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#80 1959 British Grand Prix

2021-04-18 01:00

Osservatore Sportivo

#1959, Fulvio Conti, Translated by Nicola Carriero, Luca Saitta,

#80 1959 British Grand Prix

On Sunday, July 12, 1959, the automotive business will be in a minor tone. At least there will be no world-class events: both Formula 1 machines and l

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On Sunday, July 12, 1959, the automotive business will be in a minor tone. At least there will be no world-class events: both Formula 1 machines and large-capacity sports are at rest, waiting for the world championship to resume. However, two races of some interest are scheduled, one in Italy (the mountain trophy), the other in France. In Rouen-Les-Essarts, on that fast circuit of 6,542 meters, Formula 2 cars (with engines of maximum displacement 1500 cc) will be on stage, in the rematch at the International Speed Cup held last Sunday in Reims and won by Stirling Moss in front of Hermann. These two drivers - one behind the wheel of the Cooper-Borgward, the other of the fast Porsche-Behra, an interesting car made by Jean Behra in the breaks of his nomadic life as a runner, should be the primators of the race also in Rouen. In the first official tests, Moss gets the best time at over 167 km/h on average. Other renowned drivers present in Rouen are Trintignant, Bonnier, Schell, Gregory, Bueb. Cliff Allison should also have participated in Ferrari, but the strike of the metalworkers in Italy paralyzed the work even at the Modena workshops, interrupting the preparation of mechanical equipment. However, Ferrari's absence in Rouen passes to the second line in the face of the insurmountable difficulties of the Maranello house regarding the tuning of the Formula 1 machines that on Saturday, July 19 should have lined up in Aintree for the Grand Prix of England, the fourth round of the World Championship. The expectations are not disillusioned, and the Englishman Stirling Moss wins twice on the Rouen track. The first success that he gets is behind the wheel of a new two-litre Maserati in the Delamare-Deboutteville cup race for sports cars; two hours later, the Englishman clearly prevails in the seventh Rouen-Les Essarts Grand Prix, reserved for Formula 2 cars. In the first run, Stirling Moss leads from start to finish without ever being disturbed and without forcing. The interest of the race therefore consists in the fight between Stacey's and Ireland's Lotus, who started last and then tries in vain to reassemble the teammate. Neither the Ferraris, nor the Aston Martins, nor the Coopers are present. Two hours after this race, Stirling Moss kicks off on a Cooper Borgward, at the Rouen Grand Prix. Again, the English champion takes charge of the race and does not abandon it until the end. At the hundredth kilometre, Ireland gets out of the road, then rolls into a twenty-metre escarpment; the pilot comes out almost unharmed from the accident. 

 

While in the last kilometres Schell and Gregory force the gait to win second place and thus manage to slightly reduce the detachment from Moss. Two weeks after the French Grand Prix, which saw the British Brooks on Ferrari cut the finish line first, the World Championship continues in Britain, more precisely in Aintree. The track located near Liverpool returns to host the top engine series after a year of break, due to the alternation with the Silverstone circuit. The first four races were won by four different drivers and on four different single-seaters: Brabham on Cooper in Munich, Ward on Watson in Indianapolis, Bonnier at the helm of the B.R.M in Zandvoort, and finally the return to Ferrari's success in France, thanks to Tony Brooks. However, the general standings rewards the consistency of Brabham, who presents himself on the English weekend with nineteen points in the standings, against Tony Brooks' fourteen. In third place, farther, Phil Hill scored nine points while Ward and Bonnier chase distanced each other a length compared to the U.S. Ferrari driver. Below in the standings isStirling Moss, who, despite having been the absolute protagonist of the previous races, scored only two points, thanks to two faster laps won in the race. An overview of the manufacturers' championship, where neither the scores achieved in Indianapolis nor those earned through fast laps are counted, highlights a two-way challenge between Cooper and Ferrari, at eighteen and sixteen points respectively. The other two teams able to grab valid points in the standings were the B.R.M. with eight points, while the Lotus is still at three points. In Aintree there are thirty drivers subscribed to the Grand Prix, between Formula 1 and Formula 2, who will try to participate in the Grand Prix reserved for only twenty-four single-seaters; a record if the anomalous stage of Indianapolis is excluded. In the midst of the English monopoly, despite the lack of presence of Ferrari, due to the strike of the metalworkers that on July 9, 1959 blocked the entire Italian nation, to the point that the next day, in front of the Maranello factory, pickets will be set up, which will also prevent Ferrari’ most trusted people from entering until July 16, 1959, when they will be removed, too late to prepare the single-seaters for the English trip, there are three Italian cars registered for the Grand Prix: those of the Scuderia Centro Sud, certainly not able to make teams like Cooper, B.R.M. and Lotus. 

