1960 Belgian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jack Brabham led Bruce McLaren home in a Cooper one-two at Spa, but the result was eclipsed by the deaths of Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey. Serious practice accidents had already injured Stirling Moss and Mike Taylor.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jack Brabham	Cooper
Pole time	3:50.0
Fastest lap	Phil Hill	Ferrari
Fastest-lap time	3:51.900 on lap
First	Jack Brabham	Cooper
Second	Bruce McLaren	Cooper
Third	Olivier Gendebien	Cooper

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
17 June 1960	Friday timed practice	17:30–20:00
18 June 1960	Saturday final qualifying	Start time unconfirmed
19 June 1960	Race	Start time unconfirmed

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

Championship background

Bruce McLaren arrived at round 5 leading the 1960 F1 World Championship on 14 points, with Stirling Moss on 11. Cooper – Climax headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 22 points.

Race entries

Willy Mairesse joined Ferrari, Lucien Bianchi drove a privately entered Cooper, and Mike Taylor brought his Lotus. The Scarabs returned, while the proposed Vanwall entry was withdrawn. Aston Martin and the Centro Sud drivers were absent from the invited field.

Friday timed practice

Brabham learned the circuit in company with McLaren before producing an exceptionally quick lap. Brooks and Moss were also fast, while Gendebien impressed in the Yeoman Credit Cooper. Von Trips borrowed Mairesse’s Ferrari after trouble with his own. Ireland suffered clutch problems and Stacey encountered a steering fault.

Saturday final qualifying

Moss crashed after a rear wheel assembly failed, and Mike Taylor suffered a separate steering failure. Both were injured, and the lengthy interruption subdued the paddock. Lotus stopped running when practice resumed. Ferrari improved, but Brabham’s Friday time retained pole; the public-road timetable prevented extending the session to recover the lost time.

Qualifying Classification

Two timed sessions determined the grid. The injured Moss and Taylor did not start. Practice interruptions and withdrawals left seventeen race starters rather than the initially planned field of sixteen.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	2	Jack Brabham	Cooper	3:50.0
2	38	Tony Brooks	Cooper	3:52.5
3	12	Stirling Moss	Lotus	3:52.6
4	24	Phil Hill	Ferrari	3:53.3
5	34	Olivier Gendebien	Cooper	3:53.5
6	10	Graham Hill	BRM	3:54.2
7	6	Jo Bonnier	BRM	3:54.8
8	14	Innes Ireland	Lotus	3:55.4
9	36	Chris Bristow	Cooper	3:56.3
10	18	Jim Clark	Lotus	3:57.5
11	26	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	3:57.8
12	8	Dan Gurney	BRM	3:58.3
13	22	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	3:58.9
14	4	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	4:00.0
15	32	Lucien Bianchi	Cooper	4:00.6
16	28	Lance Reventlow	Scarab	4:09.7
17	16	Alan Stacey	Lotus	4:17.6
18	30	Chuck Daigh	Scarab	4:18.5

What happened in the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix?

Brabham established control, while Ireland’s race ended after clutch trouble and a spin. The afternoon then became a tragedy: Bristow crashed while contesting a position with Mairesse and was killed.

Stacey died in a separate accident a few laps later, reported to have followed a bird striking him. The race continued. These losses, following the practice injuries, made this one of the championship’s darkest weekends.

Brabham finished ahead of McLaren and Gendebien, with Phil Hill, Clark and Bianchi taking the remaining points. Graham Hill stopped late and was not classified as a finisher, despite completing as many laps as Gendebien; the period’s finishing requirements differed from modern rules.

After the race, Bruce McLaren headed the drivers’ standings with 20 points, followed by Jack Brabham on 16. Cooper – Climax led the constructors’ table on 30, with Lotus – Climax on 17.

1960 Belgian Grand Prix race results

The 1960 Belgian Grand Prix was held on 19 June 1960.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	2	Jack Brabham	Cooper	36	2:21:37.3	8
2	4	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	36	+ 1:03.3	6
3	34	Olivier Gendebien	Cooper	35	+ 1 Lap	4
4	24	Phil Hill	Ferrari	35	+ 1 Lap	3
5	18	Jim Clark	Lotus	34	+ 2 Laps	2
6	32	Lucien Bianchi	Cooper	28	+ 8 Laps	1
Ret	10	Graham Hill	BRM	35	Engine	0
Ret	16	Alan Stacey	Lotus	24	Fatal accident	0
Ret	22	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	23	Transmission	0
Ret	26	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	22	Transmission	0
Ret	36	Chris Bristow	Cooper	19	Fatal accident	0
Ret	30	Chuck Daigh	Scarab	16	Engine	0
Ret	6	Jo Bonnier	BRM	14	Engine	0
Ret	14	Innes Ireland	Lotus	13	Spun Off/Clutch	0
Ret	8	Dan Gurney	BRM	4	Engine	0
Ret	38	Tony Brooks	Cooper	2	Gearbox	0
Ret	28	Lance Reventlow	Scarab	1	Engine	0
DNS	12	Stirling Moss	Lotus		Accident	0
DNS	20	Mike Taylor	Lotus		Accident	0

1960 Belgian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	24	Phil Hill	Ferrari		3:51.900
1	2	Jack Brabham	Cooper		3:51.900
1	14	Innes Ireland	Lotus		3:51.900

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

1960 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix.

