Changes: 1959 German Grand Prix

Revision as of 10:32, 18 October 2016

1959 German Grand Prix

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Race Details

Date

August 2, 1959

Official Name

XXI Großer Preis von Deutschland

Location

AVUS
West Berlin, West Germany

Course

Temporary road circuit
8.300 km (5.157 mi)

Distance

2 heats of 30 laps, ^{[convert: invalid number]}

Pole Position

Driver

Tony Brooks

Ferrari

Time

2:05.9

Fastest Lap

Driver

Tony Brooks

Ferrari

Time

2:04.5 on lap 18

Podium

First	Second	Third
Tony Brooks	Dan Gurney	Phil Hill

Lap Leaders

The 1959 German Grand Prix was the sixth round of the 1959 Formula One Season, held on August 2nd. For political reasons, the race was run on the AVUS circuit, in southwestern Berlin. The mostly straight line track proved to be perfect for Ferrari, as their cars went 1-2-3, with Tony Brooks leading home Dan Gurney and Phil Hill.

Background

1958 and 1959 were a time of heightening tensions between the NATO Pact and Warsaw Bloc countries, and nowhere was this felt more strongly than in West Berlin. A number of parties felt that a dose of western extravaganza, in the form of a Grand Prix, might be a propaganda coup. So the decision was made to run the 1959 German race at AVUS.

Since the late 1930s, all racing at AVUS had used the old 8.3km motorcycle circuit, and that was used again for the Grand Prix. (The claim that the circuit was shortened because of the border with Russian-occupied East Germany is just an urban legend. The actual border was a couple of miles beyond the old circuit, near Potsdam, and the old Sudkurve had been demolished in 1938 to construct an Autobahn interchange.) This event was chosen to show off the advantages to western society, to the point where East German spectators were encouraged to attend, and allowed to buy tickets using (otherwise worthless) East German marks.

For the first (and so far only) time, the race was held in two heats, over concerns regarding tire wear on the high-banked brick corner.

Changes in the entry:

Aston Martin: The team skipped the race, to do some development.
BRM: The team only brought cars for Jo Bonnier and Harry Schell, with BRP entering another car for local driver Hans Herrmann.
Ferrari: The Scuderia sent four cars, entering Tony Brooks, Phil Hill and rookie Dan Gurney, with Cliff Allison in reserve. Allison managed the fastest time in practice, but was only allowed to start after the withdrawal of Porsche, and then at the back of the grid. Allison's car broke, but the remaining cars finished 1-2-3.
Porsche: The factory entered a 718 RSK for Maria Teresa de Filippis, and Jean Behra entered his own, custom-built Behra-Porsche-Porsche. But after Behra was killed in a support race on Saturday, both cars were withdrawn.

Entry list

The full entry list for the 1959 German Grand Prix is outlined below:

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
1	Jack Brabham	Cooper Car Company	Cooper	T51	Climax	FPF L4 2.5	D
2	Bruce McLaren	Cooper Car Company	Cooper	T51	Climax	FPF L4 2.5	D
3	Masten Gregory	Cooper Car Company	Cooper	T51	Climax	FPF L4 2.5	D
4	Tony Brooks	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	D264	Ferrari	155 V6 2.4	D
5	Phil Hill	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	D264	Ferrari	155 V6 2.4	D
6	Dan Gurney	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	D264	Ferrari	155 V6 2.4	D
7	Stirling Moss	RRC Walker Racing Team	Cooper	T51	Climax	FPF L4 2.5	D
8	Maurice Trintignant	RRC Walker Racing Team	Cooper	T51	Climax	FPF L4 2.5	D
9	Jo Bonnier	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM	P25	BRM	P25 L4 2.5	D
10	Harry Schell	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM	P25	BRM	P25 L4 2.5	D
11	Hans Herrmann	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM	P25	BRM	P25 L4 2.5	D
12	Jean Behra	Jean Behra	Behra-Porsche	RSK	Porsche	547/6 F4 1.5	D
14	Wolfgang von Trips	Dr Ing F. Porsche KG	Porsche	718 RSK	Porsche	547/6 F4 1.5	D
15	Innes Ireland	Team Lotus	Lotus	16	Climax	FPF L4 2.5	D
16	Graham Hill	Team Lotus	Lotus	16	Climax	FPF L4 2.5	D
17	Cliff Allison	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	D264	Ferrari	155 V6 2.4	D
18	Ian Burgess	Scuderia Centro Sud	Cooper	T51	Maserati	250S L4 2.5	D