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There are twelve Formula 2 cars registered for the Grand Prix, mainly Cooper and Lotus with the 1,500 cc Climax engine; however, two Borgward motorised Coopers are trying their luck, and there is also a car with a Fry chassis and Climax engine. The Vanwall is also back in the races, after Tony Vandervell entrusts the only car carried by coach to Tony Brooks, lent by Ferrari to give the concrete opportunity to his boss to win the World Drivers’ Championship. Stirling Moss, theoretically Vanwall’s top driver, continues his relationship with the British Racing Partnership behind the wheel of a B.R.M. 25, the same single-seater as the official team that entrusts its hopes to Bonnier and Schell. For the first time during the 1959 season, Connaught is also reviewed while Aston Martin is called to redemption after skipping the French stage and the not too exciting debut during the Dutch Grand Prix. David Brown is keenly hoping for a better performance from his cars, driven by Salvadori and Shelby. The official teams also include Lotus and, of course, the Cooper, which does not change its deployment by bringing Brabham, Gregory and McLaren to the track. The remaining private teams enrolled in the event have in most cases a Cooper chassis with a variety of powertrain choices. Among them, Maurice Trintignant on the Cooper-Climax T51 of the RRC Walker Racing Team. Practice for the Grand Prix begins on Thursday, July 16, 1959, afternoon and after many rumours and counter-rumours, various final decisions as to who is going to drive what car are settled, and although the circuit is open from 2:15 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., the times recorded are not intended to decide grid positions, this being left until Friday. The afternoon is as wet and miserable as one can possibly imagine and the paddock is full of unhappy faces, for this first period is meant to serve as a test run for serious motoring the day after. As it is, those who defy the rain splash their way round learning very little apart from getting a taste of how horrible the race is going to be if the heavy rain continues throughout the meeting. Lap times are 10 seconds or more down on what would be expected in the dry, and Moss makes the fastest lap in 2'08"4, driving the pale green B.R.M. prepared by the British Racing Partnership team. Schell, Bonnier and Flockhart are out in the works B.R.M. team cars, Salvadori and Shelby in the works Aston Martins, Brabham, Gregory and McLaren in the works Coopers, and Brooks with a pair of new Vanwalls. 

 

Of the sixteen definitive entries, two are scrubbed so that ten of the also-rans have a chance to get on the starting grid, the two withdrawals being Atkins’ Cooper-Maserati, which should have been driven by Fairman, and the third works car from Team Lotus. Both are non-starters due to engine troubles in previous races, the Maserati engine breaking a piston at Reims and the Lotus awaiting its 2 ½-litre engine from Coventry-Climax after being blown sky-high at Le Mans. Such is the shortage of engines that Lotus have to share theirs between F1 and sports cars and a broken valve or connecting rod means a long delay. The B.A.R.C. refuses to allow Chapman to install a 2.2-litre Climax engine in his third car, yet allows Atkins to put such an engine in his F2 chassis for Fairman to drive amongst the qualifiers. Friday practice is held at the same time as the previous day, and it is still wet, so that the recording of times to decide the starting-grid gets under way rather slowly, even though Moss and Bonnier are not letting the slippery track worry them too much, nor is Salvadori. Within a matter of minutes the rain stops, the sun appears and the track dries at a phenomenal rate, so that times start dropping down towards the 2-minute mark very quickly and practice takes on a more serious air. Graham Hill is going fast and looking very steady, although Lotus has still not got their Weber carburettors working as well as Cooper, and Flockhart is trying very hard as he has been entered amongst the also-rans and is determined not to stay there for long. With only two cars in the Lotus team, the second one is being shared by Ireland and Stacey in order to decide who is going to drive in the race, the former still a bit sore and stiff after his crash at Rouen. Gregory in his works Cooper is looking exceedingly wild, especially under heavy braking, but nevertheless is making some fast times, while Salvadori is also going very fast, the Aston Martin looking as steady as one can hope to see a racing car. Of the Formula 2 cars, Bristow is going well, as is H. Taylor, while W. F. Moss is trying as hard as his ordinary Cooper can allow. Brabham, then, arrives at Melling Crossing going absurdly fast, got through the ess-bend in a wild and woolly snaking-motion and records under 2 minutes, proving that the track is now really dry all the way round and that sets the signal for a lot of very fast racing. 

