1959 F1 World Championship

The 1959 F1 season was the 10th year of the World Championship of Drivers. It included nine races from 10 May to 12 December 1959 and included five non-championship events. 1959 was also the 2nd year of the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers (the Constructors Championship).

Season

The 1959 Formula One season began without a reigning world champion on the grid. Five-time champion Juan Manuel Fangio had retired the previous year, and Mike Hawthorn, the 1958 champion, had also stepped away from racing. Tragically, just three months after securing his title, Hawthorn lost his life in a road accident, leaving the season without a previous titleholder.

Heading into the final race, three drivers remained in contention for their first championship. Jack Brabham, driving for Cooper, ran out of fuel near the finish but pushed his car over the line, securing both his first Drivers’ Championship and Cooper’s first Manufacturers’ title. Brabham also became the first Australian to win the championship.

However, the season was also marked by tragedy, with the loss of two drivers in racing accidents. Jean Behra was killed in a sports car race before the German Grand Prix at AVUS, when his Porsche 718 RSK slid off the wet track, launching over the banked turn and fatally striking a flagpole. Later in the season, Ivor Bueb suffered a crash in a Formula Two race at the Charade Circuit. Thrown from his car, he succumbed to his injuries six days later in the hospital.

1959 F1 Entries drivers and teams

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1959 FIA World Championship. The list does not reflect competitors in the 1959 Indianapolis 500.

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

Team and Driver Changes in 1959

The 1959 Formula One season saw major shifts among teams and drivers. Vanwall, following Tony Vandervell’s declining health, scaled back its operations significantly after 1958, entering only one race in 1959 before fading from the grid. Stirling Moss, previously a Vanwall driver, moved to the Rob Walker Racing Team, piloting a private Cooper. Scuderia Ferrari entered the season with a completely new driver lineup—1958 champion Mike Hawthorn had retired, Wolfgang von Trips switched to the new Porsche works team, and Olivier Gendebien focused on sports car racing. Ferrari recruited Jean Behra from BRM, Tony Brooks from Vanwall, and Cliff Allison from Lotus.

Porsche made its Formula One debut, entering only the Monaco Grand Prix before committing to full-time competition in 1961. Lotus replaced Cliff Allison with Pete Lovely, while Cooper signed Masten Gregory as a replacement for Roy Salvadori, who moved to Aston Martin alongside Carroll Shelby. The mid-season was filled with driver movements and tragic incidents. After two poor results, Lotus sacked Pete Lovely, replacing him with Innes Ireland, who was then substituted by Alan Stacey at the British Grand Prix due to illness. Jean Behra was dismissed from Ferrari following an altercation with team manager Romolo Tavoni but tragically lost his life at AVUS in a sports car race before the German Grand Prix. The BRP team withdrew from the season after Hans Herrmann’s terrifying crash at the German Grand Prix and Ivor Bueb’s fatal accident in a Formula Two race. Meanwhile, Cooper’s Masten Gregory missed the last two races after an accident in another series, where he escaped his crashing Jaguar by jumping out before impact but suffered serious injuries. Giorgio Scarlatti substituted for him at the Italian Grand Prix.

1959 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco , Monte Carlo	10 May
2	Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway , Speedway	30 May1
3	Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort , Zandvoort	31 May
4	French Grand Prix	Reims-Gueux , Gueux	5 July
5	British Grand Prix	Aintree Motor Racing Circuit , Merseyside	18 July
6	German Grand Prix	AVUS , Berlin	2 August
7	Portuguese Grand Prix	Monsanto Park Circuit , Lisbon	23 August
8	Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza , Monza	13 September
9	United States Grand Prix	Sebring International Raceway , Highlands County , Florida	12 December

1959 Formula 1 Race Reports

Round 1: Monaco Grand Prix

Race date: 10 May 1958
Circuit: Circuit de Monaco
Laps: 100
Circuit length: 3.145 km (1.955 miles)

The 1959 Monaco Grand Prix marked the 17th running of the event. Jack Brabham, driving for the factory Cooper team, secured his maiden Formula One win. This victory celebrated several firsts; Brabham became the first Australian driver to win a World Championship Grand Prix, paving the way for his future as a three-time world champion and it was Cooper’s first works-team victory in Formula One, having previously won races through the privateer Rob Walker Racing Team.

Brabham crossed the finish line 20 seconds ahead of Tony Brooks, who took second place for Ferrari. A lap down in third was Maurice Trintignant, the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix winner, driving a Cooper T51 for Rob Walker Racing.

