1959 German GP

## Track Facts

* Name – AVUS
* Location – Germany
* Corners – 4
* Laps – 60
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 3:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 2:04.500 (Tony Brooks)
* Lap Record (F1R) – N/A
* Pit Lane Length – 15 seconds\*
* Fuel Consumption – Medium
* Tyre Wear – Medium

\*Note that this season pit-stops will last longer than in previous seasons; this number represents the time it takes to travel down the pit-lane NOT including the time you will spend stationary.

## Qualifying & Grid

Cooper lock-out the front 3 spaces on the grid for the 1st time this season - and Behra's 2nd Pole Position ever (after the Italian GP last season) moves him into the Top 10 for most Pole Positions ever at the expense of Wolfgang von Trips! If he can convert that to victory, he would also move into the Top 10 for Most Wins ever!!! Flockhart 2nd and Bianchi in 3rd will hope to finish in at least their positions to bring Cooper more into the Championships than they currently are…

Behind Cooper come Bonnier 4th for Maserati, Brabham and von Trips 5th and 6th for Ferrari, with Gurney and McLaren 7th and 8th for Maserati and d'Orey 9th for Ferrari - as the "glorified Indy" very much sees the cars making the difference here! Phil Hill deprives Connaught of a Top 10 starting position, as he usurps 10th place from Moss at the last - but 11th is still a strong starting place for the Brit, with Allison 13th and Shelby 16th putting in respectable drives for the underdogs!

BRM are on the same pace, behind Phil Hill 10th are Gregory 12th and Graham Hill 14th - while Vanwall look to be next up with Fairman 15th, de Beaufort 18th and Ireland 19th. Porsche meanwhile have a torrid qualifying session compared to their recent pace, with Trintignant 17th, Testut 20th and Gendebien 21st at their home race…!

JBW have a glimmer of hope with Naylor up in 22nd, though Scarlatti 27th and Burgess 28th are maybe more representative of their pace - with Aston Martin not able to keep their pace from last race, as they line up 23rd, 24th and 25th for Salvadori, Brooks and de Filippis respectively. Finally, for Lotus the season is starting to become a real uphill struggle, with Ward only 26th, Schell 29th and not looking strong at all - and then Herrmann the only non-qualifier this race!!!

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* – Off the start line Behra fluffs his get-away, which in turn impacts his two team-mates! Bianchi manages to avoid the issue to go around the outside and move into 1st position (though Flockhart does not make it easy for his more junior team-mate!) – and is followed through by both Bonnier and Brabham here, who take up 2nd and 3rd place.

Behra is still 4th, though that defensive action cost Flockhart time and he is now down to 6th behind von Trips in the Ferrari! Also starting well are d’Orey, Gregory, Testut, Naylor, Salvadori and most impressively of all Graham Hill in the BRM!!!

Down to the Sudschleife it is Bianchi-Bonnier-Brabham-Behra-von Trips – but as they make their way down to the Nordschleife at the other end of the circuit, Graham Hill starts to gain more and more ground, as he makes his way further into the top 10 and eventually past both von Trips and Behra to take up 4th place! Behra is therefore 5th from von Trips 6th, Testut up to an impressive 7th, Flockhart down to 8th, d’Orey 9th, Naylor up to an incredible 10th for JBW, Salvadori following him up to 11th and Gurney down to 12th overall.

Gregory is 13th, from Fairman 14th, Shelby 15th, Trintignant 16th, Allison 17th, Moss 18th, de Filippis 19th and McLaren rounding out the Top 20 after a really tough opening lap for the Maserati. De Beaufort is 21st from Ireland 22nd, Ward 23rd, Gendebien 24th, Brooks 25th, Phil Hill 26th after the BRM looks very heavy on fuel right now with Scarlatti, Burgess and Schell bringing up the rear…

*Lap 2* – Graham Hill continues his advance, as he passes Brabham for 3rd – while behind them Testut pulls out to pass von Trips as they go into Sudschleife and the Porsche is too eager in trying to find a gap that isn’t there…and THEY COLLIDE! Both pull into the pits to fix the damage, though you can see von Trips is furious with the inexperienced Porsche driver for causing the crash in the first place.

