1959 United States Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Bruce McLaren claimed his first Grand Prix victory in a remarkable finish to the 1959 United States Grand Prix. Jack Brabham ran out of fuel within sight of the end at Sebring, but his exhausted push to fourth place became the defining image of the Australian’s first World Championship.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Stirling Moss	Cooper
Pole time	3:00.000
Fastest lap	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper
Fastest-lap time	3:05.000 on lap 39
First	Bruce McLaren	Cooper
Second	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper
Third	Tony Brooks	Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
10 December 1959	Thursday timed practice	Start time unconfirmed
11 December 1959	Friday final qualifying	Start time unconfirmed
12 December 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 9 leading the 1959 F1 World Championship on 31 points, with Stirling Moss on 25.5.

Race entries

Cooper entered Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren, with Gregory still unfit after his Goodwood accident. Ferrari brought four cars with different specifications, while Ireland and Stacey represented Lotus. Local interest included Indianapolis winner Rodger Ward in an Offenhauser-powered midget, alongside several drivers making their championship debuts in unfamiliar Grand Prix machinery.

Thursday timed practice

Moss immediately established a clear advantage in Rob Walker’s Cooper, now fitted with revised rear suspension. Ferrari‘s drivers tried different cars, but handling remained a concern despite their new independent rear suspension. The uneven field also created substantial speed differences: Ward drove his midget hard but could not match the Grand Prix cars. Several teams finished the session needing changes to gearing before Friday.

Friday final qualifying

Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren improved, and altered gearing helped the Lotus cars considerably. Brooks reduced his time in his own Ferrari, although he remained slower than his earlier lap in von Trips’s car. Cooper also faced cooling and transmission work before Saturday. Moss’s opening-day 3:00.0 remained unbeatable, but Schell’s disputed late time unexpectedly moved him onto the front row and displaced Brooks.

Qualifying Classification

Thursday and Friday practice established the grid before Saturday’s race. Schell’s accepted 3:05.2 placed him third, despite protests; the lap was subsequently reported to have used a shortcut. The published starting order is preserved and the controversy explained.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	7	Stirling Moss	Cooper	3:00.000
2	8	Jack Brabham	Cooper	3:03.0
3	19	Harry Schell	Cooper	3:05.2
4	2	Tony Brooks	Ferrari	3:05.9
5	6	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper	3:06.0
6	4	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	3:06.2
7	3	Cliff Allison	Ferrari	3:06.8
8	5	Phil Hill	Ferrari	3:07.2
9	10	Innes Ireland	Lotus	3:08.2
10	9	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	3:08.6
11	12	Roy Salvadori	Cooper	3:12.0
12	11	Alan Stacey	Lotus	3:13.8
13	18	Bob Said	Connaught	3:27.3
14	14	Alejandro de Tomaso	Cooper	3:28.0
15	16	George Constantine	Cooper	3:30.6
16	17	Harry Blanchard	Porsche	3:32.7
17	15	Fritz d’Orey	Tec-Mec	3:33.4
18	22	Phil Cade	Maserati	3:39.0
19	1	Rodger Ward	Kurtis Kraft	3:43.8

What happened in the 1959 United States Grand Prix?

Moss led early and opened a useful gap, only for gearbox failure to end his title challenge. Brooks had already lost time after contact from von Trips prompted a precautionary stop. Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren were left running together at the front, with Trintignant eventually emerging as their strongest pursuer.

Trintignant closed rapidly in the final stages and set fastest lap. Then Brabham’s Cooper ran out of fuel on the last lap. McLaren hesitated before being waved on, recovering just enough momentum to beat Trintignant to the finish by six-tenths of a second. At twenty-two, he became the youngest Grand Prix winner, although Troy Ruttman had won the championship-counting Indianapolis 500 at a slightly younger age.