This race also saw the last appearance of a Monégasque driver in their home Grand Prix until Olivier Beretta in 1994, following the retirement of Louis Chiron the previous year.

Round 2: Indianapolis 500

Race date: 30 May 1959
Circuit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Laps: 200
Circuit length: 4.0225 km (2.499 mi)

The 1959 Indianapolis 500 served as the second round of the nine-race 1959 World Championship. However, the event failed to draw interest from regular Grand Prix drivers, largely due to its scheduling just one day before the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix. Rodger Ward emerged victorious, earning eight points toward the World Championship. He also competed in the U.S. Grand Prix at Sebring and ultimately finished tenth in the season standings. Jim Rathmann secured second place, while Johnny Thomson claimed third.

Round 3: Dutch Grand Prix

Race date: 31 May 1959
Circuit: Circuit Park Zandvoort
Laps: 75
Circuit length: 4.193 km (2.605 miles)

The British BRM team celebrated a memorable day by winning its first championship race at the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix Race, after many years of trying and “countless heartbreaking disappointments.” It was also the first pole position and win for a BRM engine after almost a decade of effort.

In another first, it was Sweedish driver Jo Bonnier‘s first win, aided in part by Stirling Moss, who had taken the lead from him after 60 of the 75 laps but was forced to retire with a gearbox failure three laps later. Bonnier won by fifteen seconds over Australian driver Jack Brabham, driving for Cooper, to also become the first Swedish driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix. Brabham’s American teammate Masten Gregory was the only other driver to finish on the lead lap in third position.

Interestingly, the organisers wanted to include a local driver in this race, so Carel Godin de Beaufort was allowed to compete despite his car being a Porsche RSK sports car.

Round 4: French Grand Prix

Race date: 5 July 1959
Circuit: Reims Circuit, Reims, France
Laps: 50
Circuit length: 8.348 km (5.187 miles)

Jean Behra’s promising career at Ferrari ended dramatically following a physical altercation with team manager Romolo Tavoni after the 1959 French Grand Prix at Reims. Fellow Ferrari driver Tony Brooks won the race, seemingly outperforming Behra in front of the Frenchman’s home fans. Behra eventually retired from the race due to a broken piston and returned to the pits, convinced that Ferrari had favoured Brooks over him. In a heated discussion with Tavoni, Behra threw a punch at his boss and was immediately dismissed from the team. Less than a month later, Behra tragically died while racing a Porsche RSK Spyder at Avus. He lost control and flew off the top of the 45-degree banking at the Nordkurve, hitting a flagpole and dying instantly.

Round 5: British Grand Prix

Race date: 18 July 1959
Circuit: Aintree Circuit, Liverpool, England
Laps: 75
Circuit length: 4.828 km (3.000 miles)

Due to strikes in Italy, Ferrari missed the 1959 British Grand Prix. However, Tony Brooks, fresh off his victory in France, was released by the team and secured a drive with Vanwall. Driving a Cooper, Jack Brabham took an early lead and remained unchallenged throughout the race. The second-place battle was intense, with Stirling Moss narrowly edging out Bruce McLaren by just 0.2 seconds.

Round 6: German Grand Prix

Race date: 2 August 1959
Circuit: AVUS, West Berlin
Laps: 2×30
Circuit length: 8.300 km (5.157 miles)

The 1959 German Grand Prix was unique, as it was the only time the race was not held at the Nürburgring or Hockenheim circuits as part of the World Championship. Instead, it took place at the AVUS circuit in Berlin, which consisted of two stretches of dual carriageway connected by a hairpin at one end and steep banking at the north end. AVUS had previously held the original German Grand Prix in 1926 pre-championship.

Due to concerns about tyre durability, the race was divided into two heats. British driver Tony Brooks won the race, with Dan Gurney and Phil Hill completing an all-Ferrari podium. All three drove Ferrari Dino 246s.

Brooks’ victory brought him within four points of the championship leader, Australian and Cooper driver Jack Brabham. Brabham went on to win his first of three drivers’ championships that season.

Round 7: Portuguese Grand Prix

Race date: 23 August 1959
Circuit: Circuito de Monsanto, Lisbon, Portugal
Laps: 62
Circuit length: 5.440 km (3.380 miles)

Stirling Moss and Masten Gregory demonstrated the dominance of the Cooper-Climax T51 by finishing first and second, respectively, at the 1959 Portuguese Grand Prix. Moss led from pole position, with the Cooper’s of Jack Brabham, Gregory, and Bruce McLaren in pursuit. Brabham then spun while avoiding the lapped Mario Cabral, hitting a telegraph pole and being launched back onto the track, narrowly missing Gregory after being thrown from his car. This incident promoted McLaren to third, but a transmission failure saw the Ferrari of Dan Gurney inherit the position.

