1959 Italian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Stirling Moss outthought Ferrari at the 1959 Italian Grand Prix, nursing his Cooper‘s tyres while the home team’s cars stopped for fresh rubber. Victory at Monza kept his title challenge alive, with Jack Brabham‘s third place ensuring the drivers’ championship would go to the American finale.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Stirling Moss	Cooper
Pole time	1:39.700
Fastest lap	Phil Hill	Ferrari
Fastest-lap time	1:40.400 on lap 32
First	Stirling Moss	Cooper
Second	Phil Hill	Ferrari
Third	Jack Brabham	Cooper

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
11 September 1959	Friday timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
12 September 1959	Saturday final qualifying	Start time unconfirmed
13 September 1959	Race	Start time unconfirmed

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Jack Brabham arrived at round 8 leading the 1959 F1 World Championship on 27 points, with Tony Brooks on 23.

Race entries

Ferrari fielded five cars for its home race, while Giorgio Scarlatti took the third works Cooper in Masten Gregory‘s absence. BRM tried its new rear-engined car during practice, alongside its established machinery. Roy Salvadori raced for Aston Martin despite still recovering from burns suffered at the Tourist Trophy.

Friday timed practice

Moss set the target with 1:39.7 as alarming tyre wear began shaping everyone’s race plans. Ferrari rehearsed wheel changes and standing starts, while Brabham worked on carburation with specialist help. BRM‘s rear-engined experiment also ran, but the established cars remained its race choice. Brooks gradually closed on Moss, finishing the day only four-tenths away; the Coopers’ bolt-on wheels made the prospect of a tyre stop particularly unwelcome.

Saturday final qualifying

Rob Walker’s team fitted Moss’s Cooper with knock-off rear wheels as insurance against a stop. Heat initially discouraged flat-out running, before Ferrari launched a late attack. Gurney improved, then Brooks came within a tenth of Moss’s Friday benchmark. Neither Moss nor Brabham improved, but the Cooper retained pole. Ferrari had plenty of speed close behind, leaving tyre life as the central question for Sunday.

Qualifying Classification

The Grand Prix used Monza‘s road circuit. Each driver’s best eligible lap across Friday and Saturday set the grid, with Moss narrowly ahead of Brooks and Brabham.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	14	Stirling Moss	Cooper	1:39.700
2	30	Tony Brooks	Ferrari	1:39.8
3	12	Jack Brabham	Cooper	1:40.2
4	36	Dan Gurney	Ferrari	1:40.8
5	32	Phil Hill	Ferrari	1:41.2
6	38	Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari	1:41.4
7	2	Harry Schell	BRM	1:41.6
8	34	Cliff Allison	Ferrari	1:41.8
9	8	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	1:42.0
10	18	Graham Hill	Lotus	1:42.9
11	6	Jo Bonnier	BRM	1:43.1
12	10	Giorgio Scarlatti	Cooper	1:43.3
13	16	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper	1:43.4
14	20	Innes Ireland	Lotus	1:43.5
15	4	Ron Flockhart	BRM	1:43.6
16	42	Ian Burgess	Cooper	1:44.6
17	24	Roy Salvadori	Aston Martin	1:44.7
18	40	Colin Davis	Cooper	1:44.9
19	26	Carroll Shelby	Aston Martin	1:46.4
20	22	Jack Fairman	Cooper	1:49.4
21	28	Giulio Cabianca	Maserati	1:51.5

What happened in the 1959 Italian Grand Prix?

Brooks’s title hopes suffered immediately when a piston failed on the opening lap. Moss and Phil Hill then exchanged the lead, with Gurney close enough to keep the pressure on. Rather than trying to break away, Moss concentrated on matching Ferrari‘s pace while limiting tyre wear.

The decisive phase came when Ferrari brought its leading cars in for fresh tyres. Moss stayed out and gained clear air, then reduced the strain on his remaining rubber. Ferrari had surrendered track position without the pace advantage needed to recover it.

Moss completed the distance without a tyre stop, winning ahead of Phil Hill and Brabham. Gurney and Allison took the remaining points places, with Gendebien sixth. Cooper secured the manufacturers’ championship, while Moss’s second consecutive victory left Brabham, Moss and Brooks to settle the drivers’ title at Sebring.

After the race, Jack Brabham headed the drivers’ standings with 31 points, followed by Stirling Moss on 25.5.

1959 Italian Grand Prix race results

The 1959 Italian Grand Prix was held on 13 September 1959.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	14	Stirling Moss	Cooper	72	2:04:05.4	8
2	32	Phil Hill	Ferrari	72	+ 46.7	7
3	12	Jack Brabham	Cooper	72	+ 1:12.5	4
4	36	Dan Gurney	Ferrari	72	+ 1:19.6	3
5	34	Cliff Allison	Ferrari	71	+ 1 Lap	2
6	38	Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari	71	+ 1 Lap	0
7	2	Harry Schell	BRM	70	+ 2 Laps	0
8	6	Jo Bonnier	BRM	70	+ 2 Laps	0
9	16	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper	70	+ 2 Laps	0
10	26	Carroll Shelby	Aston Martin	70	+ 2 Laps	0
11	40	Colin Davis	Cooper	68	+ 4 Laps	0
12	10	Giorgio Scarlatti	Cooper	68	+ 4 Laps	0
13	4	Ron Flockhart	BRM	67	+ 5 Laps	0
14	42	Ian Burgess	Cooper	67	+ 5 Laps	0
15	28	Giulio Cabianca	Maserati	64	+ 8 Laps	0
Ret	24	Roy Salvadori	Aston Martin	44	Engine	0
Ret	8	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	22	Engine	0
Ret	22	Jack Fairman	Cooper	18	Engine	0
Ret	20	Innes Ireland	Lotus	14	Brakes	0
Ret	18	Graham Hill	Lotus	1	Clutch	0
Ret	30	Tony Brooks	Ferrari	0	Clutch	0

