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− | ==Practice Overview== |
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+ | Practice took place on the Friday and Saturday proceeding the race, with both sessions starting at 6.15pm, owing to the warm summer sun. Despite the late start, Team Lotus were absent from the Friday session due to the team transporter breaking down in Spain. |
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+ | Stirling Moss was fast from the outset and took pole by an astonishing two seconds from works Cooper driver and championship leader Jack Brabham. Cooper's made up the first four positions, with Gregory and Moss' teammate Trintignant ending up third and fourth respectively. Bruce McLaren by comparison struggled and could only manage ninth, while debutant Cabral was 14th and last of the Coopers, only ahead of the delayed Lotuses. |
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− | ==Qualifying== |
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+ | Of the BRMs, Bonnier was the most comfortable, the fastest non-Cooper in fifth, his teammates qualifying in the midfield. New boy Dan Gurney was the fastest of the Ferraris, the superior engine power in the D246 no match for the handling of the rear engined British cars. Hill qualified alongside Gurney, but championship contender Tony Brooks disappointed, not even going under the two minute ten seconds mark in tenth. The Aston Martins were off the pace of the rest of the regulars, Shelby hitting strawbales without serious consequences, although he did damage the nose of the car. |
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+ | Already handicapped by missing the first day of qualifying, Lotus suffered reliability issues on day 2. A broken master break cylinder on Hill's car further restricted track time and Ireland had to deal with a faulty gear selection system throughout the session. As a result, the two Lotuses occupied the final two slots on the grid. |
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===Qualifying Results=== |
===Qualifying Results=== |
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===Grid=== |
===Grid=== |
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+ | {{Grid|Stirling Moss|Jack Brabham|Masten Gregory|Maurice Trintignant|Jo Bonnier|Dan Gurney|Phil Hill|Bruce McLaren|Harry Schell|Tony Brooks|Ron Flockhart|Roy Salvadori|Carroll Shelby|Mario Araujo de Cabral|Graham Hill|Innes Ireland|frontrowsize = 3|secondrowsize = 2|poleside = l}}<!--{{Grid|}}--> |
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==Race== |
==Race== |
Revision as of 16:43, 14 February 2020
The 1959 Portuguese Grand Prix (VIII Gran Premio de Portugal) was the seventh race of the 1959 season, held on August 23. The weekend was dominated by Stirling Moss, who recorded his only career Grand Chelem. Second and third places went to United States drivers Masten Gregory and Dan Gurney.
It was the first and only race at the Monsanto Circuit in Lisbon, and was the debut for local racer Mário de Araújo Cabral.
Background
The race was the seventh round of the 1959 championship and the third final round. Jack Brabham was the championship leader, having already secured two wins that year for the works Cooper team. He was joined by teammates Masten Gregory and Bruce McLaren, both having scored a podium each thus far, all works Cooper drivers piloting their regular Climax powered T51s.
Also in the championship hunt was Brit Tony Brooks, who had won two of the previous three Grand Prix for Ferrari. Brooks' teammate at Ferrari, Phil Hill was a distant third in the standings, but a regular podium finished, although he still awaited his first victory. The third Ferrari was piloted by Dan Gurney, who had achieved his first podium in only his second race in Formula 1 at the preceeding round in Germany. Having competed with four cars at the previous round, Ferrari slimmed to a three car operation, with Cliff Allison missing out. All three Ferrari drivers opted for the D246 that the Scuderia used throughout the year
Rob Walker Racing fielded two Cooper T51s, piloted by racewinners Stirling Moss and Maurice Trintignant. Moss had enjoyed a so far competitive year however chronic gearbox issues had so far limited him, although he had scored a podium driving for BRP. Trintignant had enjoyed consistent finishing, with a third place in Monaco the highlight.
BRM expanded it's lineup from the previous round with Ron Flockhart back at the wheel, having missed the German race. He was yet to score a point in 1959 but had came close at the French Grand Prix. Flockhart was joined by Harry Schell and Jo Bonnier, with the latter having won at Zandvoort earlier in the season. Schell had achieved a couple of points finishes already, BRM having their most successful season in the sport at the time.
Team Lotus brought a pair of Climax powered 16s, for Innes Ireland and Graham Hill. Ireland had scored points twice up to that point but Hill was yet to score. Aston Martin returned to the field with Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori driving DBR4s, both without a points finish in the British marque's first season in the sport. The Aston Martin team stood out as they used Avon tyres, the rest of the field preferring a set of Dunlops.
The entry list was completed by Scuderia Centro Sud, who entered three cars. However, the Maserati 250F of Fritz d'Orey was destroyed at the British round of the championship, meaning that like at the previous round, he could not actually participate in the Grand Prix. Ian Burgess also did not compete despite being entered in a Cooper T51, that unlike works cars, was powered by a Maserati engine. This left Mario Araujo de Cabral the only competing car for Centro Sud, driving his debut at his home race in car similar to that of Burgess.
The BRP entered BRM driven by Hans Hermann did not return after a one off appearance at the previous round. Likewise, Porsche did not return with Wolfgang von Trips. Jean Behra had been killed preceeding the previous round in Germany, meaning he was not entered into this race in his unique Porsche Behra.
Entry list
The full entry list for the 1959 Portuguese Grand Prix is outlined below:
Qualifying
Practice took place on the Friday and Saturday proceeding the race, with both sessions starting at 6.15pm, owing to the warm summer sun. Despite the late start, Team Lotus were absent from the Friday session due to the team transporter breaking down in Spain.
