1960 French Grand Prix
Racing data | ||
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6th of 10 races in the 1960 World Automobile Championship | ||
Surname: | XLVI Grand Prix de l'ACF | |
Date: | 3rd July 1960 | |
Place: | Reims , France | |
Course: | Circuit de Reims-Gueux | |
Length: | 417.4 km in 50 laps of 8.348 km
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Weather: | dry, sunny | |
Pole position | ||
Driver: | Jack Brabham | Cooper-Climax |
Time: | 2: 16.8 min | |
Fastest lap | ||
Driver: | Jack Brabham | Cooper-Climax |
Time: | 2: 17.5 min | |
Podium | ||
First: | Jack Brabham | Cooper-Climax |
Second: | Olivier Gendebien | Cooper-Climax |
Third: | Bruce McLaren | Cooper-Climax |
The 1960 French Grand Prix took place on July 3, 1960 at the Circuit de Reims-Gueux near Reims and was the sixth race of the 1960 World Automobile Championship .
Reports
background
At the French Grand Prix on the Circuit de Reims-Gueux, both rear-engined and front-engined cars started, although the latter, like the Ferrari Dino 246F1, were still competitive because the better top speed could be used on the long straights. As in the previous race, Ferrari started with Phil Hill , Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips and Willy Mairesse , although he paused the next two races and only returned to the team at the 1960 Italian Grand Prix . At Lotus , Ron Flockhartden replaced Chris Bristow in a fatal accident at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1960 . It was Flockhart's first race of the season and his only one for Lotus. From the next Grand Prix, Lotus signed John Surtees again . In addition to Flockhart, Innes Ireland and Jim Clark drove for the team.
Vanwall was entered for a final race in the automobile world championship. The team, which was the first constructors' world champion in 1958 , only took part in this one race of the season and used the new Vanwall VW11 . The front-engined car was not competitive, which is why the team withdrew from the automobile world championship after the race and disbanded a year later. The driver of the car was Tony Brooks , who then drove again for the Yeoman Credit Racing Team for the rest of the season . The Scarab was not a victorious car either, which is why the team's outings continued to decline. Team owner Lance Reventlow paused a race and gave a cockpit to Richie Ginther , who returned to Ferrari after that one race. His teammate was Chuck Daigh . The last time Scarab competed with two cars, the team entered two other races with only one car.
Many drivers and teams qualified with private cars. The Scuderia Centro Sud announced three Cooper T51 for Maurice Trintignant , Masten Gregory and Ian Burgess . Three of these cars were also driven by Olivier Gendebien , Henry Taylor and Bruce Halford for the Yeoman Credit Racing Team. This was Halford's last race in the automobile world championship. Gino Munaron drove a Cooper bought by the Ferrari team for Scuderia Eugenio Castellotti , Lucien Bianchi drove another private Cooper for Fred Tuck Cars . In addition, David Piper drove the first of two races of the season in a Lotus 16 .
Ferrari had previously won the French Grand Prix on this circuit four times, Brooks was the only former winner in the field. In the drivers' championship, Cooper driver Bruce McLaren led his teammate Jack Brabham . Third-placed Stirling Moss paused due to injury. All drivers still had theoretical chances of becoming world champions. In the constructors' championship, Cooper led by a large margin over Lotus and Ferrari. Even in this ranking, all teams still had a chance of winning the title.
training
As in the previous race, Brabham dominated practice and was more than a second faster than the competition. He achieved the second pole position in a row. It was the third of the season for Cooper. Phil Hill qualified in second place in a Ferrari, ahead of Graham Hill in a BRM and Ireland in a Lotus, so that four different designers took the first four places on the grid. Ferrari was stronger again compared to previous races. In addition to Phil Hill's second place, Ferrari drivers also occupied positions five and six. Graham Hill's teammates Dan Gurney and Jo Bonnier finished seventh and tenth in training. McLaren, leader in the drivers' championship, qualified in ninth place. The best of the drivers with private cars was Gendebien in eleventh place, Brooks qualified the new Vanwall car in 14th position in the rear field.