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Moss and Salvadori are soon well under the 2-minute mark, and so is Schell, while Bonnier is not far off, but Brooks in the Vanwall is not at all happy and cannot approach a good time, the car just not being fast enough. He tries both the cars that the Vanwall team have in the pits but is not happy with either of them, and though they are supposed to be developing more power than last year, their rivals are running away from them. These two cars are fundamentally the same as in 1958, except that the engine has been lowered in the frame, as have the propshaft line and the driving seat, while the bodywork has been lowered and made narrower and some weight reduction has been effected. The Coopers, both F1 and F2, are going extremely fast, and looking horribly unstable, yet the drivers all seem quite unconcerned, whereas drivers in more stable machinery following behind are getting quite anxious at the twitchings and jumpings of the Surbiton cars. Towards the end of practice, Trintignant in Walker’s Cooper-Climax begins to go very fast and joins the elite with lap-times of under 2 minutes, while Salvadori and Brabham have got down to 1'58"0, which just improves on the existing lap-record of 1'58"8. Although there is an improvement, it is not as much as has been seen on most of the other Grand Prix circuits this season, but there is no doubt that Aintree is very suited to the Coopers and the Aston Martins. Although Moss is driving the B.R.M. hard, he cannot approach the fastest times and is back in the third row of the start, and is not even the fastest of the B.R.M. cars, Schell being quite a lot quicker. While giving up all hope of going any quicker, he contents himself with doing a lap with a tape-recording outfit on his knees. 

 

At the back of the field, there is tension amongst the runners to see who is going to qualify for the start, and Flockhart has made quite sure by lapping in 2'00"2, while Naylor leads the rest in his home-built Cooper-based Maserati, using a 4-cylinder 2 ½-litre Maserati engine and a new 5-speed Maserati gearbox built by the Modena firm specifically for fitting into a Cooper-type chassis. Bristow is the fastest of the Formula 2 cars with the Cooper-Borgward, just beating Bueb with a similar car, while Brooks (Vanwall), Herrmann (Cooper-Maserati), d’Orey (Maserati 250 F) and Piper (Lotus F1) are all down among the times of the lesser qualifiers, but are assured of a starting position anyway. Shelby joins the select group by lapping the second works Aston Martin in under 2 minutes, while Gregory and McLaren are in as well, but not as fast as Trintignant. As practice draws to a close, the sunny blue skies disappear and down comes the rain again, so that all hopes of any more fast laps are now gone, though Brooks is still trying to get the Vanwall sorted out. With weather prospects not too bright for the race, the timekeepers draw a line under Michael Taylor with his Formula 2 Cooper and W. F. Moss (Cooper), Parkes (Fry F2), T. Taylor (Cooper), Greene (Cooper) and Parnell (Cooper) are the unlucky ones who are ruled out, the lowest time to count being 2'07"0, while Salvadori and Brabham are fastest with 1'58"0. Meanwhile, in Italy, Friday, July 17, 1959, at the suggestion and with the advice of his lawyer Giacomo Cuoghi, Ferrari writes to the investigating judge Luciano Bonafini, after the rumour had spread that De Portago's mother had donated a million lire to the parish of Cavriana - the hamlet of Guidizzolo where the Mille Miglia accident had occurred - in support of the victims of the disaster and that Ferrari, on the other hand, had paid nothing to anyone. Ferrari's answer is not long in coming:


"Even declaring himself completely unrelated to the facts referred to the aforementioned proceedings, and reserving the right to prove in document that - as far as he reflected the possible civil liability for damages to third parties - he was largely insured and that, without prejudice to the already expressed delegation of all responsibility, I consider it necessary to bring to the attention of your excellency that all damage done to third parties in the de quo incident has been compensated".

 

On Saturday, July 18, 1959 from the early hours of the morning, the racetrack has been filled with people waiting for the highlight of the day, which is the Formula 1 race. After the torrential rain that characterises the morning, around 12:00 a.m. the sky clears up and the sun dries the Aintree Stadium at a remarkable pace, so much that while the cars are assembled on the grid and the riders parade along the edge circuit of an Austin-Healey Sprite (a small, light sports car made by the BMC), everything seems ready. 