1960 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	20
2	Jack Brabham	Australian	Cooper	16
3	Stirling Moss	British	Cooper / Lotus	11
4	Jim Rathmann	American	Watson	8
5	Innes Ireland	British	Lotus	7
6	Phil Hill	American	Ferrari	7
7	Cliff Allison	British	Ferrari	6
8	Rodger Ward	American	Watson	6
9	Graham Hill	British	BRM	4
10	Paul Goldsmith	American	Epperly	4
11	Olivier Gendebien	Belgian	Cooper	4
12	Wolfgang von Trips	German	Ferrari	4
13	Tony Brooks	British	Cooper	3
14	Carlos Menditeguy	Argentine	Cooper	3
15	Don Branson	American	Phillips	3
16	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	BRM	2
17	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	2
18	Johnny Thomson	American	Lesovsky	2
19	Richie Ginther	American	Ferrari	2
20	Eddie Johnson	American	Trevis	1
21	Lucien Bianchi	Belgian	Cooper	1
–	Maurice Trintignant	French	Cooper / Cooper	0
–	Lloyd Ruby	American	Watson	0
–	Henry Taylor	British	Cooper	0
–	Bob Veith	American	Meskowski	0
–	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Cooper	0
–	Alberto Rodriguez Larreta	Argentine	Lotus	0
–	Bud Tingelstad	American	Trevis	0
–	José Froilán González	Argentine	Ferrari	0
–	Bob Christie	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
–	Roberto Bonomi	Argentine	Cooper	0
–	Red Amick	American	Epperly	0
–	Masten Gregory	American	Behra-Porsche / Cooper	0
–	Duane Carter	American	Kuzma	0
–	Gino Munaron	Italian	Maserati	0
–	Bill Homeier	American	Kuzma	0
–	Nasif Estéfano	Argentine	Maserati	0
–	Gene Hartley	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
–	Chuck Stevenson	American	Watson	0
–	Bobby Grim	American	Meskowski	0
–	Shorty Templeman	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
–	Jim Hurtubise	American	Christensen	0
–	Jimmy Bryan	American	Epperly	0
–	Troy Ruttman	American	Watson	0
–	Eddie Sachs	American	Ewing	0
–	Don Freeland	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
–	Tony Bettenhausen	American	Watson	0
–	Wayne Weiler	American	Epperly	0
–	Anthony Foyt	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
–	Eddie Russo	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
–	Johnny Boyd	American	Epperly	0
–	Gene Force	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
–	Jim McWithey	American	Epperly	0
–	Len Sutton	American	Watson	0
–	Dick Rathmann	American	Watson	0
–	Al Herman	American	Ewing	0
–	Dempsey Wilson	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
–	Alan Stacey	British	Lotus	0
–	Willy Mairesse	Belgian	Ferrari	0
–	Dan Gurney	American	BRM	0
–	Chris Bristow	British	Cooper	0
–	Roy Salvadori	British	Cooper / Aston Martin	0
–	Chuck Daigh	American	Scarab	0
–	Harry Schell	American	Cooper	0
–	John Surtees	British	Lotus	0
–	Lance Reventlow	American	Scarab	0
–	Mike Taylor	British	Lotus	0
–	Ettore Chimeri	Venezuelan	Maserati	0
–	Antonio Creus	Spanish	Maserati	0
–	Giorgio Scarlatti	Italian	Maserati / Cooper	0

1960 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Cooper – Climax	30
2	Lotus – Climax	17
3	Ferrari	15
4	BRM	6
5	Cooper – Maserati	3
—	Behra-Porsche – Porsche	0
—	Maserati	0
—	JBW – Maserati	0
—	Scarab	0
—	Cooper – Castellotti	0
—	Aston Martin	0

Drivers and constructors counted their best 6 results. Only the highest-placed eligible car for each constructor could score constructor points. Indianapolis counted towards the drivers’ championship only. Race winners scored eight points, and there was no fastest-lap bonus.

1960 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1960 Argentine Grand Prix	Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires	7 February
2	1960 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	29 May
3	1960 Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana	30 May
4	1960 Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	6 June
5	1960 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	19 June
6	1960 French Grand Prix	Reims-Gueux, Reims	3 July
7	1960 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	16 July
8	1960 Portuguese Grand Prix	Circuito da Boavista, Porto	14 August
9	1960 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	4 September
10	1960 United States Grand Prix	Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California	20 November