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The 1960 United States Grand Prix was the third running of the United States Grand Prix, and the season finale for the 1960 Formula One World Championship.[1] Held at Riverside International Raceway in California, the race was considered a flop, as Jack Brabham had already secured the title, while Ferrari opted not to attend at all.[2]

Despite a general lack of interest, and the resulting financial failure meaning Riverside would never host a Formula One Grand Prix again, Stirling Moss claimed pole and victory as he continued to recover from injuries sustained earlier in the year.[1] Innes Ireland and Bruce McLaren completed the podium, after Brabham overfuelled his car, which caused the Climax engine to burn fuel in the exhaust, with Brabham stopping early to investigate the issue.[2]

Background[]

Riverside had already hosted one "United States Grand Prix" in 1958, a sportscar race attended by over 70,000 people.[2] Alec Ulmann, who had organised the 1959 United States Grand Prix at Sebring, which had failed to strike a chord with F1, arranged for the California based circuit to host the 1960 edition of the race.[3] The FIA were more than happy to oblige, although the American attitude to European racing was less than spectacular, with the Los Angeles Times opting not to advertise the F1 race as it had for the sportscar event.[2]

Furthermore, attendance figures were in doubt after the title was decided in Portugal, where Jack Brabham had moved seven points clear, a gap his rivals could not overcome when dropped scores were applied.[2] The long haul to America also saw some teams opt to ignore the race due to expense and time, the most notable being Scuderia Ferrari.[2] Enzo Ferrari decided that his resources would be better spent on developing cars for the new season, with the team's drivers allowed to attend the race with different equipment.[1]

Phil Hill secured a drive with the Yeoman Credit Racing team, otherwise known as BRP, joining former team mate Tony Brooks with the American taking the teams' first car.[1] Wolfgang von Trips, meanwhile, was able to take on one of the Scuderia Centro Sud cars for the race, with both of the Ferrari drivers hoping to secure their positions in the Championship.[1] Elsewhere, Jim Hall made his début in a non-works Lotus 18, while Ron Flockhart made another rare appearance, taking over the fourth works Cooper machine.[1]

Although Brabham and Bruce McLaren could not be displaced from their positions at the top of the table, the rest of the prize money was still up for grabs. Phil Hill currently sat in third, three ahead of Innes Ireland, while Stirling Moss was also in with a shout of finishing the top three, despite missing part of the early season. Olivier Gendebein and Wolfgang von Trips were also able to take the position, although they would be outsiders.

The works Cooper team were already Champions of the Formula One Manufacturers' Championship, while Lotus and Ferrari were also secure in second and third. Although the top three was decided, the lack of the scarlet cars meant that fourth remained up for grabs, with BRM currently heading the chase with eight.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 1960 United States Grand Prix is outlined below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
2 Australia Jack Brabham United Kingdom Cooper Car Company Cooper T53 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 D
3 New Zealand Bruce McLaren United Kingdom Cooper Car Company Cooper T53 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 D
4 United Kingdom Ron Flockhart United Kingdom Cooper Car Company Cooper T51 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 D
5 United Kingdom Stirling Moss United Kingdom R.R.C. Walker Racing Team Lotus 18 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 D
6 United Kingdom Tony Brooks United Kingdom Yeoman Credit Racing Team Cooper T51 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 D
7 Belgium Olivier Gendebien United Kingdom Yeoman Credit Racing Team Cooper T51 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 D
8 United Kingdom Henry Taylor United Kingdom Yeoman Credit Racing Team Cooper T51 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 D
9 United States Phil Hill United Kingdom Yeoman Credit Racing Team Cooper T51 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 D
10 United Kingdom Innes Ireland United Kingdom Team Lotus Lotus 18 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 D
11 United Kingdom John Surtees United Kingdom Team Lotus Lotus 18 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 D
12 United Kingdom Jim Clark United Kingdom Team Lotus Lotus 18 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 D
14 United Kingdom Roy Salvadori United Kingdom High Efficiency Motors Cooper T51 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 D
15 Sweden Jo Bonnier United Kingdom Owen Racing Organisation BRM P48 BRM P25 2.5 L4 D
16 United States Dan Gurney United Kingdom Owen Racing Organisation BRM P48 BRM P25 2.5 L4 D
17 United Kingdom Graham Hill United Kingdom Owen Racing Organisation BRM P48 BRM P25 2.5 L4 D
18 France Maurice Trintignant Italy Scuderia Centro Sud Cooper T51 Maserati 250S 2.5 L4 D
19 United Kingdom Ian Burgess Italy Scuderia Centro Sud Cooper T51 Maserati 250S 2.5 L4 D
20 United States Bob Drake United States Joe Lubin Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 D
21 United Kingdom Brian Naylor United Kingdom Privateer JBW 59 Maserati 250S 2.5 L4 D
22 United States Walt Hansgen United States Momo Corporation Lotus 18 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 D
23 United States Chuck Daigh United States Reventlow Automobiles Inc. Scarab F1 Scarab 2.5 L4 D
24 United States Jim Hall United States Privateer Lotus 18 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 D
25 United States Pete Lovely United States Fred Armbruster Cooper T51 Ferrari 107 2.5 L4 D
26 West Germany Wolfgang von Trips Italy Scuderia Centro Sud Cooper T51 Maserati 250S 2.5 L4 D