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The drivers’ parade is certainly less sumptuous than other previous events, but making a parallel with the racing world, it explains well the concept of a sports car for the British, privileging agility over pure power, a recipe that is leading the English school to dominate the Grand Prix. Near the main grandstand, the stands are embellished with Baroque-style columns reminiscent of how the facility was made from an old racecourse. After torrential rain about midday, on Saturday the skies clear once more and the sun dries the Aintree Stadium at a remarkable rate, so that, while the cars are being assembled on the grid and the drivers are paraded round the circuit in white Austin-Healey Sprites, things look set for an interesting and exciting race, even though it is almost entirely dominated by British cars. In the last moment before the start, Team Lotus substitute Stacey for Ireland in their second car; although he made the faster practice time, Ireland is not feeling well enough to race. The start is relatively orderly, and when the flag falls, Piper has not got his engine running properly and Herrmann stalls, so that 22 cars go off in a tight bunch towards the first corner, the Centro-Sud Maserati being pushed off afterwards and Piper going in to the pits to reset his ignition. It is Brabham way out in front, followed by Schell, Bonnier, Gregory, Trintignant, Moss, McLaren, Hill and Salvadori, while Shelby is even further back at the end of the opening lap, neither of the Aston Martins making a good getaway, and Brooks is right out of the picture. On the next lap, in the field, everyone is still following each other nose-to-tail, trying to get things sorted out, when Fairman spins and drops right to the back and Shelby stops at the Aston Martin pit as he is being sprayed by fuel. The cause is merely splash from the overflow from the tank, so he is sent off again, and the very next lap, Salvadori comes in for a similar reason and to check that the filler cap is shut properly, it being under a flush fitting flap in the tail so that he can not see it. Again it is only the initial surge from a full tank so he also rejoins the race and waits for the level to go down. This means that both Aston Martins, which have shown such promising stuff in practice, are now way down the field with no hope of catching the Coopers and B.R.M. , which are monopolising the leading positions. Brabham is drawing steadily away from the rest, but for second place, Schell, Bonnier, Gregory, Moss, Trintignant and McLaren are having a terrific battle, with Hill just behind them watching it all. 

 

Then come Flockhart, Stacey and Naylor in close company with Salvadori gaining on them fast, and a very unhappy Brooks on his own at the back of the major portion of the field. By five laps, there is a long pause after Brooks before Bristow arrives leading the F2 cars and the odds and ends of Formula 1, while Fairman is trying to make up for his error and Piper has joined in two laps late. On lap eight, the scrap for second place arrives at Tatts Corner at the same time as Piper, and the bright green Lotus is surrounded by cars on all sides, with irate drivers cursing him from all angles, and who rather break things up for it let Moss and Schell get away, leaving Gregory on his own with Bonnier, Trintignant and McLaren following. Salvadori is now going splendidly and is challenging Flockhart for tenth place, while Shelby is not making much progress as one of his magnetos has ceased to function due to a sheared drive, so the Aston Martin is running on six plugs instead of 12 and is a few hundred revs down as a consequence. By 10 laps, Brabham is 13 seconds in the lead from Moss and Schell, while Trintignant has come up to fourth place, closely followed by McLaren, Bonnier and Gregory, the American not being too happy with a water temperature gauge that is approaching the end of the dial. Fairman has, by this time, made up a couple of places and Brabham is lapping most of the tail-enders. On lap 11, Hill spins his Lotus round in a wide sweep across the lawns on the inside of Tatts Corner, making the photographers jump, and continues unabashed, but this let Salvadori catch him up, and on lap 12, the Vanwall goes by in 13th position misfiring badly and, on the next lap, Brooks retires at the pits, the cause of the misfiring not being curable. Salvadori now attacks Hill and takes eighth place from him, but the Lotus driver retakes his position and there follows a furious battle between these two, during which Salvadori is forced to bump the tail of the Lotus more than once as well as shout at the driver but it is more than five laps before the Aston Martin can get rid  of the long lean Lotus, and a few laps later, Salvadori has to start all over again with Gregory’s Cooper. Passing the slower cars has been easy, but as he gets nearer to the front, the drivers are less desirable of giving way and there is some pretty fierce dicing going on, and some harsh words being shouted. Meanwhile, Brabham is scuttling on in the lead, taking his corners with the tail sliding outwards and looking sideways to see how Moss is getting on in the pale green B.R.M. 