Round 8: Italian Grand Prix

Race date: 13 September 1959
Circuit: Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
Laps: 72
Circuit length: 5.750 km (3.573 miles)

Stirling Moss delivered a commanding win at the 1959 Italian Grand Prix, finishing nearly a minute ahead of Ferrari driver Phil Hill and his Cooper teammate Jack Brabham. Hill briefly took the lead but pitted midway through the race, anticipating Moss to do the same. However, Moss stayed out, confident in his tyres, and comfortably secured victory ahead of Hill and Brabham.

The combined efforts of Brabham and Moss during the race, plus Maurice Trintignant, Bruce McLaren and Masten Gregory over the season were enough to secure the 1959 Constructors’ Championship for the Cooper team at the final race of the season in December.

Round 9: United States Grand Prix

Race date: 12 December 1959
Circuit: Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida
Laps: 42
Circuit length: 8.36 km (5.2 miles)

The final round of the Championship, the 1959 United States Grand Prix, took place at Sebring. Despite leading most of the race, Jack Brabham ran out of fuel within sight of the finish line. Earlier, he had refused his team manager’s pleas to start on full tanks. Seeing his World Championship hopes slipping away, Brabham pushed his Cooper Climax a quarter of a mile uphill to cross the finish line in fourth position, securing both his and Cooper’s first World Championship. Maurice Trintignant scored a point for the fastest lap, becoming the last person to do so, as the rule was abolished the following season until 2019. Bruce McLaren claimed his first race victory, becoming the youngest-ever winner at the time (22 years, 104 days), a record held until Fernando Alonso won the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix. McLaren also received several acres of land by Sebring Lake as part of his prize.

1959 Formula 1 Race Results

Round	Grand Prix	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning constructor	Report
1	Monaco Grand Prix	Stirling Moss	Jack Brabham	Jack Brabham	Cooper – Climax	Report
2	Indianapolis 500	Johnny Thomson	Johnny Thomson	Rodger Ward	States Watson – Offenhauser	Report
3	Dutch Grand Prix	Jo Bonnier	Stirling Moss	Jo Bonnier	BRM	Report
4	French Grand Prix	Tony Brooks	Stirling Moss	Tony Brooks	Ferrari	Report
5	British Grand Prix	Jack Brabham	Stirling Moss / Bruce McLaren	Jack Brabham	Cooper – Climax	Report
6	German Grand Prix	Tony Brooks	Tony Brooks	Tony Brooks	Ferrari	Report
7	Portuguese Grand Prix	Stirling Moss	Stirling Moss	Stirling Moss	Cooper – Climax	Report
8	Italian Grand Prix	Stirling Moss	Phil Hill	Stirling Moss	Cooper – Climax	Report
9	United States Grand Prix	Stirling Moss	Maurice Trintignant	Bruce McLaren	Cooper – Climax	Report

The United States Grand Prix was held for the first time, with Sebring International Raceway hosting the season finale on December 12. This marked the beginning of Formula 1’s presence in the U.S., a market that would grow significantly over the decades.

Several Grand Prix venues saw changes this season. The British Grand Prix moved from Silverstone to Aintree, continuing the event-sharing agreement between the two circuits. The German Grand Prix was relocated from the Nürburgring to AVUS, while the Portuguese Grand Prix switched from Circuito da Boavista to Monsanto Park Circuit.

Three races were cancelled due to financial and logistical issues. The Argentine Grand Prix, initially set for January 25, was scrapped after local stars Juan Manuel Fangio and José Froilán González had retired, leading to a loss of national interest. The Belgian Grand Prix, scheduled for June 14, was cancelled due to a dispute over start money, while the Moroccan Grand Prix, set for October 1, was dropped for financial reasons.

1959 Formula 1 Standings

Points were awarded to the top five classified finishers, with an additional point granted for setting the fastest lap, regardless of finishing position or classification. Only the best five results contributed to the championship standings. No points were awarded for shared drives. If multiple drivers recorded the same fastest lap time, the fastest lap point was equally divided among them.

For the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, only the highest-finishing driver from each team earned points per race, with fastest lap points excluded. Indy 500 results did not count towards the cup. As with the Drivers’ Championship, only the best five results were considered.

Points were awarded according to the following system:

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Fastest Lap
Race	8	6	4	3	2	1

1959 Drivers’ standings

1959 Constructors’ standings