1959 French Grand Prix

Template:Infobox Grand Prix race report The 1959 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Reims on 5 July 1959. It was race 4 of 9 in the 1959 World Championship of Drivers and race 3 of 8 in the 1959 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 37th French Grand Prix and the twelfth to be held at the Reims highway circuit and the fourth to be held on the longer and faster 8.348 km layout. The race was held over 50 laps of the eight kilometre circuit for a race distance of 417 kilometres.

The race was won by British driver Tony Brooks driving a Ferrari 246 F1. Brooks dominated the race, leading all 50 laps and winning by 27 seconds over his American Scuderia Ferrari teammate Phil Hill. Brooks said after the race a sticking throttle in the closing laps made it more difficult than the result seemed. Australian driver Jack Brabham was over a minute behind in third position driving a Cooper T51 for the factory Cooper racing team after stopping to get new goggles as the circuit broke up.

Race day was very hot, to the point where the bitumen started to melt. Race cars were dislodging aggregate stones as the race went on causing American Masten Gregory to retire with cuts to his face, and Graham Hill to retire his Lotus 16 after his radiator was holed.

Stirling Moss was disqualified from eighth position after receiving a push-start in his British Racing Partnership entered BRM P25. Moss had pushed his car hard trying to overcome a failing gearbox, claiming a new lap record. Jean Behra too pushed hard in his Ferrari 246 F1, climbing into third racing against no less than four teammates at this race.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Behra's engine broke under his charge and the Frenchman had a heated discussion with team manager Romolo Tavoni which ended with Behra punching Tavoni and a patron at a restaurant. It would be Behra's last race for Ferrari, with the Frenchman being fired for the assault.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The win was the first of the season for Scuderia Ferrari and moved Brooks into second place overall, five points behind Brabham. Hill's second position moved him into third in the championship.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	24	Template:Flagicon Tony Brooks	Ferrari	2:19.4	—
2	8	Template:Flagicon Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	2:19.7	+0.3
3	26	Template:Flagicon Phil Hill	Ferrari	2:19.8	+0.4
4	2	Template:Flagicon Stirling Moss	BRM	2:19.9	+0.5
5	30	Template:Flagicon Jean Behra	Ferrari	2:20.2	+0.8
6	4	Template:Flagicon Jo Bonnier	BRM	2:20.6	+1.2
7	10	Template:Flagicon Masten Gregory	Cooper-Climax	2:20.8	+1.4
8	14	Template:Flagicon Maurice Trintignant	Cooper-Climax	2:21.3	+1.9
9	6	Template:Flagicon Harry Schell	BRM	2:21.5	+2.1
10	12	Template:Flagicon Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	2:21.5	+2.1
11	22	Template:Flagicon Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari	2:21.5	+2.1
12	28	Template:Flagicon Dan Gurney	Ferrari	2:21.9	+2.5
13	44	Template:Flagicon Ron Flockhart	BRM	2:23.4	+4.0
14	32	Template:Flagicon Graham Hill	Lotus-Climax	2:23.7	+4.3
15	34	Template:Flagicon Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	2:24.2	+4.8
16	16	Template:Flagicon Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Maserati	2:26.4	+7.0
17	20	Template:Flagicon Colin Davis	Cooper-Maserati	2:32.3	+12.9
18	38	Template:Flagicon Fritz d'Orey	Maserati	2:34.0	+14.6
19	18	Template:Flagicon Ian Burgess	Cooper-Maserati	2:35.2	+15.8
20	42	Template:Flagicon Carel Godin de Beaufort	Maserati	2:35.4	+16.0
21	40	Template:Flagicon Giorgio Scarlatti	Maserati	2:35.6	+16.2
DNS	36	Template:Flagicon Asdrúbal Fontes Bayardo	Maserati
Source:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	24	Template:Flagicon Tony Brooks	Ferrari	50	2:01:26.5	1	8
2	26	Template:Flagicon Phil Hill	Ferrari	50	+ 27.5	3	6
3	8	Template:Flagicon Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	50	+ 1:37.7	2	4
4	22	Template:Flagicon Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari	50	+ 1:47.5	11	3
5	12	Template:Flagicon Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	50	+ 1:47.7	10	2
6	44	Template:Flagicon Ron Flockhart	BRM	50	+ 2:05.7	13
7	6	Template:Flagicon Harry Schell	BRM	47	+ 3 Laps	9
8	40	Template:Flagicon Giorgio Scarlatti	Maserati	41	+ 9 Laps	21
9	42	Template:Flagicon Carel Godin de Beaufort	Maserati	40	+ 10 Laps	20
10	38	Template:Flagicon Fritz d'Orey	Maserati	40	+ 10 Laps	18
11	14	Template:Flagicon Maurice Trintignant	Cooper-Climax	36	+ 14 Laps	8
DSQ	2	Template:Flagicon Stirling Moss	BRM	42	Push start	4	1Template:Ref
Ret	30	Template:Flagicon Jean Behra	Ferrari	31	Engine	5
Ret	16	Template:Flagicon Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Maserati	20	Engine	16
Ret	28	Template:Flagicon Dan Gurney	Ferrari	19	Radiator	12
Ret	34	Template:Flagicon Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	14	Wheel	15
Ret	18	Template:Flagicon Ian Burgess	Cooper-Maserati	13	Engine	19
Ret	10	Template:Flagicon Masten Gregory	Cooper-Climax	8	Physical	7
Ret	32	Template:Flagicon Graham Hill	Lotus-Climax	7	Radiator	14
Ret	20	Template:Flagicon Colin Davis	Cooper-Maserati	7	Oil Leak	17
Ret	4	Template:Flagicon Jo Bonnier	BRM	6	Engine	6
DNS	36	Template:Flagicon Asdrúbal Fontes Bayardo	Maserati
Source:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

Notes

• Template:Note – 1 point for fastest lap

Notes

• This was the first fastest lap for a BRM.
• This was Ferrari's 5th Formula One World Championship Grand Prix win of a French Grand Prix, both as a constructor and an engine supplier.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Template:Flagicon Jack Brabham	19
2	2	Template:Flagicon Tony Brooks	14
6	3	Template:Flagicon Phil Hill	9
File:1downarrow red.svg 2	4	Template:Flagicon Joakim Bonnier	8
File:1downarrow red.svg 2	5	Template:Flagicon Rodger Ward	8
Source:<ref name="champ">Template:Cite web</ref>

Constructors' Championship standings

	Pos	Constructor	Points
	1	Template:Flagicon Cooper-Climax	18
1	2	Template:Flagicon Ferrari	16
File:1downarrow red.svg 1	3	Template:Flagicon BRM	8
	4	Template:Flagicon Lotus-Climax	3
Source:<ref name="champ"/>

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

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