1959 French Grand Prix
The third round of the 1959 Formula 1 World Championship took place on July 5 in France, at the Reims circuit, which that year held the honorary title of the European Grand Prix. Compared to the previous season, the track remained unchanged, still measuring 8.302 kilometers in length, while drivers faced the challenge of completing 50 laps.
After the rather lackluster Dutch round, the French Grand Prix once again lived up to its reputation as one of the jewels of the World Championship calendar, treating fans to the atmosphere of a true racing festival. The entry list was impressive, featuring no fewer than 22 drivers, while organizers added extra excitement with a Formula 2 race scheduled to begin almost immediately after the main event. With most teams planning to take part in both events, they brought an entire fleet of cars to Reims, and leading the pack, as usual, was Scuderia Ferrari, represented by as many as six bolids: three regular Ferrari 246 Dinos with 2.4-liter engines, one modified version equipped with a new 2.5-liter power unit, a hybrid Ferrari 156 using an F2 chassis paired with a 2.4-liter engine, and finally a standard Ferrari 156 fitted with a 1.5-liter engine for the Formula 2 contest.
Matching the team’s impressive fleet of cars was an equally diverse driver lineup. Alongside the main trio — Jean Behra, Tony Brooks, and Phil Hill — Scuderia Ferrari’s roster in Reims also included their sportscar regulars Olivier Gendebien and Dan Gurney (the latter making his Formula 1 debut), while Cliff Allison was entered only for the Formula 2 race that weekend.
Meanwhile, compared with the scarlet ones, the other teams’ presence at Reims looked far more modest. Championship leader Cooper entered three of their trusty T51s powered by 2.5-liter Climax engines, along with one streamlined version, which were entrusted to Jack Brabham, Masten Gregory, and Bruce McLaren — the latter back to action after missing the previous round. Rob Walker’s private team fielded a single Cooper T51 for Maurice Trintignant, while his usual teammate, Stirling Moss, restricted his duties for the team to the Formula 2 race, while in the main Grand Prix, he opted to drive a pale-green BRM P25 entered by his father’s team, the British Racing Partnership.
As for the works BRM team, they arrived at Reims with no fewer than three P25 cars, driven by Jo Bonnier, Harry Schell, and Ron Flockhart as their main entries. Colin Chapman’s team, meanwhile, fielded two Lotus 16s, with the regular pairing of Graham Hill and Innes Ireland at the wheel. As for Aston Martin, following their rather disappointing debut in the Netherlands, they chose to skip the French round in order to better prepare for their home race, and, as a result, Roy Salvadori once again found himself driving a Cooper T45-Maserati of Tommy Atkins, while his teammate Carroll Shelby found himself without a seat for this Grand Prix at all.
Meanwhile, alongside the factory teams, several private outfits also took part in the French Grand Prix. The most prominent among them was Scuderia Centro Sud, represented by Ian Burgess and Colin Davis, as well as two South American drivers, Fritz d’Orey and Asdrúbal Bayardo, both making their Formula 1 debuts. At the same time, while the first two drivers were provided with competitive Cooper T51s powered by Maserati engines, the two newcomers had to make do with outdated Maserati 250Fs. Rounding out the field were two more Modena cars, driven by Giorgio Scarlatti and Count Carel Godin de Beaufort - both representing Scuderia Ugolini team.
Qualification
The French Grand Prix practice sessions were held over three days, from Wednesday through Friday, while Saturday was set aside for cleaning the track of oil and rubber to prepare it for the Sunday race. At the same time, with Reims’ blistering straights favouring sheer power, Scuderia’s squad were the obvious favourites in practice, and after their dismal showing in the Nethterlands, the scarlet cars once again reigned supreme, leaving all their main rivals in the distance. The standout performer in qualifying was none other than Tony Brooks, who immediately impressed on the first day of practice with a series of excellent laps, while his best time — 2’19.4 — not only secured pole position for the Englishman but also smashed last year’s record set by the late Mike Hawthorn by more than two seconds!
