1959 British Grand Prix | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
![]() | |||||
Race details | |||||
Date | 18 July 1959 | ||||
Official name | 12th RAC British Grand Prix | ||||
Location | Aintree Circuit,Liverpool,England | ||||
Course | Permanent road course | ||||
Course length | 4.828 km (3.000 miles) | ||||
Distance | 75 laps, 362.10 km (225.00 miles) | ||||
Weather | Dry and sunny. | ||||
Pole position | |||||
Driver | Cooper-Climax | ||||
Time | 1:58.0 | ||||
Fastest lap | |||||
Drivers | ![]() | BRM | |||
Fastest lap | ![]() | Cooper-Climax | |||
Time | 1:57.0 | ||||
Podium | |||||
First | Cooper-Climax | ||||
Second | BRM | ||||
Third | Cooper-Climax | ||||
Lap leaders |
The1959 British Grand Prix was aFormula Onemotor race held at theAintree Circuit on 18 July 1959. It was race 5 of 9 in the1959 World Championship of Drivers and race 4 of 8 in the1959 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 14thBritish Grand Prix and the third to be held at theAintree Motor Racing Circuit, a circuit mapped out in the grounds of theAintree Racecourse horse racing venue. The race was held over 75 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 362 kilometres.
The race was won by AustralianJack Brabham taking his second Grand Prix victory in a worksCooper T51. Brabham dominated the race, leading all 75 laps to win by 22 seconds over British driverStirling Moss driving aBritish Racing Partnership enteredBRM P25. It was the first time a BRP entry finished in the top three. Brabham'sCooper Car Company teammate, New ZealanderBruce McLaren finished in third place, just 0.2 seconds behind Moss, having lost second place late in the race.Harry Schell finished fourth for theOwen Racing Organisation BRM team a lap behind Brabham.
The British Grand Prix had the biggest entry of the season outside the Indianapolis 500 with 30 cars competing and 24 starting the race, all despite the absence of Ferrari. Strikes in Italy trapped the team at home,[1]leaving the British teams to fight over the race. Ferrari's new lead driverTony Brooks was given a release and started the race in aVanwall but was the first to retire with misfire after 13 laps having started in a lowly 17th after winning theFrench Grand Prix a few weeks earlier.
The win saw Brabham expand his points lead over Brooks to 13 points. Moss and McLaren moved into fourth place just half a point behind the absentPhil Hill.
On the last lap of this race, McLaren became the youngest driver to set a fastest lap in Formula One, aged 21 years and 322 days. It was another 44 years beforeFernando Alonso relieved him of that achievement with fastest lap in the2003 Canadian Grand Prix. He was a day younger aged 21 years and 321 days.
|
|
Previous race: 1959 French Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1959 season | Next race: 1959 German Grand Prix |
Previous race: 1958 British Grand Prix | British Grand Prix | Next race: 1960 British Grand Prix |