1959 German Grand Prix

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Flag of Germany.svg 1959 German Grand Prix
Racing data
6th of 9 races in the 1959 World Automobile Championship
Route profile
Surname: XXI Grand Prix of Germany
Date: 2nd August 1959
Place: Berlin , Germany
Course: AVUS
Length: 498 km in 60 laps of 8.3 km

Weather: cloudy, dry
Pole position
Driver: United KingdomUnited Kingdom Tony Brooks ItalyItaly Ferrari
Time: 2: 05.9 min
Fastest lap
Driver: United KingdomUnited Kingdom Tony Brooks ItalyItaly Ferrari
Time: 2: 04.5 min
Podium
First: United KingdomUnited Kingdom Tony Brooks ItalyItaly Ferrari
Second: United States 49United States Dan Gurney ItalyItaly Ferrari
Third: United States 49United States Phil Hill ItalyItaly Ferrari

The 1959 German Grand Prix took place on August 2, 1959 at the AVUS in Berlin and was the sixth race of the 1959 World Cup .

Reports

background

The German Grand Prix took place this once in 1959 at the AVUS, although the race track no longer met the safety standards of the time and posed a risk for the drivers. Maybe the organizer had hoped for more spectators than last year at the Nürburgring, but maybe it should be a show of solidarity with the divided and isolated former capital. The race was held in two races of 30 laps each, which together resulted in the overall classification. The route consisted of two long straights. The so-called north curve was a dangerous steep curve, the south curve practically a 180-degree turn.

Ferrari was back after a race break due to strikes in their home country Italy and registered four cars for Tony Brooks , Phil Hill , Dan Gurney and Cliff Allison . At BRM, Ron Flockhart paused for a race. The team therefore only entered two cars for Harry Schell and Jo Bonnier . At Lotus , Innes Ireland drove again as Graham Hill's team-mate . Alan Stacey only got a cockpit at Lotus at the season finale. Other teams were registered with private cars. The Rob Walker Racing Team drove two Cooper T51s . In addition to regular driver Maurice Trintignant , Stirling Moss switched back to the team after driving a BRM for BRP for two races . BRP, however, signed Hans Herrmann , who drove a BRM for the only time in his career. For both him and the team it was the last race participation in the automobile championship in 1959. Ian Burgess also drove again for the Scuderia Centro Sud and Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips was registered for a second race at Porsche , but withdrew from the race. Porsche withdrew from Formula 1 for the rest of the season, Graf Berghe von Trips switched back to Ferrari at the end of the season.

Even Jean Behra , who after the French Grand Prix was canceled at Ferrari, was reported for the Grand Prix of Germany. Behra wanted to drive in a specially designed Behra-Porsche with its own team, but Behra had a fatal accident in a serious accident in a sports car race of the supporting program. He spun on a wet racetrack and was thrown out of the car over the banked curve and died of serious head injuries after the collision with a flagpole. In the same race, Fritz d'Orey also had an accident , whose injury break lasted until the US Grand Prix , the season finale.

In the drivers 'world championship, Brabham was clearly ahead of Brooks and Phil Hill, and all drivers still had theoretical chances for the drivers' title. The constructors' championship was also still open, but Cooper also had a big lead over the competition.

training

The training turned into a duel between Cooper and Ferrari, which Brooks won on Ferrari; it was the last pole position in his career. He was almost a second faster than runner-up Moss on Cooper. Gurney was third in the second Ferrari ahead of the two works Cooper from Brabham and Masten Gregory . With this, Cooper proved that they could keep up with the front-engined cars on a fast lap even on high-speed courses like the AVUS with their mid-engine design, despite lower power and top speed.

Phil Hill qualified in sixth place ahead of the two BRMs of Bonnier and Schell, who were five seconds slower than Brooks. Lotus qualified again in the lower midfield, as the further development of the Lotus 16 had largely been discontinued and the focus was on the new car.

Allison drove the fastest time in practice with a Ferrari. However, because he was registered as a substitute driver for the race, he was denied the start from pole position and placed on the penultimate starting position.

run

In the first race, Brooks took the lead from Gurney at the start, and Gregory positioned himself behind the two Ferraris. Gregory dueled Gurney on the first laps of the race and overtook him, shortly afterwards he also passed Brooks. For Moss, the race ended on the first lap. As in the first races of the season, his car had a technical defect. In round two, Allison was also eliminated. It was the only failure of a Ferrari in this race. His teammates all reached the goal.

In the following laps of the race, an exciting battle for the lead developed with many changes of position at the front. Brooks regained the lead on lap five and held it until lap 13. During this time, both Lotus cars failed due to technical defects. On lap 15, the leader of the drivers' championship, Brabham, parked his car with a defective clutch, which gave Ferrari and Brooks the chance to get closer to him and Cooper in the automobile world championship. At the front of the field, Brooks and Gurney were fighting for the lead, who switched four times between these two drivers within a few laps. But Gregory was also within striking distance and was leading on lap 23 when an engine failure in his car forced him to give up. It was the last time in his career that he led a Grand Prix, but it was the first time for Gurney. Brooks finished the race as the winner, his team-mates Gurney and Phil Hill completed the podium positions, McLaren finished fourth.

