1960 British Grand Prix
The sixth round of the 1960 Formula 1 World Championship was held in Great Britain on 16 July at Silverstone, which this year took its turn in the rotation, replacing Aintree. In the two years since the previous Grand Prix at Silverstone, the circuit layout had remained unchanged, with its length still standing at 4.71 km, while the drivers faced a 77-lap contest.
After five rounds, the battle for the championship was at its fiercest, with Cooper drivers Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren leading the standings, level on points. Sadly for the local fans, their idol Stirling Moss was missing from the championship fight for the first time in a long while: still recovering from the injuries he had suffered at Spa, the Englishman was not yet fit to return to the cockpit and attended the Grand Prix only as an honoured guest.
Nevertheless, even in Moss’s absence, Silverstone had attracted the cream of British motor racing — and the spectacle promised to be a memorable one.
John Cooper’s team brought three cars to its home round: two new low-line T53s for regular drivers Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren, plus a year-old T51 for Lance Reventlow.
Leaving his troublesome Scarabs on the other side of the Atlantic, the American returned to Europe to finally try his hand in a genuine Formula 1 car, accompanied once again by Chuck Daigh, who had been given reserve-driver status with Cooper here.
Three cars were also fielded by the two other British teams, BRM and Lotus. Alfred Owen’s team once again lined up Jo Bonnier, Graham Hill and Dan Gurney, with all three drivers receiving rear-engined BRM P48s.
Colin Chapman’s team was represented by Innes Ireland, Jim Clark and John Surtees, the latter returning to Grand Prix racing after another brilliant performance in the World Motorcycle Championship.
Once again, the three works Lotus 18s were not quite identical: Ireland’s car featured a long air duct running along the left-hand side from the nose to the Weber carburettors; Surtees raced a standard car without any modifications, while the protruding carburettor parts on Clark’s Lotus were concealed beneath the bodywork.
David Brown’s team was in on the action as well, arriving at the home round with two shortened Aston Martin DBR5s for Roy Salvadori and Maurice Trintignant, who had temporarily joined the British outfit.
At the same time, Salvadori’s car had undergone another round of modifications since its last appearance at the Dutch Grand Prix: the disappointing fuel-injection system had once again been replaced by Weber carburettors, while the independent rear suspension had been redesigned.
Meanwhile, the only non-British works team at Silverstone was Scuderia Ferrari, represented for the first time this season by just two regular drivers, Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips, both driving front-engined Ferrari 246 Dinos.
As for the private teams, there was certainly no shortage of them at Silverstone. With Rob Walker’s outfit absent, the strongest and most numerous was Yeoman Credit Racing, which entered no fewer than three Climax-engined Cooper T51s. Taking the wheel were Olivier Gendebien, Henry Taylor and Tony Brooks, the latter returning to his former team after his one-off appearance for Vanwall.
As at the previous round, one of the cars was equipped with the advanced five-speed Colotti gearbox — and, quite predictably, it was entrusted to team leader Brooks.
Meanwhile, following Maurice Trintignant’s move to Aston Martin, Scuderia Centro Sud fielded only two of its Cooper T51-Maseratis at Silverstone, with Masten Gregory and Ian Burgess taking the wheel.
Scuderia Eugenio Castellotti once again entered just one Cooper T51-Ferrari, with Gino Munaron back at the wheel after driving the same car at the previous round. The remaining places on the grid were taken by private entrants: British veteran Jack Fairman drove a Cooper T51-Climax; Lucien Bianchi and Keith Greene raced Cooper T45s powered by Climax and Maserati engines respectively; David Piper once again started in a front-engined Lotus 16, while Brian Naylor raced his own JBW.
Qualification
Qualifying for the British Grand Prix was held over two days, Thursday and Friday, and, as at the previous two rounds, reigning World Champion Jack Brabham was once again in a class of his own: the Australian lapped Silverstone in 1:34.6, improving the circuit record by almost five seconds!
Just as in France, one of Jack’s main challengers was none other than Graham Hill in the BRM, who once again showed impressive pace and ultimately secured second place on the starting grid.