That leaves a space in the points up for grabs, as Behra gets a horrible exit from Sudschleife and ends up going 5-wide down the back straight with Flockhart, d’Orey, Naylor and Salvadori…and the man coming out in 5th place is none other than Salvadori in the Aston Martin, who brakes brilliantly to make the apex of Norschleife exactly…with Naylor following him through into 6th for JBW!

Behra brakes slightly late to fall down to 7th, from d’Orey 8th and Flockhart 9th. Gregory moves up to 10th, from Gurney 11th and then de Filippis up to 12th as Aston Martin really make an impact this lap! Trintignant moves back up to 13th from Shelby 14th, de Beaufort now 15th as the Vanwall makes up some strong ground this lap – ahead of Allison 16th, Fairman down to 17th, Ireland 18th, Moss 19th, Ward up to 20th and Gendebien up to 21st overall.

McLaren is down to 22nd from Brooks 23rd, Scarlatti 24th, Burgess 25th, Schell 26th, the seemingly heavily laden Phil Hill in 27th with Testut adding insult to injury by exiting the pits ahead of von Trips!

*Lap 3* – Salvadori passes Brabham for 4th, as the Aston Martin continues to make places up. Gregory overtakes Flockhart for 9th, while Fairman pulls over to let Ireland through – who is followed by Moss and Ward, with Fairman falling down to 20th as a result!

*Lap 4* – More moves this lap, as Naylor passes Brabham (who seems to be on a different strategy) for 5th, while behind them Behra also looks to be on a different strategy, given how slow he is out of the corners – and that costs him 7th to d’Orey and 8th to Gregory this lap. Gurney is another to lose places, as he falls behind de Filippis and Trintignant to 13th overall.

Meanwhile Ireland passes Allison for 16th, who is then passed by Ward for 17th also. Moss is down to 19th as a result, with Gendebien up to 20th and Fairman now outside the Top 20. Further back Testut recovers to pass von Trips for 28th due to his fuel strategy – though this time the Ferrari almost moves over to let him through without incident!

Up front Bianchi is fastest this lap…

*Lap 5* – …though it does not take long for Bonnier in 2nd to claim Fastest Lap himself, with a 2:07.2!

Also, on this lap Gregory passes d’Orey for 7th as the BRM looks on form today, while further back Moss somehow manages to block Gendebien from passing him for 19th position.

*Lap 6* – Flockhart has not had the greatest of starts to this race, and he is another Cooper getting a slow exit from Sudschleife – and losing ground as a result, this time to de Filippis (now 10th) and Trintignant (now 11th). Meanwhile Ward passes Ireland for 16th – as Bonnier takes the gap at the front down to just 0.4 seconds behind Bianchi with a new FL of a 2:06.8…

*Lap 7* – Von Trips has a had a horrendous start to the race – as a small spin at Sudschleife underlines the challenges he is having…though a combination of strategy and pace could yet bring him back into this race…meanwhile up front Bianchi extends his lead with a new Fastest Lap of a 2:06.2.

Behind the leading duo, Salvadori continues to make up positions – this time out-braking Graham Hill into Nordschleife to move into an impressive 3rd position.

*Lap 8* – A 2:05.9 (new FL) for Bianchi, who is really putting the hammer down here and is now 1.1 second ahead of Bonnier. Meanwhile Moss seems to be just about the only driver capable of defending on these long, wide straights – as he keeps Gendebien behind him yet again!

*Lap 9* – 2:05.6 for Bianchi extends his lead further, as the Top 5 seem to be pulling out a bit of a lead over 6th placed Brabham – one wonders if that is where the strategies diverge for today…?

Moss’s resilience is finally broken back in 19th place, as Gendebien dives up the inside at Sudschleife to claim the position. Brooks gets the better of McLaren for 22nd position on this lap – though neither will be particularly pleased with how the race has started for them.