Almost as impressive was Brooks’ teammate, Phil Hill, who set the third-fastest time - just 0.4 seconds behind the Englishman - a notable feat considering he had lost nearly the entire first practise day due to a magneto failure. Jean Behra, by contrast, struggled to keep up with his teammates in his hybrid Ferrari, the same car he had favored in Zandvoort, and only after borrowing a standard 246 from Olivier Gendebien was the Frenchman able to record a relatively respectable 5th result. As for Gendebien himself, making his first World Championship appearance of the season, he managed only 11th on the timesheets, with rookie Dan Gurney close behind in 12th.
Meanwhile, Scuderia’s main rival in qualifying proved to be none other than championship leader Jack Brabham, who secured an excellent second place, just 0.3 seconds behind Brooks, once again demonstrating his outstanding form.
As for Brabham’s teammates, Gregory and McLaren, they were, as usual, notably slower than the Australian, taking 7th and 10th places respectively, with Trintignant in Walker’s Cooper slotting in between them in 8th. Meanwhile, the previous round’s winner, BRM, looked rather subdued this time - the best efforts of Bonnier, Schell, and Flockhart yielding only 6th, 9th, and 13th positions respectively. At the same time, Stirling Moss, driving an identical BRM, still managed to extract a bit more from his car and ended qualifying with an excellent fourth-fastest time, just half a second down on pole-sitter Brooks. As for the Lotus drivers, carburation issues prevented them from showing the true pace of their cars, leaving the two Britons to settle for 14th and 15th positions on the grid. Bringing up the rear were the Maserati-powered entries, while Bayardo, who was considerably off the pace, failed to qualify altogether.
Race
Race day dawned under sweltering heat, and with an endurance test clearly ahead, most drivers were busy stocking up on water and pouring it over themselves in their cockpits in a desperate attempt to keep cool. Meanwhile, disappointed with his hybrid Ferrari, Jean Behra finally swapped cars with Gendebien, hoping that the regular 246 would bring him better fortunes in front of his home crowd...
Start. At the drop of the national flag, the field surges into motion, and with a superb getaway, it is Brooks who reaches the first bend in the lead, immediately taking command of the Grand Prix!
Meanwhile, for Behra, the race begins in disaster: his engine coughed and died on the grid, and only with the frantic push of his mechanics did he finally get moving — by which time he was hopelessly at the tail of the field!
Lap 1: Right after the start, it is Moss and Gregory who lit up the circuit - both charging past Brabham and Phil Hill to take 2nd and 3rd respectively by the end of the very first lap!
Position after Lap 1: Brooks, Moss, Gregory, Brabham, Phil Hill, Schell, Bonnier, Trintignant, McLaren, Graham Hill.
Lap 2: After being passed by the two Cooper drivers, Phil Hill immediately strikes back — repassing them both in quick succession to reclaim 3rd!
Meanwhile, just behind them, Trintignant also gains a couple of places, overtaking both BRM drivers, while in the middle of the pack Ireland, McLaren, Gurney, Gendebien, and Graham Hill are locked in a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle!
As for Behra, after catching up with the rest of the field following his disastrous start, the Frenchman wastes no time — passing three cars in a single lap!
Lap 3: Unwilling to concede third place, Gregory strikes back at Phil Hill, overtaking his fellow American to reclaim the position! Meanwhile, at the back of the field, Behra deals with Davis, continuing his impressive recovery.
Lap 4: Having dealt with Hill, Gregory keeps up the momentum and swiftly moves past Moss as well, rising to 2nd!
Besides, on the same lap, Trintignant gains another position by overtaking Brabham, while in the midfield the fierce battle continues — Gurney getting ahead of McLaren, and Graham Hill moving past Gendebien.