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Riverside n1r2y3-imagesdaily.2010.1010

Aerial shot of Riverside circa 1960, looking north

A small crowd gathered around Riverside to witness the combined practice and qualification sessions for the Grand Prix, held in dry, warm conditions.[3] Several drivers were full of praise for the new Grand Prix venue, comparing it to firm favourite Zandvoort, while home town racer Dan Gurney was one of the favourites for pole, having raced at the circuit in several times previously.[2]

Report[]

Qualifying proved to be a battle of Cooper and Team Lotus, as Stirling Moss and Jack Brabham lead the charge for pole.[2] Ultimately, it was the Lotus 18 of Moss that would start on pole, the Brit outhussling Brabham's works Cooper by six tenths of a second.[2] Joining them on the three car front row was Gurney, who pushed his BRM to third to be the only other driver within a second of Moss, while team mate Jo Bonnier also looked strong in fourth.

Jim Clark completed row two in fifth, defeating John Surtees and Innes Ireland in the works-Lotus battle, while two older Cooper T51s prevented Bruce McLaren from joining the main Lotus/Cooper battle. Bruce completed the top ten, just ahead of Graham Hill and Jim Hall, the latter completing an impressive debut performance in his privately entered Lotus.[3]

The back of the field was largely populated by the local/American based drivers, with twelve seconds covering Moss on pole to Ian Burgess in 23rd (Walt Hansgen having withdrawn when his car failed to arrive). That said, one of the strugglers, given his record over the season, was Phil Hill, who was shocked by the difference between his race winning Ferrari in Monza, and the year old Cooper he obtained for the US race.[3] Wolfgang von Trips also saw himself down the order, although his car was both older and using an older, Maserati built engine.

Qualifying Results[]

The full qualifying results for the 1960 United States Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time[4] Gap
1 5 United Kingdom Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 1:54.4
2 2 Australia Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 1:55.0 +0.6s
3 16 United States Dan Gurney BRM 1:55.2 +0.8s
4 15 Sweden Jo Bonnier BRM 1:55.6 +1.2s
5 12 United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 1:55.7 +1.3s
6 11 United Kingdom John Surtees Lotus-Climax 1:55.8 +1.4s
7 10 United Kingdom Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 1:57.0 +2.6s
8 7 Belgium Olivier Gendebien Cooper-Climax 1:57.2 +2.8s
9 6 United Kingdom Tony Brooks Cooper-Climax 1:57.3 +2.9s
10 3 New Zealand Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 1:57.4 +3.0s
11 17 United Kingdom Graham Hill BRM 1:57.6 +3.2s
12 24 United States Jim Hall Lotus-Climax 1:58.2 +3.8s
13 9 United States Phil Hill Cooper-Climax 1:58.8 +4.4s
14 8 United Kingdom Henry Taylor Cooper-Climax 1:59.0 +4.6s
15 14 United Kingdom Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax 1:59.6 +5.2s
16 26 Germany Wolfgang von Trips Cooper-Maserati 2:01.4 +7.0s
17 21 United Kingdom Brian Naylor JBW-Maserati 2:02.2 +7.8s
18 23 United States Chuck Daigh Scarab 2:02.6 +8.2s
19 18 France Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Maserati 2:03.2 +8.8s
20 25 United States Pete Lovely Cooper-Ferrari 2:03.4 +9.0s
21 4 United Kingdom Ron Flockhart Cooper-Climax 2:04.4 +10.0s
22 20 United States Robert Drake Maserati 2:05.4 +11.0s
23 19 United Kingdom Ian Burgess Cooper-Maserati 2:06.6 +12.2s
WD 22 United States Walt Hansgen Lotus-Climax Withdrawn
Pos Pos Pos
Driver Driver Driver
______________
1 ______________
Stirling Moss 2 ______________
Jack Brabham 3
Dan Gurney
______________
4 ______________
Jo Bonnier 5
Jim Clark
______________
6 ______________
John Surtees 7 ______________
Innes Ireland 8
Olivier Gendebien
______________
9 ______________
Tony Brooks 10
Bruce McLaren
______________
11 ______________
Graham Hill 12 ______________
Jim Hall 13
Phil Hill
______________
14 ______________
Henry Taylor 15
Roy Salvadori
______________
16 ______________
Wolfgang von Trips 17 ______________
Brian Naylor 18
Chuck Daigh
______________
19 ______________
Maurice Trintignant 20
Pete Lovely
______________
21 ______________
Ron Flockhart 22 ______________
Robert Drake 23
Ian Burgess