Practice Overview

Qualifying

Results

The full qualifying results for the 1959 German Grand Prix is outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	17	Cliff Allison*	Ferrari	2:05.8	—
2	4	Tony Brooks	Ferrari	2:05.9	+0.1
3	7	Stirling Moss	Cooper-Climax	2:06.8	+1.0
4	6	Dan Gurney	Ferrari	2:07.2	+1.4
5	1	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	2:07.4	+1.6
6	3	Masten Gregory	Cooper-Climax	2:07.5	+1.7
7	5	Phil Hill	Ferrari	2:07.6	+1.8
8	9	Jo Bonnier	BRM	2:10.3	+4.5
9	10	Harry Schell	BRM	2:10.3	+4.5
10	2	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	2:10.4	+4.6
11	16	Graham Hill	Lotus-Climax	2:10.8	+5.0
12	11	Hans Herrmann	BRM	2:11.4	+5.6
13	8	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper-Climax	2:12.7	+6.9
14	15	Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	2:14.6	+8.8
15	18	Ian Burgess*	Cooper-Maserati	2:18.9	+13.1
WD	12	Jean Behra**	Behra-Porsche	—	—
WD	14	Wolfgang von Trips**	Porsche	—	—

* - Reserve entries
** - After Behra's fatal accident on Saturday, both Porsche entries were withdrawn, and no official times were released.

Race

Heat 1

Because of the fatal accident of Jean Behra in the Saturday afternoon support race, the Porsche entries were withdrawn, allowing the reserve cars to run. But despite having the fastest time in practice, Allison was placed at the back of the grid, ahead of only the other 'reserve' driver, Burgess. This marks the only time in Formula One history that the fastest qualifier was unable to start on pole, simply because of the car's entry.

Heat 1 Grid

Pos		Pos		Pos		Pos

Driver		Driver		Driver		Driver
						______________
				______________		1
		______________		2		Tony Brooks
______________		3		Stirling Moss
4		Dan Gurney
Jack Brabham
					______________
			______________		5
	______________		6		Masten Gregory
	7		Phil Hill
	Jo Bonnier
						______________
				______________		8
		______________		9		Harry Schell
______________		10		Bruce McLaren
11		Graham Hill
Hans Herrmann
					______________
			______________		12
	______________		13		Maurice Trintignant
	14		Innes Ireland
	Cliff Allison*
						______________
				______________		15
		______________		16
______________		17		Ian Burgess*
18

* - Reserve entries

Heat 1 Results

The final results for the first heat of the 1959 German Grand Prix are shown below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid
1	4	Tony Brooks	Ferrari	30	1:03:17.6	1
2	6	Dan Gurney	Ferrari	30	+1.3	3
3	5	Phil Hill	Ferrari	30	+1:04.5	6
4	2	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	29	+1 Lap	9
5	10	Harry Schell	BRM	29	+1 Lap	8
6	8	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper-Climax	29	+1 Lap	12
7	9	Jo Bonnier	BRM	29	+1 Lap	7
8	11	Hans Herrmann	BRM	29	+1 Lap	11
9	18	Ian Burgess	Cooper-Maserati	28	+2 Laps	9
Ret	3	Masten Gregory	Cooper-Climax	23	Engine	5
Ret	1	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	15	Transmission	4
Ret	16	Graham Hill	Lotus-Climax	10	Gearbox	10
Ret	15	Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	7	Crownwheel/pinion	13
Ret	17	Cliff Allison	Ferrari	2	Clutch	14
Ret	7	Stirling Moss	Cooper-Climax	1	Transmission	2

Heat 2

Only the nine cars that finished the first heat were allowed to start the second. They were lined up on the grid in finishing order of the first heat.