Meanwhile, buoyed by the roar of the crowd, Behra presses on relentlessly, sweeping past Salvadori and Burgess to take 15th! At the same time, amid the fierce on-track battles, Scarlatti’s pit stop goes almost unnoticed — the Maserati pulling into the pits with a fuel leak.
Lap 5: After losing out to Gregory, Moss and Phil Hill comes under attack from Trintignant, who is having a truly inspired race today, and within just a few corners, both drivers are passed not only by the flying Frenchman but also by the closely following Brabham! Meanwhile, the midfield fight rages on unabated, with Gurney emerging as the leader of the group ahead of Graham Hill, Ireland, Gendebien, and McLaren.
At the same time, the fastest man on the circuit is Behra, who, after overtaking Flockhart, continues his remarkable charge through the field!
Lap 6: Trintignant is simply unstoppable today — with a swift and decisive move, he passes Gregory for 2nd, sending the crowd into raptures!
Meanwhile, the midfield is as lively as ever: Gendebien moves ahead of both Lotus drivers to take 10th, while Ireland loses ground not only to the Belgian but also to McLaren — and to Behra, who had already caught up with the middle group ahead!
Lap 7: Following Trintignant, Brabham goes on the offensive, passing Gregory to snatch third place from his teammate! Meanwhile, under the blistering heat, the asphalt on the track is literally melting before everyone’s eyes, and the first to suffer is Ireland, struck by a flying piece of tar that smashes his goggles and forces him to make an unscheduled pit-stop!
The heat, however, seemed to have no effect on Behra’s pace: overtaking McLaren and Graham Hill, the Frenchman gains two more positions, thus already moving into the top ten!
Meanwhile, on the contrast, things are going disastrously for Bonnier: water temperature and oil pressure in his BRM had reached critical levels, and forced to stop at the final corner, the Swede had to push his car nearly a kilometre under the blazing sun — only to retire from the event!
Lap 8: Exhausted by the heat, Gregory begins to lose pace, and Moss immediately took advantage, passing the American to claim 4th!
Meanwhile, things are going from bad to worse for BRM: after his teammate retired, Schell was left alone against the two Ferraris of Gurney and Gendebien, and both Scuderia drivers pass him without difficulty, dropping the American down to 9th!
Meanwhile, as the heat and the pace of the race continues to rise, the field loses two more competitors: Davis suffers a ruptured oil line in his Cooper, while Graham Hill is forced to retire with a broken radiator, shattered by a flying stone.
Lap 9: The crumbling asphalt strikes again — a piece of tar hits Gregory square in the face, cutting him to blood and forcing Masten to immediately pull into the pits! At the same time, despite the mechanics were able to staunch the bleeding quickly, the American has already neither the strength nor the will to continue, marking another retirement. Meanwhile, even flying debris unable to stop Behra’s flying charge: passing Schell, the Frenchman moves up to 8th!
Lap 10: Behra gains another position, this time passing his teammate Gendebien, and thus the Frenchman is already 7th!
Position after 10 laps: Brooks, Trintignant, Brabham, Moss, Phil Hill, Gurney, Behra, Gendebien, Schell, McLaren.
Despite the searing heat and fierce battles raging behind him, Brooks continues to lead the race with confidence, holding a margin of more than four seconds over the chasing Cooper duo of Trintignant and Brabham!
Lap 11: Having dealt with Gendebien, Behra catches up with another teammate — Gurney — and, passing him, moves up to 6th!
Lap 12: After a couple of laps of tense dueling, Phil Hill finally finds a gap in Moss’ defense and, moving ahead, pushes the Englishman back to 5th!
Meanwhile, on the same lap, Schell makes a mistake and flies off the track, and, as a result, Harry loses four places in one go and drops out of the top ten!
Meanwhile, the American’s position was immediately taken by his teammate Flockhart, who, after a prolonged battle, managed to get past McLaren.