Stirling Moss was fast from the outset and took pole by an astonishing two seconds from works Cooper driver and championship leader Jack Brabham. Cooper's made up the first four positions, with Gregory and Moss' teammate Trintignant ending up third and fourth respectively. Bruce McLaren by comparison struggled and could only manage ninth, while debutant Cabral was 14th and last of the Coopers, only ahead of the delayed Lotuses.
Of the BRMs, Bonnier was the most comfortable, the fastest non-Cooper in fifth, his teammates qualifying in the midfield. New boy Dan Gurney was the fastest of the Ferraris, the superior engine power in the D246 no match for the handling of the rear engined British cars. Hill qualified alongside Gurney, but championship contender Tony Brooks disappointed, not even going under the two minute ten seconds mark in tenth. The Aston Martins were off the pace of the rest of the regulars, Shelby hitting strawbales without serious consequences, although he did damage the nose of the car.
Already handicapped by missing the first day of qualifying, Lotus suffered reliability issues on day 2. A broken master break cylinder on Hill's car further restricted track time and Ireland had to deal with a faulty gear selection system throughout the session. As a result, the two Lotuses occupied the final two slots on the grid.
Qualifying Results
Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Stirling Moss | Cooper-Climax | 2:02.89 | - |
2 | 1 | Jack Brabham | Cooper-Climax | 2:04.95 | +2.06 |
3 | 2 | Masten Gregory | Cooper-Climax | 2:06.33 | +3.44 |
4 | 5 | Maurice Trintignant | Cooper-Climax | 2:07.38 | +4.39 |
5 | 7 | Jo Bonnier | BRM | 2:07.86 | +4.97 |
6 | 16 | Dan Gurney | Ferrari | 2:07.99 | +5.10 |
7 | 15 | Phil Hill | Ferrari | 2:08.02 | +5.13 |
8 | 3 | Bruce McLaren | Cooper-Climax | 2:08.17 | +5.28 |
9 | 6 | Harry Schell | BRM | 2:09.08 | +6.19 |
10 | 14 | Tony Brooks | Ferrari | 2:10.96 | +8.07 |
11 | 8 | Ron Flockhart | BRM | 2:10.98 | +8.09 |
12 | 10 | Roy Salvadori | Aston Martin | 2:13.28 | +10.39 |
13 | 9 | Carroll Shelby | Aston Martin | 2:13.58 | +10.69 |
14 | 18 | Mário de Araújo Cabral | Cooper-Maserati | 2:15.25 | +12.36 |
15 | 11 | Graham Hill | Lotus-Climax | 2:15.55 | +12.66 |
16 | 12 | Innes Ireland | Lotus-Climax | 2:18.47 | +15.58 |
Grid
Pos | Pos | Pos | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Driver | Driver | Driver | |||
______________ | |||||
1 | ______________ | ||||
Stirling Moss | 2 | ______________ | |||
Jack Brabham | 3 | ||||
Masten Gregory | |||||
______________ | |||||
4 | ______________ | ||||
Maurice Trintignant | 5 | ||||
Jo Bonnier | |||||
______________ | |||||
6 | ______________ | ||||
Dan Gurney | 7 | ______________ | |||
Phil Hill | 8 | ||||
Bruce McLaren | |||||
______________ | |||||
9 | ______________ | ||||
Harry Schell | 10 | ||||
Tony Brooks | |||||
______________ | |||||
11 | ______________ | ||||
Ron Flockhart | 12 | ______________ | |||
Roy Salvadori | 13 | ||||
Carroll Shelby | |||||
______________ | |||||
14 | ______________ | ||||
Mario Araujo de Cabral | 15 | ||||
Graham Hill | |||||
______________ | |||||
16 | ______________ | ||||
Innes Ireland | 17 | ______________ | |||
18 | |||||
|
Race
Results
The final results for the 1959 Portuguese Grand Prix are shown below:
Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Stirling Moss | Cooper-Climax | 62 | 2:11:55.41 | 1 | 9 |
2 | 2 | Masten Gregory | Cooper-Climax | 61 | +1 Lap | 3 | 6 |
3 | 16 | Dan Gurney | Ferrari | 61 | +1 Lap | 6 | 4 |
4 | 5 | Maurice Trintignant | Cooper-Climax | 60 | +2 Laps | 4 | 3 |
5 | 6 | Harry Schell | BRM | 59 | +3 Laps | 9 | 2 |
6 | 10 | Roy Salvadori | Aston Martin | 59 | +3 Laps | 12 | |
7 | 8 | Ron Flockhart | BRM | 59 | +3 Laps | 11 | |
8 | 9 | Carroll Shelby | Aston Martin | 58 | +4 Laps | 13 | |
9 | 14 | Tony Brooks | Ferrari | 57 | +5 Laps | 10 | |
10 | 18 | Mário de Araújo Cabral | Cooper-Maserati | 56 | +6 Laps | 14 | |
Ret | 3 | Bruce McLaren | Cooper-Climax | 38 | Transmission | 8 | |
Ret | 1 | Jack Brabham | Cooper-Climax | 23 | Accident | 2 | |
Ret | 7 | Jo Bonnier | BRM | 10 | Engine | 5 | |
Ret | 15 | Phil Hill | Ferrari | 5 | Accident | 7 | |
Ret | 11 | Graham Hill | Lotus-Climax | 5 | Accident | 15 | |
Ret | 12 | Innes Ireland | Lotus-Climax | 3 | Gearbox | 16 |
Milestones
- Only career Grand Chelem for Stirling Moss.
Standings after race
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