1959 Formula One season

The 1959 Formula One season was the 13th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 10th World Championship of Drivers , the second International 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 champion Juan Manuel Fangio had retired after last year , as had reigning champion Mike 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 for Cooper ran out of fuel but pushed his car over the line to win his first Drivers' Championship. [ 1 ] He was the first Australian champion. Cooper also won their first Manufacturers' title. [ 2 ]

Two F1 drivers lost their lives in racing accidents. Firstly, Jean Behra raced in the sports car race that preceded the 1959 German Grand Prix at AVUS . Rain had been falling and the track was slippery. [ 3 ] After two teammates had already crashed, Behra's Porsche 718 RSK went over the top of the 43 degree banked turn and he incurred a skull fracture when he struck a flagpole with his head. [ 4 ] And Ivor Bueb crashed his BRP Formula Two car at the Charade Circuit . He was thrown from the car a...

Note: The above list does not reflect competitors in the 1959 Indianapolis 500 .

With the Argentine Grand Prix gone, the season began at the latest point in the year since 1952 , with the Monaco Grand Prix on 10 May 1959. Jean Behra for Ferrari , Jack Brabham for Cooper and Stirling Moss , driving a Cooper for Rob Walker , were fighting for pole 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 lone...

The Indianapolis 500 saw Rodger Ward take his first of two career victories. There was no overlap between the Indy 500 and F1 drivers. It would be the penultimate year in which the race counted towards the F1 championship.

For the Dutch Grand Prix , Jo Bonnier , driving for the BRM 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-starting Masten Gregory . On lap 12, Gregory's Cooper started jumping out of gear , so Bonnier went by. Brabham inherited second place and then challenged the Swede for the lead, but then had to manage similar problems...

The French Grand Prix received the honorary title of European Grand Prix and was contested on the public highways around Reims . 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 teammate Phil Hill . Fifth-starting Moss, who had moved to the BRP team, passed three cars into the first corner, but was overtaken himself by seventh-starting Gregory. On l...

In the Drivers' Championship, Jack Brabham ( Cooper ) was leading with 19 points, ahead of Tony Brooks ( Ferrari ) with 14 and Phil Hill (Ferrari) with 9. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Cooper was leading with 18 points, ahead of Ferrari with 16 and BRM with 8.

The Ferrari team did not compete in the British Grand Prix over labour disputes back in Italy . Tony Brooks borrowed a Vanwall from his old team boss to, at least theoretically, be able to challenge Jack Brabham for the lead in the championship. Brabham took pole position in his Cooper , ahead of Roy Salvadori in the Aston Martin , who set the same time but at a later moment, and Harry Schell in the BRM . Salvadori went down to ninth at the start and Brooks, from his seventeenth starting place, ...

Instead of the traditional Nürburgring , the German Grand Prix was held at the AVUS circuit, which consisted of two Autobahn straights of 3.5 km (2.2 mi), linked together by a hairpin at one end and a 43 degre banked turn at the other. [ 12 ] With fears about tyre safety, the Grand Prix was separated into two heats of one hour, adding the drivers' times together, and streamlining was forbidden by stipulating that all cars had to have the front wheels exposed at all times. In the supporting sport...

The Portuguese Grand Prix was run on the much appraised Monsanto road course , and the twisty nature of the track gave the advantage to the lightweight Coopers: Moss qualified 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 th...

Even at Monza , 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 a piston 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 remain...

With one round to go, the Drivers' Championship had seen Jack Brabham ( Cooper ) in the lead since the beginning. The Australian had gathered 31 points. But Stirling Moss (Cooper) and Tony 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 and BRM with 18.

The first United States Grand Prix was held at Sebring International Raceway , combining two runways of the regional airport and a series of technical corners. For the first time since 1951 , 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 of Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks . Meanwhile, Moss had to finish at least second with Brabham behind him. Brooks, becau...

Jack Brabham , driving for Cooper , won his first Drivers' Championship with 31 points, ahead of Tony Brooks ( Ferrari ) with 27 and Stirling Moss (Cooper) with 25.5. Cooper won their first Manufacturers' Championship with 40 points, ahead of Ferrari with 32 and BRM 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:

Five Formula One races which did not count towards the World Championship were held in 1959.