1960 French Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jack Brabham won again at Reims after overcoming an early Ferrari challenge. Olivier Gendebien and Bruce McLaren completed a Cooper sweep of the podium.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jack Brabham	Cooper
Pole time	2:16.8
Fastest lap	Jack Brabham	Cooper
Fastest-lap time	2:17.500 on lap 25
First	Jack Brabham	Cooper
Second	Olivier Gendebien	Cooper
Third	Bruce McLaren	Cooper

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
29 June 1960	Wednesday timed practice	18:00
30 June 1960	Thursday timed practice	18:00
1 July 1960	Friday final qualifying	Start time unconfirmed
3 July 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 6 leading the 1960 F1 World Championship on 20 points, with Jack Brabham on 16. Cooper – Climax headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 30 points.

Race entries

Moss remained absent after his Spa injuries. Tony Brooks drove the revised Vanwall, leaving Yeoman Credit to field Gendebien, Henry Taylor and Bruce Halford. Ron Flockhart joined Lotus in a modified car, while Richie Ginther tried a Scarab alongside Chuck Daigh.

Wednesday timed practice

Brabham immediately set a formidable benchmark, improving repeatedly while rivals were still preparing. Only Graham Hill’s BRM was ready, and it suffered clutch-control trouble. Vanwall worked through injection and brake problems. The Scarabs began to show engine strain on the long straights, while Ferrari could not match the leading Cooper.

Thursday timed practice

The field filled out and Brabham improved again. Lotus introduced Flockhart’s car with its engine tilted to improve carburation, but number changes confused the timing records. Phil Hill experimented with ballast to alter Ferrari’s handling. Vanwall suffered oil-scavenging trouble, and Piper’s engine failed. Graham Hill emerged as Brabham’s nearest challenger.

Friday final qualifying

Phil Hill moved into second, but Brabham’s Thursday time remained beyond reach. Ireland improved strongly and McLaren benefited from running with his team-mate. Scarab still had engine problems. Further Lotus number changes caused Flockhart to receive a time actually set by Ireland, an administrative error that affected the published grid.

Qualifying Classification

Three evening sessions from Wednesday to Friday set the grid, leaving Saturday free. The contemporary account identifies timing attribution errors involving car numbers; these are explained rather than treating every published practice figure as an independently verified driver lap.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	16	Jack Brabham	Cooper	2:16.8
2	2	Phil Hill	Ferrari	2:18.2
3	12	Graham Hill	BRM	2:18.4
4	20	Innes Ireland	Lotus	2:18.5
5	6	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	2:19.3
6	4	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	2:19.4
7	10	Dan Gurney	BRM	2:19.4
8	22	Ron Flockhart	Lotus	2:19.5
9	18	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	2:19.6
10	8	Jo Bonnier	BRM	2:19.8
11	44	Olivier Gendebien	Cooper	2:20.1
12	24	Jim Clark	Lotus	2:20.3
13	46	Henry Taylor	Cooper	2:22.8
14	14	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	2:23.3
15	36	Lucien Bianchi	Cooper	2:23.6
16	48	Bruce Halford	Cooper	2:23.6
17	40	Masten Gregory	Cooper	2:24.3
18	38	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper	2:24.7
19	30	Gino Munaron	Cooper	2:31.3
20	28	Richie Ginther	Scarab	2:31.4
21	34	David Piper	Lotus	2:32.0
22	42	Ian Burgess	Cooper	2:36.7
23	26	Chuck Daigh	Scarab	2:46.1

What happened in the 1960 French Grand Prix?

Phil Hill initially led, but Brabham fought back and became locked in a close contest with both leading Ferraris. The cars repeatedly used the slipstream, while Gendebien, Ireland and McLaren disputed the next places.

Transmission failures removed von Trips and Phil Hill, leaving Brabham clear. The contest behind remained lively, with the surviving Coopers bringing a strong challenge to Ireland’s Lotus.