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On lap 17, the Cooper has a 17-second lead, but after that Moss begins to speed up, as the fuel load lightens and the tyres wear down, and slowly but steadily, the 17 seconds are being reduced. Trintignant and Schell are battling away for third place and getting in each other’s way so that McLaren is catching them up. On the 24th lap Moss sets up a new lap-record in 1'58"6, and the gap is reduced to 15 seconds, but Brabham is lapping close on 1'59"0 so there is little to choose between the Cooper and the B.R.M. McLaren now catches Trintignant and Schell, and whistles by into 3rd place and Salvadori and Gregory are still carving each other up, with Hill and Flockhart following a fair way behind, the rest of the field having been lapped, including Shelby. On lap 27, the dice for third place arrives at the corner before the pits at the same time as H. Taylor in his F2 car and he has little choice but to go wide on to the grass to get out of their way, for they would surely have run right over him. Although Moss reduces the lap-record to 1'58"2 and then 1'58"0, Brabham has got the measure of him and the gap between them hovers around 14 to 16 seconds, with the Australian keeping a wary eye across the inside of the corners to see if the B.R.M. is getting dangerous. By lap 35, Brabham is lapping at the same speed as Moss and wasting no time in overtaking slower cars, while his teammate, McLaren has dealt with Trintignant and Schell and is pulling away. The Salvadori-Gregory battle has caught and passed Bonnier who has been running steadily but not in the picture, and then Salvadori overdoes one of the corners slightly and Gregory gets away from him. As Bonnier finishes his 37th lap, the B.R.M. goes phut for the throttle linkage has broken somewhere between the pedal and the Weber carburettors and he coasts to retirement, while on the next lap Trintignant loses second gear and has to give up battling with Schell. On lap 41 Brabham laps Salvadori, and as the Aston Martin has spun at Anchor Crossing, it is now way behind Gregory. Moss is 12 seconds behind Brabham but it is taking all his skill to reduce this distance by a few tenths of seconds, and he has the B.R.M. in some pretty wild looking full-lock slides through the corners in his efforts to gain precious yards. McLaren is firmly in third place, followed by Schell, Trintignant and Gregory, although the American is about to be lapped by his team leader. 

 

Then follow Salvadori, Flockhart, Shelby, Hill and Stacey, with Bristow still leading the F2 cars, while, a lap behind him, Bueb and Henry Taylor are still having a close race; to complete the list of those still running come d’Orey with the old Maserati and Ashdown in the Brown-Tyrrell Cooper, their other F2 car driven by Michael Taylor having retired long since with engine trouble. After 45 laps, Moss is 10 ½ seconds behind, and not really gaining, while Schell has lapped Shelby and this has incensed the Texan so that he wakes up and hangs on to the B,R.M. for a number of laps in spite of being down on r.p.m. As Moss completes his 50th lap, he has reduced the gap to 10 seconds, but he then comes into the pits and has the nearside rear wheel changed in 31 seconds and is away again before McLaren appears. This has been quite unpremeditated and unrehearsed, which puts a heavy load on his mechanics, for Dunlop has estimated that the tyres would last for the whole race, but has not allowed for Moss improving on his practice times by nearly 2 seconds. With slowing down and accelerating away from the pits, this means that the B.R.M. is now 51 seconds behind the Cooper, and Brabham’s pit wave him to take it easy and keep an eye on his rear tyres, but all is well, for the Cooper is not using rubber at the same rate. Shelby is still hanging on to Schell, while Bristow laps his teammate Bueb, who is having gearbox trouble and has had to let Henry Taylor get away. At 54 laps, Brabham is 53 seconds ahead of Moss, but keeping a wary eye on the B.R.M. and 18 seconds behind comes McLaren driving a beautifully regular and fast race. Schell is fourth, Trintignant fifth, Gregory sixth and Salvadori seventh, followed by Shelby, who has given up trying to hold on to Schell, and Graham Hill is going slower and slower, in trouble with his Lotus. Right at this time Flockhart should have been in eighth place, but he spins at Village Corner, stalls the engine and goes into a small ditch, all due to his cockpit being plastered in oil, as the oil pressure gauge has been reading zero for some time, the pressure having leaked out all over the floor. Even though he has stopped dicing hard, Gregory is not happy about his water temperature and comes in on lap 57 to take on more water, which drops him down behind the two Aston Martins, and Hill is now going very slowly and just hoping to finish.