Lap 14: After losing position to the BRM driver, McLaren refuses to give in and strikes back with a successful counterattack to reclaim his place!
Meanwhile, on the same lap, the field loses another competitor: Burgess’ Cooper suffers an engine failure.
Lap 15: The battle between McLaren and Flockhart shows no sign of easing, and after another counterattack, it is the BRM driver who surges ahead!
Meanwhile, Schell recovers one position after his earlier mistake, passing d’Orey, while Ireland is forced to retire from the race due to a seized front wheel bearing.
Lap 17: After spending several laps behind Phil Hill, Moss finally strikes back, overtaking the American to reclaim 4th!
Lap 18: Once again behind Flockhart, McLaren continues his efforts to get ahead, and his subsequent counterattack proves successful — the New Zealander is back in front!
Moreover, during the maneuver, he accidentally sends a stone flying straight at his rival, smashing the Scotsman’s goggles, yet Ron simply tossed them aside, determined to continue the fight at any cost!
Lap 19: Shadowing McLaren, Flockhart is once again pelted by flying debris at Thillois, and without his goggles, the Scotsman comes perilously close to losing an eye! Realizing that continuing like this was too dangerous, Ron finally eases off, deciding to stay behind his rival at a safer distance.
Lap 20: Trintignant is in trouble! Entering the already battered Thillois corner, the Frenchman loses control of his car on the loose gravel and molten tar, and, spinning around, stalls!
Realizing his hard-earned second place is slipping away, the Frenchman leaps out of his car and desperately tries to push-start it, but by the time the engine sputtered back to life, at least ten cars had swept by!
Realizing that neither the podium nor even the points were now within reach, an utterly exhausted Trintignant pulls into the pits to cool off, before rejoining the race with little more than pride to drive for. Meanwhile, the Frenchman's mistake reshuffles the order at the front: Brabham moves up into 2nd, Phil Hill once again edges past Moss for 3rd, while in 5th — incredibly — is none other than Jean Behra, the hero of the day, who had fought his way into the points before half-distance!
Amid the steady progress of the other Ferrari drivers, the only setback for the Scuderia comes with Gurney’s retirement — a stone had punctured his radiator, leaving the American debutant no choice but to retire in the pits.
Position after 20 laps: Brooks, Brabham, Phil Hill, Moss, Behra, Gendebien, McLaren, Flockhart, Schell, d’Orey.
Lap 21: After several unscheduled pit stops during the race, Salvadori finally retires with engine failure.
Lap 23: Catching up to the tightly bunched trio of Brabham, Phil Hill, and Moss, Behra immediately settles onto BRM's tail and, with a lightning-fast move, passes Stirling, continuing his remarkable charge through the field!
Lap 24: Having dealt with Moss, Behra passes his teammate on the very next lap, thus propelling himself into the top three!
Lap 25: Just one step away from second place, Behra attempts to outbrake Brabham at Thillois, but the slippery corner plays a cruel trick — the Frenchman flies off the track and, instead of gaining, loses a position, allowing his teammate Phil Hill to slip back ahead!
Meanwhile, trailing right behind, Moss is unable to take advantage of the Frenchman’s mistake: the clutch on his BRM had given out, leaving the Englishman struggling to keep up.
Lap 26: Back ahead of his teammate, Phil Hill turns his attention to Brabham — and succeeds, snatching 2nd from the Australian!
Lap 28: Irritated by his setback, Behra slams the throttle in fury and, clocking a 2’23.5, he smashes the race record!
Lap 30: Pushed to its absolute limits, Behra’s Ferrari engine finally succumbs to the heat and intensity of the race, and, losing power rapidly, the Frenchman has no choice but to relinquish 4th to Moss!
Position after 30 laps: Brooks, Phil Hill, Brabham, Moss, Behra, Gendebien, McLaren, Flockhart, Schell, Trintignant.