Race[]

A warm late November afternoon greeted the paddock on the 20th of November, with track temperatures hitting 25C before the start.[3] Yet, there were concerns when the attendance figure only hit 25,000 as the start time approached, with fears that the lack of advertising for the race would cause problems proved to be the case.[2]

Report[]

US GP 1960

Jack Brabham leads Dan Gurney and Stirling Moss in the early stages of Riverside's only F1 race.

That said, the few spectators that did arrive to watch the race would be well entertained in the opening stages, as the Grand Prix cars were thrown around the circuit. Best off the line was Jack Brabham, immediately launching into the lead of the race, while home hero Dan Gurney slotted into second and put pressure onto the Australian from the outset.[2] Stirling Moss ended up in third and was still pressuring the leading two, and was back past Gurney before the end of the first lap. At the back, meanwhile, Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien both stalled on the grid but got back into the race.[3]

There were numerous dramas early on, with John Surtees spinning his Lotus 18 on lap four, which was just clipped by team mate Jim Clark, although Clark was able to continue.[3] Brabham, meanwhile, was throwing flames from his Climax engine, something which the Australian opted to have investigated after five laps, handing the lead to Moss.[2] As it turned out, the Cooper team had opted to completely fill the tank on the Australian's car, after he dropped out of the previous US Grand Prix due to a lack of fuel.[2] The over-fuelled car was then dumping fuel directly into the exhausts, throwing flames out the back, although the engineers could not determine the issue until the car had burned through a fair amount of fuel.[2]

The early and lengthy stop dropped Brabham from the leading pack, and the Australian would have to produce a recovery drive to score at all.[2] Moss, meanwhile, was dropping Gurney as the American fended off team mate Jo Bonnier to establish himself in second.[3] That was, until the BRM of Gurney began to overheat, causing a plug failure that put the American out, with Innes Ireland promoted to third.[2] From here the race began to calm, with technical issues being the main centre of attention.

Brian Naylor and Ian Burgess were the next to drop out with mechanical failures, while Phil Hill, running in fourth after his start issues, spun and lost ground.[3] Graham Hill then retired with a gearbox failure while running in the top ten, promoting Brabham into the points, before Bonnier fell to Ireland, the Swede beginning to suffer from the same issue as team mate Gurney.[3] Bonnier's BRM seemed to be surviving, however, as Brabham moved into the points with a string of strong laps.

Running up with the works cars at the front of the field was débutante Jim Hall, whose Lotus 18 was running within a lap of leader Moss in fourth.[3] He proved resistant to Hill and later Brabham's attempts to get by after Bonnier slipped down the order, while Bruce McLaren could only gain a small amount of time over the American each lap ahead in third.[3] The race was slowly coming to a conclusion when Hill set fastest lap, with Brabham now challenging Hall after taking the ailing Bonnier.