Brooks took third while Brabham pushed his car to the line unaided for fourth. With neither rival securing the result needed to overtake him, Brabham became World Champion. Ireland finished fifth. Cooper had already secured the manufacturers’ crown at Monza, and Sebring completed a landmark season for its rear-engined cars.

After the race, Jack Brabham headed the drivers’ standings with 31 points, followed by Tony Brooks on 27.

1959 United States Grand Prix race results

The 1959 United States Grand Prix was held on 12 December 1959.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	9	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	42	2:12:35.7	8
2	6	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper	42	+0.6	7
3	2	Tony Brooks	Ferrari	42	+3:00.9	4
4	8	Jack Brabham	Cooper	42	+4:57.3	3
5	10	Innes Ireland	Lotus	39	+3 laps	2
6	4	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	38	Engine	0
7	17	Harry Blanchard	Porsche	38	+4 laps	0
Ret	3	Cliff Allison	Ferrari	23	Clutch	0
Ret	12	Roy Salvadori	Cooper	23	Transmission	0
Ret	1	Rodger Ward	Kurtis Kraft	20	Clutch	0
Ret	14	Alejandro de Tomaso	Cooper	13	Brakes	0
Ret	5	Phil Hill	Ferrari	8	Clutch	0
Ret	15	Fritz d’Orey	Tec-Mec	6	Oil leak	0
Ret	7	Stirling Moss	Cooper	5	Transmission	0
Ret	19	Harry Schell	Cooper	5	Clutch	0
Ret	16	George Constantine	Cooper	5	Overheating	0
Ret	11	Alan Stacey	Lotus	2	Clutch	0
Ret	18	Bob Said	Connaught	0	Accident	0
DNS	22	Phil Cade	Maserati			0

Includes 1 point for fastest lap

1959 United States Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	6	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper	39	3:05.000

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 United States Grand Prix.

1959 Post-Race F1 Drivers’ Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Jack Brabham	Australian	Cooper	31
2	Tony Brooks	British	Ferrari / Vanwall	27
3	Stirling Moss	British	Cooper / BRM	25.5
4	Phil Hill	American	Ferrari	20
5	Maurice Trintignant	French	Cooper	19
6	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	16.5
7	Dan Gurney	American	Ferrari	13
8	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	BRM	10
9	Masten Gregory	American	Cooper	10
10	Rodger Ward	American	Watson / Kurtis Kraft	8
11	Jim Rathmann	American	Watson	6
12	Johnny Thomson	American	Lesovsky	5
13	Harry Schell	American	BRM / Cooper	5
14	Innes Ireland	British	Team Lotus	5
15	Olivier Gendebien	Belgian	Ferrari	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
—	Wolfgang von Trips	German	Porsche / Ferrari	0
—	Johnny Boyd	American	Epperly	0
—	Graham Hill	British	Team Lotus	0
—	Duane Carter	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Harry Blanchard	American	Porsche	0
—	Carroll Shelby	American	Aston Martin	0
—	Giorgio Scarlatti	Italian	Maserati / Cooper	0
—	Alan Stacey	British	Team Lotus	0
—	Eddie Johnson	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Porsche / Maserati	0
—	Paul Russo	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Fritz d’Orey	Brazilian	Maserati / Tec-Mec	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
—	Alessandro de Tomaso	Argentine	Cooper	0
—	Bruce Halford	British	Team Lotus	0
—	George Constantine	American	Cooper	0
—	Jack Fairman	British	Cooper / Cooper	0
—	Eddie Sachs	American	Kuzma	0
—	Al Keller	American	Kuzma	0
—	Bob Said	American	Connaught	0
—	Pat Flaherty	American	Watson	0
—	Phil Cade	American	Maserati	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	40
2	Ferrari	32
3	BRM	18
4	Team Lotus	5
—	Cooper – Maserati	0
—	Aston Martin	0
—	Porsche	0
—	Maserati	0
—	Cooper – Borgward	0
—	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Cooper – OSCA	0
—	Tec-Mec	0
—	Connaught	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