After more than an hour baking in the scorching cockpits, the drivers take every opportunity to cool themselves: Brooks leans his head over the side of his car on the straights, Phil Hill drives his car almost standing up, while Brabham has his elbows over the cockpit sides trying to deflect air on to himself! At the same time, despite the hellish conditions, Brooks continues to control the race with authority, extending his lead over the chasing pack already to 32 seconds!
Lap 32: All of Behra’s hopes of lasting a few more laps and earning a place in the final standings evaporate as a broken piston finally finishes off his Ferrari’s engine. For the Frenchman, it is a crushing blow — his heroic charge and superhuman effort has been in vain: no points, no prize, only bitterness, disappointment, and exhaustion.
Meanwhile, following the Frenchman's retirement, his teammate Gendebien moves up into the points, however, the Belgian has little time to celebrate — McLaren is right on his tail and looking for a way through!
Lap 35: The unbearable heat is taking a heavy toll on the drivers: Phil Hill is barely keeping his car on the track, constantly missing braking points and sliding wide in nearly every corner, while Brabham fares no better, his pace dropping off dramatically with each lap.
Meanwhile, Moss, apparently impervious to the furnace-like heat, finds a fresh burst of speed and starts closing the gap to the cars ahead with remarkable determination!
Lap 37: Another retirement in the race — Trintignant’s Cooper simply refuses to go any further, yet, summoning the last of his strength, the Frenchman still pushes his car all the way to the finish line, thus ensuring himself a place in the final classification!
Lap 38: Closing the gap lap after lap, Moss finally catches Brabham — and with the Australian powerless to resist, Stirling sweeps past to seize 3rd!
Lap 40: Having dealt with Brabham, Moss immediately sets off after Phil Hill — and despite his failing clutch, records the fastest lap of the race: 2’22.8!
Position after 40 laps: Brooks, Phil Hill, Moss, Brabham, Gendebien, McLaren, Flockhart, Schell, Scarlatti, de Beaufort.
Lap 42: Gendebien makes a mistake in Thillois, and McLaren immediately seizes the opportunity, snatching the place in the points from the Belgian!
Lap 43: Moss is in trouble! Pushing his car to the limit in an effort to close in on Phil Hill, Stirling overdoes it at Thillois and, spinning around, stalls!
Realizing he has just lost a podium place, Stirling desperately tries to push-start his BRM, but with a faulty clutch, the task proves beyond his strength.
In the end, achieving nothing, the Englishman calls for the marshals and, slowly returning to the pits, receives the inevitable penalty — disqualification.
Lap 47: Recovered from his mistake, Gendebien rapidly closes on McLaren and, with a decisive move, takes 4th from the New Zealander!
Final lap: After more than two hours in hellish conditions, Brooks finally crosses the finish line first, claiming his first Grand Prix victory of the season!
Leading from start to finish, the Englishman today earns a reputation as a true master of Reims, while the eight points he scores bring him back into contention for the championship title!
Meanwhile, Brooks’ teammate Phil Hill finishes second, giving Scuderia Ferrari their first double of the season, while Gendebien adds to the team’s success with an excellent fourth place. As for the final podium spot, it goes to none other than Brabham, whose points haul allows him to still retain the championship lead. His teammate, the young McLaren, also deserves high praise today — finishing fifth, the New Zealander adds two more points to his tally. Meanwhile, the last point for the fastest lap is somewhat unexpectedly awarded to Moss — despite his disqualification, the organisers decide to let the Englishman keep this consolation prize.
P.S. Even after the race has finished, tensions in the paddock remained high: unabashedly outspoken, Jean Behra publicly accused the Scuderia management of sabotage, and, finding no understanding from the Commendatore, the Frenchman soon parted ways with the team, facing an uncertain future alone....
Interesting facts:
- Harry Schell's 50th Grand Prix;
- Dan Gurney's debut;
- Scuderia Ferrari's 30th pole position.
Driver standings
Constructor standings
Alternative GP results