The other Cooper and BRM drivers were also impressive: Bruce McLaren was already very quick in practice this time, setting the third-fastest time, while Jo Bonnier and Dan Gurney were not far behind, finishing fourth and sixth respectively. The Lotus drivers, meanwhile, were slightly off the pace in practice: Innes Ireland set the fifth-fastest time, Jim Clark was eighth, and John Surtees, hampered by ignition problems, could manage only eleventh. As for Ferrari, the Scuderia looked weaker at Silverstone than ever before: Wolfgang von Trips could manage only seventh, while Phil Hill was down in tenth. Things were even worse for Aston Martin: despite the modifications to their cars, Roy Salvadori could only scrape 13th, while Maurice Trintignant failed even to make the top 20. Meanwhile, as usual, the best results among the private entrants came from Yeoman Credit Racing: Tony Brooks fought his way to ninth, while Olivier Gendebien, around 1.5 seconds behind his teammate, finished qualifying in 12th. As for Lance Reventlow, even last year’s championship-winning car could not help the American produce anything resembling a respectable result, and John Cooper ultimately handed his cockpit to Chuck Daigh — who was immediately four seconds faster.
Race
Race day dawned under a blanket of cloud, and with dark skies hanging over the circuit before the start, the drivers could only wonder whether rain would soon join the battle. Yet spirits among drivers and spectators alike were lifted when Stirling Moss appeared on the starting grid — he had been given the honour of waving the flag to start the Grand Prix!
Start. Moss waves the national flag to get the race underway, and the cars immediately roar into motion — but not all of them: Graham Hill, Tony Brooks and Henry Taylor are left stranded on the grid with stalled engines!
The sudden obstacles throw the field into chaos, but fortunately, the track is wide enough for the drivers to dodge the stranded cars and reach the first corner safely, with McLaren leading the way after a brilliant getaway!
Lap 1: Wasting no time, Brabham attacks his teammate on the very first lap and takes the lead!
Meanwhile, Surtees is also making his presence felt: having gained several places at the start, the Englishman immediately sweeps past Clark and Phil Hill to finish the opening lap already inside the points!
Order after Lap 1: Brabham, McLaren, Bonnier, Ireland, von Trips, Surtees, Clark, Phil Hill, Gregory, Salvadori.
Lap 2: Surtees keeps attacking and sweeps past von Trips’s Ferrari to move into fifth!
Meanwhile, Gurney, having lost several places at the start when his teammate’s stalled car held him up, begins fighting his way back through the field and sweeps past Salvadori for tenth!
As for Graham Hill, his charge from the back of the field is even more remarkable: sweeping past Naylor, Daigh, Munaron and Greene in succession, the Englishman storms up to 18th!
Lap 3: Having lost the lead to his teammate, McLaren immediately comes under attack from Bonnier and Ireland, who sweep past the New Zealander in succession and relegate him to fourth! Meanwhile, after surrendering fifth to Surtees, von Trips is now out of the points altogether as Clark and Phil Hill surge past him in quick succession!
Gurney, meanwhile, continues to work his way steadily up the field, passing another rival on this lap — Masten Gregory.
Meanwhile, his teammate Graham Hill is making even faster progress: the Englishman sweeps past four more rivals in the space of a single lap to storm up to 14th!
Following Hill’s charge, two more victims of the chaotic start begin fighting their way back through the field — Brooks and Taylor, each picking up two places by passing Munaron and Greene.
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Lap 4: Gurney gains another place, passing von Trips — and the American is up to eighth!
Meanwhile, Graham Hill keeps storming up the field, sweeping past Gendebien and Fairman in quick succession to break into the top twelve!
As for Brooks, he shows no sign of slowing down either, making another pass and leaving Naylor behind.
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Lap 5: Having spent a couple of laps tucked in behind Bonnier, Ireland finally makes his move on the Swede and takes second place!
Meanwhile, on the same lap, Gurney passes another Ferrari — this time Phil Hill’s — to move up to seventh!
As for Graham Hill, he continues his impressive charge, leaving Salvadori behind, while Yeoman’s two drivers, Brooks and Taylor, also gain another place each.
Lap 6: With his engine overheating, Greene pits for a water top-up, but the stop changes almost nothing — the Englishman remains at the back of the field.
Lap 7: Already down to fourth, McLaren gets no respite as Surtees attacks the New Zealander and drops him another place!