The remaining nine vehicles competed in the second race; the first laps were an even fight between different teams. McLaren was briefly in first place after the start, but was overtaken by Phil Hill on the first lap after the restart, and later fell behind Bonnier, Brooks and Gurney. On the 35th lap there was a serious accident in the south curve in which Herrmann's BRM hit the bales of straw, overturned and Herrmann was thrown out of the car. The cause of the accident was a broken brake hose. Herrmann survived the accident with minor injuries. The photo of the overturning car and Herrmann rolling along the asphalt as a hunched bundle and looking after the car became in the following decades a symbol of how dangerous motorsport was at that time.

On lap 37, McLaren and thus the last factory Cooper with a defect retired and Bonnier dropped a few places. Thus the three leading Ferrari drivers Brooks, Phil Hill and Gurney decided the victory among themselves. Brooks and Phil Hill overtook each other in first position five times, then Gurney took the lead on lap 41. On the next lap Brooks was back in front, then Gurney again. Then Phil Hill was back on course for victory until Brooks passed him again. Phil Hill countered on lap 48 and was overtaken by Gurney two laps later. Two laps later, Brooks took the lead and defended it until the end of the race. That was Brooks' sixth and last victory of his career, and it was also the last kilometers in the lead. Since he also drove the fastest race lap, he achieved a triple at this Grand Prix . For Ferrari it was the second win of the season. They caught up with Cooper, who had also won twice. The podium positions were completed by Gurney in second place and Phil Hill in third place. For Gurney it was the first time in his career a place on the top three podium and it was the first points in the drivers' championship. Fourth was Trintignant on Cooper, Bonnier crossed the finish line two laps behind in fifth place. Burgess was classified sixth, four laps behind, and Schell seventh, eleven laps behind. No other drivers reached the destination.

Brabham lost a large part of his lead in the drivers' championship and was only four points ahead of his rival Brooks after the race. Phil Hill remained in third place, Bonnier and Trintignant improved a few positions to fourth and fifth. Furthermore, all drivers still had theoretical chances for the driver's title. In the constructors' championship, Ferrari narrowed the gap to Cooper to five points, only the two teams and BRM still had a chance of winning the title.

Because of the inadequate safety standards and the serious accidents during the race weekend, there was never another Formula 1 race at the AVUS. The German Grand Prix was held at the Nürburgring in the following years, with a one-year break as part of the automobile world championship.

Registration list

team No. driver chassis engine tires
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cooper Car Company 01 AustraliaAustralia Jack Brabham Cooper T51 Climax 2.5 L4 D.
02 New ZealandNew Zealand Bruce McLaren
03 United States 49United States Masts Gregory
ItalyItaly Scuderia Ferrari 04th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Tony Brooks Ferrari Dino 246F1 Ferrari 2.4 V6 D.
05 United States 49United States Phil Hill
06th United States 49United States Dan Gurney
17th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cliff Allison
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Rob Walker Racing Team 07th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Stirling Moss Cooper T51 Climax 2.5 L4 D.
08th FranceFrance Maurice Trintignant
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Owen Racing Organization 09 SwedenSweden Jo Bonnier BRM P25 BRM 2.5 L4 D.
10 United States 49United States Harry Schell
United KingdomUnited Kingdom British Racing Partnership 11 GermanyGermany Hans Herrmann BRM P25 BRM 2.5 L4 D.
FranceFrance Jean Behra 11 FranceFrance Jean Behra Behra-Porsche Porsche 1.5 B4 D.
GermanyGermany Dr. Ing.F. Porsche KG 12 GermanyGermany Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips Porsche 718 Porsche 1.5 B4 D.
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Team Lotus 15th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Innes Ireland Lotus 16 Climax 2.5 L4 D.
16 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Graham Hill
ItalyItaly Scuderia Centro Sud 22nd United KingdomUnited Kingdom Ian Burgess Cooper T51 Maserati 2.5 L4 D.

