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 But after Behra was killed in a support race on Saturday, both cars were withdrawn.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:
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
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V T E | German Grand Prix | |
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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. |