Meanwhile, the Ferrari drivers, clearly outpaced here by their Cooper, Lotus and BRM rivals, have little choice but to turn their attention to each other — and after attacking his teammate, von Trips moves back ahead!
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At the same time, Graham Hill is now the man behind the two Ferraris, having moved ahead of Gregory on this lap and gained another place to break into the top ten!
Meanwhile, Brooks continues his confident charge as well: sweeping past Bianchi and Trintignant in succession, the Englishman gains another two places!
Lap 8: Brooks sweeps past two more rivals — Burgess and Piper — to move up to 15th!
Lap 9: Just one lap is enough for Graham Hill to sweep past both Ferraris — and the Englishman is up to eighth!
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Lap 10: Now getting to grips with his Cooper, Daigh begins to pick up the pace and sweeps past Trintignant to take 19th!
Order after Lap 10: Brabham, Ireland, Bonnier, Surtees, McLaren, Clark, Gurney, Graham Hill, von Trips, Phil Hill.
After ten laps, Brabham remains out in front, with his nearest challenger, Ireland, only two seconds adrift.
Lap 11: Surtees continues to impress, sweeping past Bonnier to take third, while McLaren immediately pounces and follows the Lotus driver through to pass the Swede as well!
Meanwhile, Gurney begins to experience trouble changing gear and, unable to hold off the drivers behind him, loses four places in quick succession! At the same time, this lap brings another gain for Daigh, as the American sweeps past Piper’s Lotus to take 18th.
Lap 12: Bonnier continues to lose ground, surrendering another place to Clark — and dropping down to sixth!
Meanwhile, after six laps of pursuit, Taylor finally manages to pass Trintignant, although the Yeoman driver climbs only as far as 20th.
Lap 13: Clark is not content to stop there: after a successful attack on McLaren, the Lotus driver leaves the New Zealander behind - and now, to Chapman’s delight, his three men occupy second, third and fourth!
Meanwhile, after struggling with a faulty gearbox for a couple of laps, Gurney finally pits for repairs and, following a lengthy stop, rejoins the race in last place with his hopes of a worthwhile result all but gone. At the same time, Brooks, Daigh and Taylor continue to make their way up the field, each gaining another place at different points around the circuit.
Moreover, this lap sees the race lose its first retirement as Greene pits again with an overheating engine, never to return to the track.
Lap 14: Brooks continues his impressive charge, sweeping past Salvadori and Gendebien in succession to climb to 11th!
Lap 15: After eight laps in von Trips’s wake, Phil Hill finally makes another move and sweeps past his teammate once again!
This lap also sees Daigh and Taylor gain another place each, passing Burgess and Bianchi respectively.
Lap 16: Following Daigh’s lead, Taylor also dispatches Burgess, clearing the final obstacle between himself and the American!
Lap 17: Rejoining the race in last place, Gurney refuses to throw in the towel, catching and sweeping past Munaron to gain another place!
Lap 20: Continuing to fly around the circuit, Graham Hill catches his teammate Bonnier and, after a confident pass, finally storms into the points!
Order after Lap 20: Brabham, Ireland, Surtees, Clark, McLaren, Graham Hill, Bonnier, Phil Hill, von Trips, Gregory.
After twenty laps, Brabham remains out in front, but his advantage over Ireland in second is virtually unchanged — just three seconds!
Lap 21: Clark continues his charge, catching Surtees and launching a determined attack on his teammate to snatch third — Chapman’s two newcomers have swapped places!
Lap 22: Struggling with misfiring problems, Fairman slows, allowing Daigh to catch him with ease and move up to 14th!
Lap 23: Taylor also passes Fairman, before once again setting off in pursuit of Daigh!
Lap 24: The battle at the British Grand Prix shows no sign of letting up, delighting the spectators lap after lap, and now another skirmish erupts in the midfield: Gendebien attacks and sweeps past Salvadori to take 12th!
Lap 25: Graham Hill continues his sensational charge through the field: McLaren is the next to succumb to the Englishman’s attack — and Hill is up to fifth!
Lap 26: Gurney sweeps past another rival, leaving Naylor behind as the American continues his steady climb up the order.
Lap 27: After several laps of determined fighting, Brooks finally gets the better of Gregory — and the Englishman is into the top ten!
