not win, he would at least have to finish ahead ofStirling Moss andTony Brooks. Meanwhile, Moss had to finish at least second with Brabham behind him. Brooks, because of his eight-point deficit, would simply have to win, while hoping for his rivals' misfortune. Moss tookpole position, ahead of Brabham andHarry Schell, making it threeCoopers on the front row. Brooks had to pit after the first lap, because his teammateVon Trips hadrear-ended him, giving him no more realistic chances for the title. In five laps, Moss achieved a lead of ten seconds over Brabham, before hisgearbox packed up and he coasted to a halt. After four years of finishing in second place, he would be denied the championship once again. Brabham and teammateMcLaren ran to the finish as a solid duo, although Moss's teammateTrintignant was putting some real pressure on. A meremile from the finish, drama ensued as Brabham ran out offuel and McLaren went by to take the win, half a second ahead of Trintignant. With Moss out and Brooks not winning (he would finish third), the championship was sealed, but Brabham wanted to finish strong and started pushing his car towards the line. Five minutes after his teammate, he crossed the line to the cheers of the crowd. He was classified as fourth, as the three remaining runners were still multiple laps behind.[15]
Jack Brabham, driving forCooper, won his first Drivers' Championship with 31 points, ahead ofTony Brooks (Ferrari) with 27 andStirling Moss (Cooper) with 25.5. Cooper won their first Manufacturers' Championship with 40 points, ahead of Ferrari with 32 andBRM with 18.
Points were awarded to the top five classified finishers, with an additional point awarded for setting the fastest lap, regardless of finishing position or even classification. Only the best five results counted towards the championship. No points were awarded for shared drives. If more than one driver set the same fastest lap time, the fastest lap point would be divided equally between the drivers.
The International Cup for F1 Manufacturers only counted the points of the highest-finishing driver for each race, although fastest lap points were not counted. Indy 500 results did not count towards the cup. Additionally, like the Drivers' Championship, only the best five results counted towards the cup.
Numbers without parentheses are championship points, from the best five results; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points were awarded in the following system:
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | FL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Source:[16] | ||||||
| Pos. | Manufacturer | MON | NED | FRA | GBR | GER | POR | ITA | USA | Pts.[b] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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. |
Five Formula One races which did not count towards the World Championship were held in 1959.
| Race Name | Circuit | Date | Winning driver | Constructor | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIIGlover Trophy | Goodwood | 30 March | Stirling Moss | Cooper-Climax | Report |
| XIVBARC Aintree 200 | Aintree | 18 April | Jean Behra | Ferrari | Report |
| XIBRDC International Trophy | Silverstone | 2 May |  Jack Brabham | Cooper-Climax | Report |
| VIInternational Gold Cup | Oulton Park | 26 September | Stirling Moss | Cooper-Climax | Report |
| IVSilver City Trophy | Snetterton | 10 October | Ron Flockhart | BRM | Report |