*Lap 10* – Other than a 2:05.5 for Bianchi, nothing much to report this lap, as the race has settled down into a rhythm now…

*Lap 11* – A 2:05.1 for Bianchi extends his advantage to 1.7 seconds over Bonnier and 13 seconds over 6th placed Brabham – while Gurney holds Shelby back over 13th place and Testut recovers to pass Phil Hill for 27th place, with the BRM looking cumbersome right now!

*Lap 12* – A 2:04.7 for Bianchi continues his trend of setting Fastest Lap every time! Meanwhile Shelby makes the move on Gurney stick this time, to move up to 13th position overall…

*Lap 13* – 2:04.4 for Bianchi now has his lead over Bonnier at 2.3 seconds, while Brabham is some 15 seconds (the length of the pit-lane) behind in 6th. Meanwhile Behra’s Pole Position has evaporated quickly, and this lap he finds himself overhauled by de Filippis in the Aston Martin for 9th place.

In a strong lap for Aston Martin, Brooks continues to push forward as he overtakes Fairman for 21st place this time around…

*Lap 14* – A 2:04.3 for Bianchi, but that is all but matched by Bonnier and Graham Hill – the latter would likely have had FL if it wasn’t for some robust defending by Salvadori over 3rd position! Further back, Moss reclaims 19th position from Gendebien and the two collision victims have a better lap here, as Testut takes both Schell and Burgess for 25th and 26th respectively.

Von Trips passes Phil Hill for 28th this lap – with the BRM still looking like a real handful and getting terribly slow exits from both hairpins despite his best efforts, which is crucial on this track!!!

*Lap 15* – Pit-stops this lap identify why some of the front runners (and Testut!) had such a pace advantage, as we see Bianchi, Bonnier, Salvadori, Naylor and of course Testut all come in to re-fuel – and they now must contend with cold tyres and a heavier fuel load too! That moves Graham Hill into the race lead by some 10 seconds over Brabham in 2nd, Gregory having a great race in 3rd, d’Orey 4th, de Filippis 5th, Behra 6th, Trintignant 7th, Flockhart 8th, Shelby 9th, Gurney 10th, de Beaufort 11th, Ward 12th, Ireland 13th, Allison 14th, Gendebien now 15th as he again trades places with Moss, who is now 16th overall.

Brooks is 17th from Fairman 18th, McLaren 19th and then Bianchi out in 20th position! Bonnier is 21st some 2 seconds behind the Cooper after a good pit-stop, with Scarlatti 22nd, Salvadori out in 23rd, Naylor out in 24th, Burgess 25th, Schell 26th, von Trips 27th, Phil Hill 28th and Testut (possibly deservedly…) bringing up the rear of the field.

*Lap 16* – Graham Hill stops this time around, which promotes Brabham to the race lead, Gregory to 2nd (though he has d’Orey in 3rd for company!), de Filippis to 4th and Behra to 5th place overall. Everyone down to Scarlatti in 22nd moves up a position (including Bianchi and Bonnier, who retain 1st and 2nd of those to have pitted – albeit by only 0.5 seconds for the Maserati!), with Graham Hill emerging in 22nd overall.

*Lap 17* – De Filippis stops this time around, dropping from 4th to 27th – thereby promoting everyone from Behra into 4th and Trintignant into 5th down to von Trips, who moves up to 26th as a result. Further back, Scarlatti doubles his gains as he passes Bonnier for what is now 19th position.

*Lap 18* – D’Orey is right on the back of Gregory for 2nd place right now – and is fastest on-track, though not quite at Fastest Lap pace! Meanwhile Scarlatti continues his trend of passing those on a different strategy to him, as he passes Bianchi for 18th – while further back von Trips is now within striking distance of the Naylor-Burgess-Schell group ahead…

*Lap 19* – Brabham opts for an earlier pit, perhaps to avoid traffic in the pit-lane (and queuing up his team-mates!), which promotes Gregory into the race lead for BRM, from d’Orey 2nd, Behra 3rd, Trintignant 4th, Flockhart 5th, Shelby an impressive 6th for Connaught, Gurney 7th, de Beaufort 8th, Ward 9th and Ireland 10th overall.