Brabham won from Gendebien and McLaren, followed by Henry Taylor, Clark and Flockhart. Cooper had taken the first four places, and Brabham’s championship campaign gathered further momentum. Vanwall’s final championship appearance ended in retirement.

After the race, Jack Brabham headed the drivers’ standings with 24 points, followed by Bruce McLaren on 24. Cooper – Climax led the constructors’ table on 38, with Lotus – Climax on 19.

1960 French Grand Prix race results

The 1960 French Grand Prix was held on 3 July 1960.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	16	Jack Brabham	Cooper	50	1:57:24.9	8
2	44	Olivier Gendebien	Cooper	50	+ 48.3	6
3	18	Bruce McLaren	Cooper	50	+ 51.9	4
4	46	Henry Taylor	Cooper	49	+ 1 Lap	3
5	24	Jim Clark	Lotus	49	+ 1 Lap	2
6	22	Ron Flockhart	Lotus	49	+ 1 Lap	1
7	20	Innes Ireland	Lotus	43	+ 7 Laps	0
8	48	Bruce Halford	Cooper	40	Engine	0
9	40	Masten Gregory	Cooper	37	+ 13 Laps	0
10	42	Ian Burgess	Cooper	36	+ 14 Laps	0
11	4	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	30	Transmission	0
12	2	Phil Hill	Ferrari	29	Transmission	0
Ret	8	Jo Bonnier	BRM	22	Engine	0
Ret	36	Lucien Bianchi	Cooper	18	Transmission	0
Ret	10	Dan Gurney	BRM	17	Engine	0
Ret	30	Gino Munaron	Cooper	15	Transmission	0
Ret	6	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	14	Transmission	0
Ret	14	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	7	Vibration	0
Ret	12	Graham Hill	BRM	0	Accident	0
Ret	38	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper	0	Accident	0
DNS	28	Richie Ginther	Scarab		Engine	0
DNS	34	David Piper	Lotus		Engine	0
DNS	26	Chuck Daigh	Scarab		Engine	0

1960 French Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	16	Jack Brabham	Cooper	25	2:17.500

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 French Grand Prix.

1960 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Jack Brabham	Australian	Cooper	24
2	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	Cooper	24
3	Stirling Moss	British	Cooper / Lotus	11
4	Olivier Gendebien	Belgian	Cooper	10
5	Jim Rathmann	American	Watson	8
6	Innes Ireland	British	Lotus	7
7	Phil Hill	American	Ferrari	7
8	Cliff Allison	British	Ferrari	6
9	Rodger Ward	American	Watson	6
10	Graham Hill	British	BRM	4
11	Paul Goldsmith	American	Epperly	4
12	Wolfgang von Trips	German	Ferrari	4
13	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	4
14	Henry Taylor	British	Cooper	3
15	Tony Brooks	British	Cooper / Vanwall	3
16	Carlos Menditeguy	Argentine	Cooper	3
17	Don Branson	American	Phillips	3
18	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	BRM	2
19	Johnny Thomson	American	Lesovsky	2
20	Richie Ginther	American	Ferrari / Scarab	2
21	Lucien Bianchi	Belgian	Cooper	1
22	Eddie Johnson	American	Trevis	1
23	Ron Flockhart	British	Lotus	1
–	Maurice Trintignant	French	Cooper / Cooper	0
–	Lloyd Ruby	American	Watson	0
–	Bob Veith	American	Meskowski	0
–	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Dutch	Cooper	0
–	Bruce Halford	British	Cooper	0
–	Masten Gregory	American	Behra-Porsche / 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
–	Ian Burgess	British	Cooper	0
–	Roberto Bonomi	Argentine	Cooper	0
–	Red Amick	American	Epperly	0
–	Duane Carter	American	Kuzma	0
–	Gino Munaron	Italian	Maserati / Cooper	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
–	David Piper	British	Lotus	0

1960 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Cooper – Climax	38
2	Lotus – Climax	19
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
—	Vanwall	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