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 several 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]
The following teams and drivers competed in the 1959 FIA World Championship.
Note: The above list does not reflect competitors in the 1959 Indianapolis 500.
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 mid-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 Aston Martin appeared with a car that was outdated and overweight in the face of Cooper's rear mid-engined revolution.
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 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers.
Round | Grand Prix | Circuit | Date |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Monaco Grand Prix | Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo | 10 May |
2 | Indianapolis 500 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway | 30 May [lower-alpha 1] |
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 | 12 December |
The British Grand Prix was moved from Silverstone to Aintree, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits.
The German Grand Prix was moved from the Nürburgring to AVUS.
The Portuguese Grand Prix was moved from Circuito da Boavista to Monsanto Park Circuit.
The United States Grand Prix hosted its first World Championship Grand Prix in 1959, the race was held at Sebring International Raceway on 12 December.
The Argentine Grand Prix was originally scheduled for 25 January but was cancelled because of heroes such as Juan Manuel Fangio and Jose Froilan Gonzalez having retired, plus there was no local interest in the race.
The Belgian Grand Prix was originally scheduled for 14 June, but it was cancelled due to a dispute over start money.
The Moroccan Grand Prix was originally scheduled for 1 October but it was cancelled because of monetary reasons.
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.
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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. [lower-alpha 2] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
Sir John Arthur Brabham was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in 1959, 1960, and 1966. He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.
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The 1959 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monsanto on 23 August 1959. It was race 7 of 9 in the 1959 World Championship of Drivers and race 6 of 8 in the 1959 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the eighth Portuguese Grand Prix and the second to be included in the World Championship of Drivers. It was the third time the race was held at Monsanto and the first for Formula One. The race was held over 62 laps of the five kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 337 kilometres.
The 1959 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 13 September 1959. It was race 8 of 9 in the 1959 World Championship of Drivers and race 7 of 8 in the 1959 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 29th Italian Grand Prix and the 24th to be held at Monza. The race was held over 72 laps of the five-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 414 kilometres.
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The 1961 Formula One season was the 15th season of Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, which were contested concurrently from 14 May to 8 October over an eight race series. The season also included numerous non-championship races for Formula One cars.
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The 1958 Formula One season was the 12th season of Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1958 World Championship of Drivers, which commenced on 19 January 1958 and ended on 19 October after eleven races. This was the first Formula One season in which a manufacturers title was awarded, the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers being contested concurrently with the World Championship of Drivers except the Indianapolis 500 which did not count towards the Cup. Englishman Mike Hawthorn won the Drivers' title after a close battle with compatriot Stirling Moss and Vanwall won the inaugural Manufacturers award from Ferrari. Hawthorn retired from racing at the end of the season, only to die three months later after a road car accident. It was the first of only two occasions in Formula One history where a driver won the championship, having won only one race in the season, the other being Keke Rosberg in 1982.
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The Cooper T51 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed by Owen Maddock and built by the Cooper Car Company for the 1959 Formula One season. The T51 earned a significant place in motor racing history when Jack Brabham drove the car to become the first driver to win the World Championship of Drivers with an engine mounted behind them, in 1959. The T51 was raced in several configurations by various entrants until 1963 and in all no less than 38 drivers were entered to drive T51s in Grand Prix races.