Includes 1 point for fastest lap

1959 Italian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	32	Phil Hill	Ferrari	32	1:40.400

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. One championship point was awarded for fastest lap, divided equally when shared.

1959 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1959 Italian Grand Prix.

1959 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Jack Brabham	Australian	Cooper	31
2	Stirling Moss	British	Cooper / BRM	25.5
3	Tony Brooks	British	Ferrari / Vanwall	23
4	Phil Hill	American	Ferrari	20
5	Dan Gurney	American	Ferrari	13
6	Maurice Trintignant	French	Cooper	12
7	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	BRM	10
8	Masten Gregory	American	Cooper	10
9	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	8.5
10	Rodger Ward	American	Watson	8
11	Jim Rathmann	American	Watson	6
12	Johnny Thomson	American	Lesovsky	5
13	Harry Schell	American	BRM	5
14	Olivier Gendebien	Belgian	Ferrari	3
15	Innes Ireland	British	Team Lotus	3
16	Tony Bettenhausen	American	Epperly	3
17	Cliff Allison	British	Ferrari	2
18	Jean Behra	French	Ferrari	2
19	Paul Goldsmith	American	Epperly	2
—	Roy Salvadori	British	Cooper / Aston Martin	0
—	Ron Flockhart	British	BRM	0
—	Ian Burgess	British	Cooper	0
—	Johnny Boyd	American	Epperly	0
—	Graham Hill	British	Team Lotus	0
—	Duane Carter	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Carroll Shelby	American	Aston Martin	0
—	Giorgio Scarlatti	Italian	Maserati / Cooper	0
—	Eddie Johnson	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Alan Stacey	British	Team Lotus	0
—	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Porsche / Maserati	0
—	Paul Russo	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Fritz d'Orey	Brazilian	Maserati	0
—	Anthony Foyt	American	Kuzma	0
—	Chris Bristow	British	Cooper	0
—	Mário de Araújo Cabral	Portuguese	Cooper	0
—	Colin Davis	British	Cooper	0
—	Gene Hartley	American	Kuzma	0
—	Henry Taylor	British	Cooper	0
—	Bob Veith	American	Moore	0
—	Peter Ashdown	British	Cooper	0
—	Al Herman	American	Dunn	0
—	Ivor Bueb	British	Cooper / Cooper	0
—	Jimmy Daywalt	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Chuck Arnold	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Giulio Cabianca	Italian	Maserati	0
—	Jim McWithey	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Hans Herrmann	German	Cooper / BRM	0
—	Wolfgang von Trips	German	Porsche	0
—	Bruce Halford	British	Team Lotus	0
—	Jack Fairman	British	Cooper / Cooper	0
—	Eddie Sachs	American	Kuzma	0
—	Al Keller	American	Kuzma	0
—	Pat Flaherty	American	Watson	0
—	Dick Rathmann	American	Watson	0
—	Bill Cheesbourg	American	Kuzma	0
—	David Piper	British	Team Lotus	0
—	Don Freeland	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Azdrubal Fontes	Uruguayan	Maserati	0
—	Brian Naylor	British	JBW	0
—	Ray Crawford	American	Elder	0
—	Mike Taylor	British	Cooper	0
—	Don Branson	American	Phillips	0
—	Bob Christie	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Bobby Grim	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Jack Turner	American	Christensen	0
—	Chuck Weyant	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Jud Larson	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Mike Magill	American	Sutton	0
—	Red Amick	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Len Sutton	American	Lesovsky	0
—	Jimmy Bryan	American	Epperly	0

1959 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Cooper – Climax	38
2	Ferrari	32
3	BRM	18
4	Team Lotus	3
—	Cooper – Maserati	0
—	Aston Martin	0
—	Maserati	0
—	Porsche	0
—	Cooper – Borgward	0
—	JBW	0
—	Vanwall	0

Drivers counted their best 5 results. The first five places earned 8–6–4–3–2 points, with one further point for fastest lap, shared equally when necessary. Shared drives earned no championship points. Constructors also retained their best 5 results, scoring through only their highest-placed eligible car, without fastest-lap points. Indianapolis counted for drivers only.

1959 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1959 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	10 May
2	1959 Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana	30 May
3	1959 Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	31 May
4	1959 French Grand Prix	Reims-Gueux, Reims	5 July
5	1959 British Grand Prix	Aintree Motor Racing Circuit, Liverpool	18 July
6	1959 German Grand Prix	AVUS, Berlin	2 August
7	1959 Portuguese Grand Prix	Monsanto Park Circuit, Lisbon	23 August
8	1959 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	13 September
9	1959 United States Grand Prix	Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida	12 December