With Moss in total command, Ireland an isolated second and McLaren the only other driver on the lead lap in third, the attention was on the battle for fourth, although it was to be decided by mechanics rather than ability.[3] Brabham was reeling in Hall but was expected to struggle to get by the American, until the privately entered Lotus ground to a halt with a transmission failure with just two laps to go, with Hall managing to push his car to the line.[3] Bonnier, meanwhile, was just hanging on to the final points on offer in fifth, although Hill was still trying to catch him.

Unsurprisingly, it was Moss who claimed the final victory of the 2.5 litre era, taking him to third in the Championship and seeing him end on fourteen victories in the era, just one behind the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio.[3] Ireland and McLaren were comfortably on the podium, over thirty seconds separating them, while Brabham completed the final race of the season in fourth.[3] Hill, however, would have to settle with the point for fastest lap in his vain defence of third in the Championship, with Bonnier just holding on for fifth and two points.[3]

The financial failure that was the Riverside edition of the United States Grand Prix saw prize money delayed after the race, although winner Moss did receive his $7,500 prize, paid directly by Alec Ulmann.[3] Ulmann's American dream was seemingly done from that point, although he did succeed in paying the teams after a few months delay, while Watkins Glen picked up the rights to the US Grand Prix for 1961.[3]

Results[]

The full results for the 1960 United States Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 United Kingdom Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax 75 2:28:52.2 1 8
2 10 United Kingdom Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 75 +38.0s 7 6
3 3 New Zealand Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 75 +1:22.0s 10 4
4 2 Australia Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 74 +1 lap 2 3
5 15 Sweden Jo Bonnier BRM 74 +1 lap 4 2
6 9 United States Phil Hill Cooper-Climax 74 +1 lap 13 1
7 24 United States Jim Hall Lotus-Climax 73 +2 laps 12
8 14 United Kingdom Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax 73 +2 laps 15
9 26 Germany Wolfgang von Trips Cooper-Maserati 72 +3 laps 16
10 23 United States Chuck Daigh Scarab 70 +5 laps 18
11 25 United States Pete Lovely Cooper-Ferrari 69 +6 laps 20
12 7 Belgium Olivier Gendebien Cooper-Climax 69 +6 laps 8
13 20 United States Robert Drake Maserati 68 +7 laps 22
14 8 United Kingdom Henry Taylor Cooper-Climax 68 +7 laps 14
15 18 France Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Maserati 66 +9 laps 19
16 12 United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 61 +14 laps 5
Ret 17 United Kingdom Graham Hill BRM 34 Gearbox 11
Ret 19 United Kingdom Ian Burgess Cooper-Maserati 29 Ignition 23
Ret 21 United Kingdom Brian Naylor JBW-Maserati 20 Engine 17
Ret 16 United States Dan Gurney BRM 18 Overheating 3
Ret 4 United Kingdom Ron Flockhart Cooper-Climax 11 Transmission 21
Ret 6 United Kingdom Tony Brooks Cooper-Climax 6 Spin 9
Ret 11 United Kingdom John Surtees Lotus-Climax 3 Accident 6
WD 22 United States Walt Hansgen Lotus-Climax

Milestones[]

Final Standings[]

Jack Brabham was finally confirmed as the World Champion for the second successive season having secured the title in Portugal, while Bruce McLaren was already safe in second place. Stirling Moss, meanwhile, climbed to third with his victory, as he swapped places with Phil Hill, Innes Ireland remaining inbetween. The order remained unchanged until the tail end of the top 20, where Jo Bonnier climbed five places to break into the top 20.

Like the Drivers' Championship, the Constructors was largely done and dusted before the weekend, with Cooper-Climax confimed as Champions for the second year in a row. Lotus-Climax ended the season in second, ahead of Ferrari who missed the US races. Cooper-Maserati and Cooper-Ferrari run machinery ended the season tied on three points, both beaten to fourth by BRM, while Porsche ended the year with a solitary point. 