Meanwhile, Fairman’s slide down the order continues as Burgess sweeps past the British veteran for another place.
Lap 30: Seeing Graham Hill rapidly closing in his mirrors, Surtees launches another attack on Clark and leaves his teammate behind!
At the same time, Jim is immediately left powerless against the BRM driver’s relentless attack, as Hill confidently sweeps past him to break into fourth! Meanwhile, in the midfield, Salvadori once again gets the better of Gendebien, while Taylor finally catches Daigh and sweeps past the American for 14th!
As for Fairman, this lap brings yet another loss, with Bianchi the latest to sweep past the British veteran.
Lap 32: After staying ahead of Graham Hill for just one lap, Surtees also gives way to his compatriot, who is rapidly moving up the order and storms into the top three!
Lap 32: Meanwhile, on the same lap, Bonnier attacks and sweeps past McLaren for sixth — knocking the New Zealander out of the points!
Lap 36: Four more laps have passed — and Graham Hill is now right on Ireland’s tail!
Lap 37: The Lotus leader has no answer to the BRM driver’s pace either: Hill confidently sweeps past him — and the Englishman is now second!
Meanwhile, after losing out to Taylor, Daigh immediately hits back, sweeping past his rival to regain the place!
Lap 38: Taylor is not giving up either: he counterattacks the American and leaves him behind again!
Lap 39: Halfway through the Grand Prix, and there is still just one name on the retirements list — the machinery is showing truly remarkable reliability today!
Order after 40 laps: Brabham, Graham Hill, Ireland, Surtees, Clark, Bonnier, McLaren, Phil Hill, von Trips, Brooks.
After 40 laps, Brabham is still out in front, but all eyes are now on Graham Hill: setting a truly sensational pace today, the Englishman is rapidly closing the gap to the World Champion — just a few seconds now separate the two!
Lap 41: Gurney catches Trintignant and Piper, who have been battling each other for most of the race, and confidently sweeps past them both to gain two places in a single lap!
Lap 42: Salvadori begins to struggle with the handling of his Aston Martin, and Gendebien is quick to take advantage, moving back ahead!
Lap 43: Brabham picks off three backmarkers in a single lap — Phil Hill, von Trips and Brooks, running nose-to-tail — using them as a small buffer between himself and the charging Graham Hill!
Meanwhile, on the same lap, Salvadori and Fairman both head into the pits and, after lengthy stops, rejoin the race at the very back of the field.
Lap 44: Gurney is closing rapidly on the Burgess–Bianchi pair, prompting the Belgian to spring into action and sweep past his Centro Sud rival!
Lap 45: Having recovered from Graham Hill’s rapid charge, Clark is soon back on Surtees’s tail, piling on the pressure and sweeping past his teammate to retake fourth!
Meanwhile, after several laps of pursuit, Brooks finally sweeps past von Trips’s Ferrari — and the Englishman is up to ninth!
Meanwhile, the battle between Burgess and Bianchi continues to rage in the lower half of the field, with Gurney now joining the fight — and the Belgian loses two places in a single blow, dropping behind both rivals! For Salvadori and Fairman, meanwhile, the race is already over: still unable to resolve their problems, both Englishmen head back to the pits, never to return to the track.
Lap 46: Surtees refuses to give way, counter-attacking Clark and moving ahead once again!
Meanwhile, on the same lap, Brooks sweeps past another Ferrari — and moves up to eighth!
This lap also sees Daigh make a small mistake — and the American immediately loses three places, allowing Burgess, Gurney and Bianchi through!
Lap 47: After a long chase, Taylor finally catches Gendebien and sweeps past his teammate to take 12th!
Meanwhile, Daigh quickly recovers from his mistake and, sweeping past Gurney and Bianchi in succession, regains two places in a single lap!
Lap 48: Daigh attacks again — and, sweeping past Burgess, restores the status quo!
Lap 50: Picking up the pace, Daigh catches Gendebien — and the Belgian is soon left behind as well!
Order after 50 laps: Brabham, Graham Hill, Ireland, Surtees, Clark, Bonnier, McLaren, Brooks, Phil Hill, von Trips.
Having dealt with the backmarkers, Graham Hill closes the gap to Brabham once again — and now just a couple of seconds separate the two!