Brabham emerges in 20th place, just behind Bianchi and Bonnier but ahead of Graham Hill – while further back von Trips continues his comeback with comfortable passes on both Burgess and Schell for 24th and 25th respectively…

*Lap 20* – 8 of the 10 teams have stops this laps (exceptions being JBW and Porsche), as 8 of the Top 9 drivers come into the pits – the driver staying out one lap longer if Flockhart in the Cooper, who may see that pay dividends versus those around him! As such, the Brit inherits the race lead, with Ireland now 2nd, Allison 3rd, Gendebien 4th, Moss 5th, Brooks 6th, Fairman 7th, McLaren 8th, Scarlatti 9th, Bianchi back up to 10th and Bonnier 11th.

Brabham, Graham Hill, Salvadori and the recovering von Trips go 4-wide down the back straight in a fight that is won by Salvadori (now 12th), then Graham Hill 13th, Brabham 14th and von Trips 15th (though the pace of that last Ferrari is so good that he sets a new FL of a 2:03.5 on that lap!!!).

D’Orey emerges best of those who pitted, as his crew get him out AHEAD of the BRM of Gregory to take up 16th, with the American 17th. Burgess is now 18th with Naylor 19th after he was passed by von Trips earlier in the lap. Schell is 20th, with Behra out in 21st, Trintignant out in 22nd, Shelby out in 23rd, Gurney out in 24th, de Beaufort out in 25th, de Filippis 26th, Ward out in 27th, Phil Hill 28th and Testut 29th overall…

*Lap 21* – Flockhart, Gendebien and von Trips all pit this lap, which means Ireland now leads from Allison 2nd, Moss 3rd (two Connaughts on the podium right now!), Brooks 4th, Fairman 5th, McLaren 6th and Scarlatti 7th – though all of them (plus Burgess, Schell and Phil Hill) are yet to pit! Bianchi is up to 8th some 3.4 seconds ahead of Bonnier 9th, Salvadori 10th, Graham Hill 11th and Brabham 12th.

That 12th place does not last though – thanks to the aforementioned Burgess really steaming his way through the traffic! Naylor follows him through to 13th, with d’Orey also passing the heavily laden Brabham for 14th on this lap too. That puts the Australian into 15th, Schell up to 16th, Gregory 17th and then Flockhart out in 18th position.

Behra is back into 19th from Trintignant 20th, Shelby 21st, Gurney 22nd, de Filippis now 23rd after a pass on de Beaufort 24th – with Ward 25th, Gendebien out in 26th, Phil Hill 27th and von Trips emerging in 28th…though concerningly for him, Testut is only 4 seconds behind him now!!!

*Lap 22* – Ireland, Moss, Burgess and Schell all pit this lap – and that leaves Allison in the race lead for Connaught, from Brooks 2nd, Fairman 3rd, McLaren 4th and Scarlatti 5th (though all yet to stop – along with Phil Hill of course!). Bianchi is now back up to 6th from Bonnier 7th, Salvadori 8th, Graham Hill 9th, Naylor 10th, d’Orey 11th, Brabham 12th (though losing time to Gregory behind in 13th lap by lap), Flockhart 14th, Behra 15th and Trintignant 16th.

Ireland emerges in 17th ahead of Shelby 18th, Gurney 19th and Moss rounding out the Top 20 after his stop. De Filippis is now 21st, from Phil Hill 22nd (who has finally made up some positions!) with de Beaufort 23rd, Ward 24th and Gendebien 25th all losing places to the BRM on this lap. Von Trips is back up to 26th, from Testut 27th (and gaining quickly!), Burgess out in 28th and Schell out in 29th.

*Lap 23* – The Top 5 all pit, which promotes Bianchi back into the race lead by 3.9 seconds over Bonnier in 2nd, then it’s Salvadori 3rd, Graham Hill 4th and Naylor quietly making progress in 5th – some 6 seconds behind him is d’Orey in 6th and Gregory in 7th – after the BRM passes Brabham around the outside at Sudschleife.