Engine damage occurred in both Scarab cars, which prevented participation in the race, which meant that the race weekend for Scarab was already over after training. Engine failure during training also prevented Piper from participating in the race.
run
The race started with two accidents at the start. Graham Hill stopped due to a technical error, whereupon Trintignant drove him into the rear. This damaged the BRM so badly that Hill gave up the race. Trintignant parked his car a few yards away. Brooks and Bianchi also collided, but both drivers continued the race. At the front, Brabham took the lead and held it for the first three laps. He was then attacked by Phil Hill, who took the lead on lap four. For the first time in the season, a Ferrari was in the lead. It was also the penultimate race in which a front-engined car fought for victory thanks to the favorable track characteristics.
Brabham and Phil Hill fought an exciting battle for first place over several laps, and the lead changed eleven times up to the 18th lap. In laps four to nine, Brabham and Phil Hill led alternately, then Brabham defended first place for two laps until Phil Hill countered again and the two drivers overtook each other alternately by lap 15. They often drove the long straight side by side and fought many wheel-to-wheel duels. On lap 15 Phil Hill began to defend his lead permanently until he fell back three laps later with no power transmission. He also suffered damage to the front axle when he once touched the barrier. Brooks had previously retired due to vibrations on his Vanwall, Mairesse, Bianchi and Munaron also had technical problems with the power transmission. The BRM P48 again showed its lack of reliability, both Gurney and Bonnier retired with engine damage, so that again no BRM reached the target.
After Phil Hill fell back, Graf Berghe von Trips caught up with Brabham, but retired a few laps later, like his teammate Phil Hill. Despite the retirement, both drivers were still classified in the classification because they had completed the necessary race distance. When there was no competition from Ferrari, Cooper dominated the racing scene. Brabham increased the lead over his opponents, while Gendebien and McLaren dueled for second place. Brabham was faster on the straights than Gendebien, who accelerated better out of the corners. Both drivers overtook each other several times until McLaren was stopped by drivers to be lapped shortly before the end of the race. As there was no rule at the time to let vehicles pass that wanted to lap, McLaren lost too much time and Gendebien took second place. For Gendebien, this was the second and final podium finish in a run for the Formula 1 World Championship. Brabham won the third race in a row, for Cooper it was already the fourth win of the season and also the third in a row. Brabham also achieved a triple with the fastest race lap. In the drivers' championship, Brabham drew level with McLaren and took the lead as he had more race wins than McLaren. Gendebien improved to fourth place in the drivers' standings behind Moss. All drivers still had the theoretical chance to become world champions. In the constructors 'championship, Cooper extended his lead over Lotus to 19 points and was able to become constructors' world champion early in the next race. For this, Cooper needed another win in the next few races. In addition, only Lotus and Ferrari had a chance of winning the constructors' title, BRM could no longer win the title.
Taylor also achieved his best race result with fourth place and received the only points of his career. Clark was fifth again, Flockhart received one point for sixth place. He was back in the points since the 1956 Italian Grand Prix , but for the last time in his career. Ireland was ranked seventh ahead of Halford, Gregory and Burgess. Count Berghe von Trips and Phil Hill were classified in eleven and twelve. For Cooper it was the only victory on this track, Brabham won the race again years later.