Lap 51: The battle between Burgess, Gurney and Bianchi reaches its climax — and it is the Englishman who comes off worst, letting through both of his rivals!
Lap 52: Taking around a second a lap out of Brabham, Graham Hill devours the remaining gap to the World Champion — and immediately gets right onto his tail!
Lap 53: Graham Hill attacks Brabham along the start-finish straight, the two running literally side by side — but the Australian manages to hold off the Englishman at the first corner and fend off the first attack!
Meanwhile, tyre problems force Ireland to ease off the pace — and the Scot immediately surrenders third place to his teammate Surtees!
Lap 54: Graham Hill is attacking Brabham at almost every corner, but the famously uncompromising Australian refuses to give an inch, doing everything he can to keep the BRM behind — and so far, he is holding firm! Meanwhile, the action is just as hot in the lower half of the field: Gendebien attacks Daigh once again and sweeps past the American to take 12th!
Unfortunately, Gregory’s strong race is beginning to unravel: a sticking throttle forces the American to pit, dropping him almost to the very back of the field.
Lap 55: Brabham’s resistance finally crumbles under Graham Hill’s incredible pressure! The Australian is forced to yield, and to thunderous applause from his compatriots, the Englishman sweeps into the lead after fighting his way up from the very back of the field! What an incredible achievement!
Meanwhile, on the same lap, Daigh once again sweeps past Gendebien in the battle for 12th, while Burgess pits with engine trouble and, after completing a couple of test laps, finally retires from the race.
Lap 56: Having swept past Brabham, Graham Hill immediately turns up the pace in an effort to break away from the Australian — and posts the fastest lap of the race, 1:34.4!
But the World Champion has no intention of making life easy for his rival: he also posts his fastest lap of the race, finishing just 0.6 seconds behind Hill! Meanwhile, struggling with tyre problems, Ireland loses another place to Clark and drops to fifth!
Lap 57: The engine in Daigh’s Cooper begins to overheat badly, forcing the American to end his race in the pits. Nevertheless, despite the retirement, Chuck has shown today that, given a competitive car, he is capable of setting a very respectable pace.
Lap 58: One of the front-suspension components on Clark’s Lotus breaks, forcing the young Scot to slow dramatically and limp back to the pits! Despite this problem, Chapman’s mechanics nevertheless manage to make a partial repair and send Jim back out onto the track, but his chance of scoring any more points is now irretrievably lost!
Lap 63: The magneto drive on Bianchi’s Cooper fails, and the Belgian is forced to pull over at the side of the track, unable to make it to the chequered flag.
Lap 66: With eleven laps to go, von Trips decides to attack his teammate once again — and moves ahead in the battle for seventh!
Lap 72: Just six laps remain — and disaster strikes! Lapping one of the backmarkers, Graham Hill, under pressure from the World Champion, locks up under braking for Copse, spins and flies off the track!
Hill’s mistake hands Brabham the chance to race towards yet another victory, while the Englishman’s hopes of even a podium finish are shattered: his BRM stalls after the spin, bringing an end to what had been a truly extraordinary drive!
Final lap: After an intensely hard-fought race that fully showcased his racing skill, determination and fighting spirit, Brabham completes his final lap — and takes his fourth consecutive Grand Prix victory of the season!
And while this victory may not have been as convincing as the three that came before it, for Brabham and the entire Cooper team it is arguably far more significant: Jack now moves into the outright championship lead, while John Cooper secures his second Constructors’ Championship already at this stage of the season!
Meanwhile, second place ultimately goes to John Surtees — a magnificent result for the young Englishman, competing in only the second Grand Prix of his career! Another Lotus driver, Ireland, finishes third despite his tyre problems — giving Chapman’s team a double podium for the first time in its history! Fourth place goes to McLaren, who looked far from convincing today, but his three points still keep his championship hopes alive. For Brooks, meanwhile, fifth place is a remarkable achievement, especially considering that after his disastrous start, the Englishman had to fight his way through the entire field. The final point for sixth goes to von Trips — and, frankly, that was probably the very most Scuderia Ferrari could have hoped for at this Grand Prix.
Interesting facts:
- Graham Hill’s first fastest lap and first time leading a Grand Prix;
- John Surtees’s first podium and first championship points.
Driver standings
Constructor standings
Alternative GP results