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On his 59th lap, Moss records 1'57"8 and sets up a new record, the gap has been reduced to 46 seconds and he continues at a steady reduction of 2 seconds a lap, but Coopers are well aware of this and are keeping Brabham informed, at the same time not being too happy about the state of his rear tyres, but nevertheless confident in leaving any decisions to their driver. With bolt-on wheels, there is no question of stopping for new rear wheels, and provided thatMoss does not increase his two-seconds-a-lap reduction, the race is in the bag for the Surbiton team. Schell is now given a signal to ease up and watch his tyres, and on lap 65 he stops to have the left hand rear one changed, while Bristow, who is four laps behind the leader, but still the first F2 car, goes by the pits going pop-bang as he runs out of fuel. He is very lucky to limp round a whole lap and gets to the pits to take on more fuel, and starts off again still in the lead of his class. With the gap between Brabham and Moss now down to 32 seconds and nine laps to go, the pale green B.R.M. comes once more unexpectedly into its pit, this time for fuel, as the driver has felt the engine cut out and though he switches from rear tank to side tank, both left and right, the pump is not picking up. Five gallons are thrown in and the car is pushed off, but does not fire at once for the fuel tap is still on side tanks. Meanwhile, McLaren is approaching fast and as the fuel tap is put over to the rear tank and the engine fires, the Cooper goes by into second place. Brabham has lapped Schell, so these two are the only ones on the same lap as the leader and it takes Moss just one lap to get on the tail of McLaren, and the next lap he is by, but getting away from the young New Zealander is another story. On lap 68, the Cooper is right up the tail of the B.R.M. showing superior acceleration out of the corners, and on lap 69 Moss sets a new lap record in 1'57"0 but as McLaren is seldom out of his slip-stream the whole way round he too he must have set a record, though it is not recorded by the timekeepers. Brabham is way out on his own now, and touring round to finish, but Moss is driving as hard as he can go, not to try and catch Brabham but to avoid being passed by McLaren. While this end-of-race excitement is going on Shelby coasts silently into his pit to retire with no sparks, the other magneto drive having sheared. On lap 71, McLaren draws up level with Moss as they go past the pits, but there is no sufficient length of straight before Waterways Corner for him to get in front, and on the next lap they are still only a foot apart and takes Trintignant on the right-hand side as they go into the same corner. 

 

Such is the excitement over this last-minute effort by McLaren, that Brabham is almost overlooked as he finishes the 75 laps to win yet another major Grand Prix. It seems impossible that McLaren can stay with Moss as they weave past slower cars, but stay he does and they take the last corner still with only a foot or two between them, and as they accelerate towards the line, which is now crowded with photographers and officials, leaving space for only one car, Moss drives straight at the people on the right of the road, making them jump out of the way, and to leave room for McLaren to try and take him on the left. This is indeed a very sportsmanlike manoeuvre and although the New Zealand driver tries to draw up alongside, second place goes to Moss and the B.R.M. The remaining runners are flagged off and, on the lawn in front of the main Grandstand, Brabham is acclaimed the winner, having led the race from start to finish. Second place is awarded to Moss and B.R.M. Harry Schell and Maurice Trintignant close in fourth and fifth place, winning the remaining points available. Salvadori cannot give the joy of the first points taken to Aston Martin by coming sixth, right on the sidelines of this important milestone. Gregory comes seventh, followed by the official Lotuses who finish in eighth and ninth positions, preceding Formula 2 able to reach the chequered flag despite long gaps compared to prestige positions. To better understand the difference in performance, just consider that Carroll Shelby on Aston Martin is ranked eleventh, despite having stopped at round sixty-nine due to the alternator. In championship’s perspective, the British Grand Prix certifies Brabham's worth, who seems unstoppable in the race to the title, while his main opponents, including Ferrari’s Brooks and Hill, did not win any points. Moss finally manages to finish a race this season but still seems not to be able to be among the likely winners, as, at the top of the standings, Brabham has 27 points, followed by Brooks and Phil Hill stuck at 14 and 9 points, while fourth place is shared by the day's protagonists, Moss and McLaren, at 8.5 points. Same goes to the manufacturers' ranking, because the absence of the Scuderia Ferrari excludes the main antagonist of the Cooper. The B.R.M. is taking advantage of the situation, which earns valuable points to undermine the second place. Cooper leads the standings with 26 points, followed by Ferrari at 16, the B.R.M. at 14, and Lotus stops at 3, pending the next appointment to take place on August 2, 1959 in Germany, on the AVUS track.


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