United States GP 1959

United States GP, 1959

The World Championship remained open until the final race of the year at Sebring in Florida on December 12. Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks were all in the running and after practice on the airfield circuit Moss was fastest in his Rob Walker Cooper-Climax. Brabham was second fastest in his factory Cooper while Harry Schell ran a similar car under the Ecurie Bleue banner and was third on the grid. This was rather better than expected and there were suggestions that it was not entirely correct. Certainly the Ferrari team was upset and filed a complaint because Brooks had been pushed back onto the second row. The protest was ignored.

The field included a few local drivers, notably Rodger Ward at the wheel of a Leader Cards Kurtis-Kraft roadster which was 43 seconds off the pace set by Moss.

Brabham took the lead at the start but Moss soon took over and began to build up an advantage. After five laps Moss went out with another broken transmission and it left Brabham leading his teammate McLaren. Cliff Allison was third in his Ferrari but he fell victim to clutch trouble and had to retire. Trintignant provided the late-race excitement as he bid for victory. With just a few hundred meters to go and Trintignant closing fast, McLaren ducked out from behind Brabham and took the lead, Trintignant followed and almost overtook McLaren as well - the two finishing just 0.6secs apart. Brabham had run out of fuel but he was able to push the car to the finish, although Brooks beat him to the line for third place.

Brabham was the World Champion.

Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax T51 42 2h12m35.700s  10 
Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Climax T51 42 2h12m36.300s  
Tony Brooks Ferrari D246 42 2h15m36.600s  
Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax T51 42 2h17m33.000s  
10 Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 16 39  
Wolfgang von Trips Ferrari D246 38  
17 Harry Blanchard Porsche RSK 38  16 
12 Roy Salvadori Cooper-Maserati T45 23 Transmission 11 
Cliff Allison Ferrari D246 23 Clutch 
Rodger Ward Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser MIDGET 20 Clutch 19 
14 Alessandro de Tomaso Cooper-OSCA T43 13 Brakes 14 
Phil Hill Ferrari D246 Clutch 
15 Fritz d'Orey Tec Mec-Maserati F415 Mechanical 17 
19 Harry Schell Cooper-Climax T51 Clutch 
16 George Constantine Cooper-Climax T45 Engine 15 
Stirling Moss Cooper-Climax T51 Gearbox 
11 Alan Stacey Lotus-Climax 16 Clutch 12 
18 Bob Said Connaught-Alta C Engine/ Accident 13 
ns 22 Phil Cade Maserati 250F  Engine 18