Drivers' World Championship
Pos. Driver Pts +/-
1 Australia Jack Brabham 43
2 New Zealand Bruce McLaren 34
3 United Kingdom Stirling Moss 19 ▲2
4 United Kingdom Innes Ireland 18
5 United States Phil Hill 16 ▼2
6 Belgium Olivier Gendebien 10
7 Germany Wolfgang von Trips 10
8 United States Jim Rathmann 8
9 United States Richie Ginther 8
10 United Kingdom Jim Clark 8
11 United Kingdom Tony Brooks 7
12 United Kingdom John Surtees 6
13 United Kingdom Cliff Allison 6
14 United States Rodger Ward 6
15 United Kingdom Graham Hill 4
16 Belgium Willy Mairesse 4
17 United States Paul Goldsmith 4
18 Sweden Jo Bonnier 4 ▲5
19 United Kingdom Henry Taylor 3 ▼1
20 Argentina Carlos Menditeguy 3 ▼1
21 United States Don Branson 3 ▼1
22 Italy Giulio Cabianca 3 ▼1
23 United States Johnny Thomson 2 ▼1
24 Belgium Lucien Bianchi 1
25 United Kingdom Ron Flockhart 1
26 United States Eddie Johnson 1
27 Germany Hans Herrmann 1
Constructors' World Championship
Pos. Team Pts +/-
1 United Kingdom Cooper-Climax 48
2 United Kingdom Lotus-Climax 34
3 Italy Ferrari 26
4 United Kingdom BRM 8
5 United Kingdom Cooper-Maserati 3
6 United Kingdom Cooper-Ferrari 3
7 Germany Porsche 1

References[]

Images:

References:

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 'GRAND PRIX RESULTS: UNITED STATES GP, 1960', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2015), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr094.html, (Accessed 02/01/2016)
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 Hamilton, Maurice, Grand Prix Circuits, (Glasgow: HarperCollins, 2015), pp.88-91
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 '1960 United States Grand Prix', wikipedia.org, (WikiMedia, 24/12/2015), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_United_States_Grand_Prix (Accessed 02/01/2016)
  4. '1960 United States Grand Prix: Qualifying', statsf1.com, (StatsF1, 2015), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1960/etats-unis/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 02/01/2016)
V T E United States United States Grand Prix
Circuits Sebring (1959), Riverside (1960), Watkins Glen (1961–1980), Phoenix (1989–1991), Indianapolis (2000–2007), Austin (2012–present)
CircuitoftheAmericas2012
Formula One Races 19591960196119621963196419651966196719681969197019711972197319741975197619771978197919801981–19881989199019911992–1999200020012002200320042005200620072008–2011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Non-F1 races 1908190919101911191219131914191519161917–1957 • 1958
See also Miami Grand PrixLas Vegas Grand PrixUnited States Grand Prix WestIndianapolis 500Detroit Grand PrixCaesars Palace Grand PrixDallas Grand PrixQuestor Grand Prix
V T E 1960 Formula One Season
Constructors Aston Martin • Behra-Porsche • BRM • Cooper • Ferrari • JBW • Lotus • Maserati • Scarab • Vanwall
Engines Aston Martin • BRM • Climax • Ferrari • Maserati • Porsche • Scarab • Vanwall
Drivers Allison • Barth • de Beaufort • Bianchi • Bonnier • Bonomi • Brabham • Bristow • Brooks • Burgess • Cabianca • Cabral • Chimeri • Clark • Creus • Daigh • Drake • Drogo • Estéfano • Fairman • Flockhart • Gamble • Gendebien • Ginther • González • Gould • Greene • Gregory • Gurney • Halford • Hall • Herrmann • G. Hill • P. Hill • Ireland • Larreta • Lovely • Mairesse • McLaren • Menditeguy • Moss • Munaron • Naylor • Owen • Piper • Reventlow • Salvadori • Scarlatti • Schell • Seidel • Stacey • Surtees • H. Taylor • M. Taylor • Thiele • Trintignant • von Trips • Wilson
Cars Aston Martin DBR4 • Aston Martin DBR5 • Behra-Porsche RSK • BRM P25 • BRM P48 • Cooper T43 • Cooper T45 • Cooper T51 • Cooper T53 • Ferrari D246 • Ferrari D246P • JBW 59 • Lotus 16 • Lotus 18 • Maserati 250F • Porsche 718 • Scarab F1 • Vanwall VW 11
Tyres Dunlop
Races Argentina • Monaco • Indianapolis • Netherlands • Belgium • France • Britain • Portugal • Italy • United States
Non-Championship Races Glover • International Trophy • Silver City • Lombank • Gold Cup
See also 1959 Formula One Season • 1961 Formula One Season • Category
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