Heat 2 Grid

Pos		Pos		Pos		Pos

Driver		Driver		Driver		Driver
						______________
				______________		1
		______________		2		Tony Brooks
______________		3		Dan Gurney
4		Phil Hill
Bruce McLaren
					______________
			______________		5
	______________		6		Harry Schell
	7		Maurice Trintignant
	Jo Bonnier
						______________
				______________		8
		______________		9
______________		10		Hans Herrmann
11		Ian Burgess

					______________
			______________		12
	______________		13
	14

						______________
				______________		15
		______________		16
______________		17
18

Heat 2 Results

The final results for the second heat of the 1959 German Grand Prix are shown below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid
1	4	Tony Brooks	Ferrari	30	1:06:14.0	1
2	5	Phil Hill	Ferrari	30	+0.3	3
3	6	Dan Gurney	Ferrari	30	+0.6	2
4	8	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper-Climax	30	+18.4	6
5	9	Jo Bonnier	BRM	29	+1 Lap	7
6	18	Ian Burgess	Cooper-Maserati	28	+2 Laps	9
NC	10	Harry Schell	BRM	20	+10 Laps	5
Ret	2	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	6	Transmission	4
Ret	11	Hans Herrmann	BRM	6	Accident	8

Final Results

Milestones

Sixth and final victory for Tony Brooks
First podium for Dan Gurney

Standings after race

v·d·e

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V T E	German Grand Prix
Circuits	Nürburgring (1951–1954, 1956–1958, 1960–1969, 1971–1976, 1985, 2008–2013), AVUS (1926, 1959), Hockenheimring (1970, 1977–1984, 1986–2006, 2008–2014, 2016, 2018–2019)
Races	1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019
European Championship Races	1932 • 1933–1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939
Non-Championship Races	1926 • 1927 • 1928 • 1929 • 1930 • 1931 • 1932–1933 • 1934
* Nürburgring and Hockenheimring alternated between each other during these years.

@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 ==Background ==
 and 1959 were a time of heightening tensions between the NATO Pact and Warsaw Bloc countries, and nowhere was this felt more strongly than in West Berlin. A number of parties felt that a dose of western extravaganza, in the form of a Grand Prix, might be a propaganda coup. So the decision was made to run the 1959 German race at AVUS.<br><br>Since the late 1930s, all racing at AVUS had used the old 8.3km motorcycle circuit, and that was used again for the Grand Prix. (The claim that the circuit was shortened because of the border with Russian-occupied East Germany is just an urban legend. The actual border was a couple of miles beyond the old circuit, near Potsdam, and the old Sudkurve had been demolished in 1938 to construct an Autobahn interchange.) This event was chosen to show off the advantages to western society, to the point where East German spectators were encouraged to attend, and allowed to buy tickets using (otherwise worthless) East German marks.<br><br>For the first (and so far only) time, the race was held in two heats, over concerns regarding tire wear on the high-banked brick corner.<br><br>Changes in the entry:
+*{{Aston Martin-CON}}: The team skipped the race, to do some development.
 *{{BRM-CON}}: The team only brought cars for [[Jo Bonnier]] and [[Harry Schell]], with BRP entering another car for local driver [[Hans Herrmann]].
-*{{Ferrari-CON}}: The Scuderia sent four cars, entering [[Tony Brooks]], [[Phil Hill]] and rookie [[Dan Gurney]], with [[Cliff Allison]] in reserve. Allison managed the fastest time in practice, but was only allowed to start after the withdrawal of {{Porsche-CON}}, and then at the back of the grid. Allison's car broke, but the remaining cars finished 1-2-3.
+*{{Ferrari-CON}}: The Scuderia sent four cars, entering [[Tony Brooks]], [[Phil Hill]] and rookie [[Dan Gurney]], with [[Cliff Allison]] in reserve. Allison managed the fastest time in practice, but was only allowed to start after the withdrawal of Porsche, and then at the back of the grid. Allison's car broke, but the remaining cars finished 1-2-3.
+*{{Porsche-CON}}: The factory entered a 718 RSK for [[Maria Teresa de Filippis]], and [[Jean Behra]] entered his own, custom-built {{Behra-Porsche-Porsche}}. But after Behra was killed in a support race on Saturday, both cars were withdrawn.
 {{Clear}}