Registration list
Classifications
Starting grid
Item | driver | constructor | time | Ø speed | begin |
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1 | Jack Brabham | Cooper-Climax | 2: 16.8 | 219.68 km / h | 1 |
2 | Phil Hill | Ferrari | 2: 18.2 | 217.46 km / h | 2 |
3 | Graham Hill | BRM | 2: 18.4 | 217.14 km / h | 3 |
4th | Innes Ireland | Lotus Climax | 2: 18.5 | 216.99 km / h | 4th |
5 | Willy Mairesse | Ferrari | 2: 19.3 | 215.74 km / h | 5 |
6th | Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips | Ferrari | 2: 19.4 | 215.59 km / h | 6th |
7th | Dan Gurney | BRM | 2: 19.4 | 215.59 km / h | 7th |
8th | Ron Flockhart | Lotus Climax | 2: 19.5 | 215.43 km / h | 8th |
9 | Bruce McLaren | Cooper-Climax | 2: 19.6 | 215.28 km / h | 9 |
10 | Jo Bonnier | BRM | 2: 19.8 | 214.97 km / h | 10 |
11 | Olivier Gendebien | Cooper-Climax | 2: 20.0 | 214.66 km / h | 11 |
12 | Jim Clark | Lotus Climax | 2: 20.3 | 214.20 km / h | 12 |
13 | Henry Taylor | Cooper-Climax | 2: 22.8 | 210.45 km / h | 13 |
14th | Tony Brooks | Vanwall | 2: 23.3 | 209.72 km / h | 14th |
15th | Lucien Bianchi | Cooper-Climax | 2: 23.6 | 209.28 km / h | 15th |
16 | Bruce Halford | Cooper-Climax | 2: 23.6 | 209.28 km / h | 16 |
17th | Masts Gregory | Cooper Maserati | 2: 24.3 | 208.27 km / h | 17th |
18th | Maurice Trintignant | Cooper Maserati | 2: 24.7 | 207.69 km / h | 18th |
19th | Gino Munaron | Cooper-Castellotti | 2: 31.3 | 198.63 km / h | 19th |
20th | Ian Burgess | Cooper Maserati | 2: 36.7 | 191.79 km / h | 20th |
run
Item | driver | constructor | Round | Stops | time | begin | Fastest lap | Failure reason |
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1 | Jack Brabham | Cooper-Climax | 50 | 1: 57: 24.9 | 1 | 2: 17.5 | ||
2 | Olivier Gendebien | Cooper-Climax | 50 | + 48.3 | 11 | 2: 20.0 | ||
3 | Bruce McLaren | Cooper-Climax | 50 | + 51.9 | 9 | 2: 19.8 | ||
4th | Henry Taylor | Cooper-Climax | 49 | + 1 lap | 13 | 2: 20.1 | ||
5 | Jim Clark | Lotus Climax | 49 | + 1 lap | 12 | 2: 21.9 | ||
6th | Ron Flockhart | Lotus Climax | 49 | + 1 lap | 8th | 2: 21.7 | ||
7th | Innes Ireland | Lotus Climax | 43 | + 7 rounds | 4th | 2: 19.1 | ||
8th | Bruce Halford | Cooper-Climax | 40 | + 10 rounds | 16 | 2: 25.4 | ||
9 | Masts Gregory | Cooper Maserati | 37 | + 13 rounds | 17th | 2: 24.0 | ||
10 | Ian Burgess | Cooper Maserati | 36 | + 14 rounds | 20th | 2: 32.1 | ||
11 | Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips | Ferrari | 30th | + 20 rounds | 6th | 2: 18.1 | ||
12 | Phil Hill | Ferrari | 29 | + 21 rounds | 2 | 2: 17.8 | ||
- | Jo Bonnier | BRM | 22nd | DNF | 10 | 2: 20.3 | Engine failure | |
- | Lucien Bianchi | Cooper-Climax | 18th | DNF | 15th | 2: 25.5 | Power transmission | |
- | Dan Gurney | BRM | 17th | DNF | 7th | 2: 22.3 | Engine failure | |
- | Gino Munaron | Cooper-Castellotti | 16 | DNF | 19th | 2: 31.9 | Power transmission | |
- | Willy Mairesse | Ferrari | 14th | DNF | 5 | 2: 22.4 | Power transmission | |
- | Tony Brooks | Vanwall | 7th | DNF | 14th | 2: 22.5 | Vibrations | |
- | Graham Hill | BRM | 0 | DNF | 3 | accident | ||
- | Maurice Trintignant | Cooper Maserati | 0 | DNF | 18th | accident | ||
- | Chuck Daigh | Scarab | 0 | DNS | Engine damage during training | |||
- | Richie Ginther | Scarab | 0 | DNS | Engine problems | |||
- | David Piper | Lotus Climax | 0 | DNS | Engine failure |
World Cup stands after the race
The first six of the race got 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 points. Only the six best results from ten races counted. Only the points of the best placed driver on a team counted in the constructors' championship.
Driver ranking
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Constructors' championship
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Web links
- Results at motorsportarchiv.de
- Photos at f1-facts.com
- Grand Prix Results: French GP, 1960 at grandprix.com
- Brabham wins again as rear engine powered cars dominate at en.espnf1.com