Classifications

Starting grid

Item driver constructor time Ø speed begin
01 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Tony Brooks ItalyItaly Ferrari 2: 05.9 237.33 km / h 01
02 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Stirling Moss United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cooper-Climax 2: 06.8 235.65 km / h 02
03 United States 49United States Dan Gurney ItalyItaly Ferrari 2: 07.2 234.91 km / h 03
04th AustraliaAustralia Jack Brabham United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cooper-Climax 2: 07.4 234.54 km / h 04th
05 United States 49United States Masts Gregory United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cooper-Climax 2: 07.6 234.17 km / h 05
06th United States 49United States Phil Hill ItalyItaly Ferrari 2: 07.6 234.17 km / h 06th
07th SwedenSweden Jo Bonnier United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRM 2: 10.3 229.32 km / h 07th
08th United States 49United States Harry Schell United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRM 2: 10.3 229.32 km / h 08th
09 New ZealandNew Zealand Bruce McLaren United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cooper-Climax 2: 10.4 229.14 km / h 09
10 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Graham Hill United KingdomUnited Kingdom Lotus Climax 2: 10.8 228.44 km / h 10
11 GermanyGermany Hans Herrmann United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRM 2: 11.4 227.40 km / h 11
12 FranceFrance Maurice Trintignant United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cooper-Climax 2: 12.7 225.17 km / h 12
13 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Innes Ireland United KingdomUnited Kingdom Lotus Climax 2: 14.6 221.99 km / h 13
14th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cliff Allison ItalyItaly Ferrari 2: 05.8 237.52 km / h 14th
15th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Ian Burgess United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cooper Maserati 2: 18.9 215.12 km / h 15th

run

Item driver constructor Round Stops time begin Fastest lap Failure reason
01 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Tony Brooks ItalyItaly Ferrari 60 2: 09: 31.6 01 2: 04.5
02 United States 49United States Dan Gurney ItalyItaly Ferrari 60 + 2.9 03 2: 04.8
03 United States 49United States Phil Hill ItalyItaly Ferrari 60 + 2: 05.3 06th 2: 05.3
04th FranceFrance Maurice Trintignant United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cooper-Climax 59 + 1 lap 12 2: 05.9
05 SwedenSweden Jo Bonnier United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRM 58 + 2 rounds 07th 2: 07.7
06th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Ian Burgess United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cooper Maserati 56 + 4 rounds 15th 2: 13.4
07th United States 49United States Harry Schell United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRM 49 + 11 rounds 08th 2: 07.1
- New ZealandNew Zealand Bruce McLaren United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cooper-Climax 37 DNF 09 2: 05.8 Power transmission
- GermanyGermany Hans Herrmann United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRM 35 DNF 11 2: 09.9 accident
- United States 49United States Masts Gregory United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cooper-Climax 23 DNF 05 2: 04.6 Engine failure
- AustraliaAustralia Jack Brabham United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cooper-Climax 15th DNF 04th 2: 06.8 coupling
- United KingdomUnited Kingdom Graham Hill United KingdomUnited Kingdom Lotus Climax 10 DNF 10 2: 10.4 transmission
- United KingdomUnited Kingdom Innes Ireland United KingdomUnited Kingdom Lotus Climax 07th DNF 13 2: 22.6 differential
- United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cliff Allison ItalyItaly Ferrari 02 DNF 14th 2: 12.0 coupling
- United KingdomUnited Kingdom Stirling Moss United KingdomUnited Kingdom Cooper-Climax 01 DNF 02 2: 19.0 Power transmission
- FranceFrance Jean Behra GermanyGermany Porsche 00 DNS fatal accident in frame race
- GermanyGermany Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips GermanyGermany Porsche 00 DNS withdrawn

World Cup stands after the race

The first five of the race got 8, 6, 4, 3, 2 points. The driver with the fastest race lap received an additional 1 point. Only the five best results from nine races counted. Only the points of the best placed driver on a team counted in the constructors' championship.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points
01 AustraliaAustralia Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 27
02 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Tony Brooks Ferrari 23
03 United States 49United States Phil Hill Ferrari 13
04th SwedenSweden Jo Bonnier BRM 10
05 FranceFrance Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Climax 9
06th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Stirling Moss Cooper-Climax / BRM 8.5
07th New ZealandNew Zealand Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 8.5
08th United States 49United States Rodger Ward Watson-Offenhauser 8th
09 United States 49United States Jim Rathmann Watson-Offenhauser 6th
Item driver constructor Points
10 United States 49United States Dan Gurney Ferrari 6th
11 United States 49United States Johnny Thomson Lesovsky-Offenhauser 5
12 United States 49United States Masts Gregory Cooper-Climax 4th
13 United States 49United States Harry Schell Ferrari 3
14th United States 49United States Tony Bettenhausen Epperly-Offenhauser 3
15th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Innes Ireland Lotus Climax 3
16 BelgiumBelgium Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 3
17th United States 49United States Paul Goldsmith Epperly-Offenhauser 2
18th FranceFrance Jean Behra Ferrari 2

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points
01 United KingdomUnited Kingdom cooper 29
02 ItalyItaly Ferrari 24
03 United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRM 16
04th United KingdomUnited Kingdom lotus 3

Individual evidence

  1. The Grand Prix of Germany - all races since 1926 . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2008, ISBN 978-3-86852-043-9 .
  2. ^ "Brooks and Ferrari shine amid the tedium" (en.espnf1.com on March 24, 2014)

Web links