Flockhart is up to 9th, from Behra 10th, Trintignant 11th and then Allison out in 12th after extending his stint. Ireland is back up to 13th, from Shelby 14th, Brooks out in 15th and Gurney 16th. De Filippis is up to 17th and Phil Hill 18th after both pass Moss, who goes wide at Nordschleife, while Fairman now rounds out the Top 20.

De Beaufort is 21st, while McLaren emerges in 22nd, Ward is 23rd, from Gendebien 24th and Scarlatti out in 25th position. Testut passes von Trips for 26th as their different strategies play out – and they thankfully avoid a collision here!

*Lap 24* – Bianchi has a 3.6 seconds lead over Bonnier in 2nd – and given the 22 second advantage he has built up over d’Orey in 6th (first of those behind on a different strategy) it could well be that the battle for the lead we are watching now is actually for the race victory. Though, if the 2 stopper proves to be the better strategy, then Gregory, Brabham, Flockhart and Behra are all certainly in the mix…

Brooks is struggling out of the pits with his cold tyres, which means he ends up going 4-wide with Gurney, de Filippis and Phil Hill (who finally has some pace!) – and that battle is won by Phil Hill, who claims 15th as a result thanks to braking perfectly for the apex at Sudschleife! De Filippis manages to brake strongly for 16th, while Gurney runs a little wide in 17th and Brooks simply cannot trust his tyres yet and thus ends up 18th overall.

Meanwhile Fairman looks thoroughly disgruntled with his lack of pace right now, and thus moves over to let de Beaufort past him into the Top 20…

*Lap 25* – More places for Phil Hill, who passes Shelby for 14th at Sudschleife and then Ireland for 13th at Nordschleife in the same lap! De Filippis also gets the better of Shelby this lap – and Moss meanwhile passes Brooks for 18th, while behind them it’s 3-wide between Fairman, McLaren and Ward – with the Lotus coming out on top for 21st, from McLaren 22nd and Fairman 23rd position.

*Lap 26* – A shock this lap, as Naylor passes Graham Hill for 4th – that JBW seems to have some pace in it today! Phil Hill makes another position, as he takes 12th from Allison – though he is still yet to stop…

De Filippis passes Ireland for 14th and gets the better of Allison for 13th too, while de Beaufort passes Brooks for 19th place overall – and there are no incidents in any of those overtakes…much to the irritation of von Trips, who so far has been involved in the only collision this race, which was completely not his fault!

*Lap 27* – 3.2 seconds is Bianchi’s lead at the front, while d’Orey in 6th is some 31 seconds back at this stage…3 stopper is looking like a good decision right now thanks to the short pit-lane in fact! Flockhart moves over to let Behra past him for 9th, though has to move back to the racing line sharpish to prevent Trintignant from also going through…

Ireland surrenders 15th to the charging Shelby, while Ward overtakes Brooks for 20th position this time around. Meanwhile further back Testut and Scarlatti are both desperate to take 25th position – and both simultaneously elect to swing to the inside at Sudschleife, with only one possible result…! Both are damaged, though Scarlatti pits to drop to the rear of the field, while Testut elects to carry on in 25th with his damage – meaning von Trips in 26th will soon get a chance of re-take the Porsche (if he can manage it safely!).

*Lap 28* – Trintignant passes Flockhart for 10th – though Phil Hill is now right behind this battle, albeit not quite at the impressive pace he was at a couple of laps ago, as his tyres start to show signs of wear. Ireland meanwhile passes Allison for 15th place.

*Lap 29* – Behra blocks Trintignant – as he knows this could be for a potential points position, if the 2 stopper proves to be the best strategy! Behind them Phil Hill’s tyres are screaming ‘enough’ – as de Filippis reclaims 12th from the BRM…

Gendebien passes Fairman for 23rd, while von Trips is now just a second behind Testut at this stage…

*Lap 30* – Many of the 3 stoppers pit here, including the Top 4 in the race – with Phil Hill finally coming in to change his tyres and Testut finally coming in to mend his damage (meaning von Trips can breathe a sign of relief at not having to tangle with the Porsche again!).

That means Graham Hill now leads by 20 seconds from d’Orey in 2nd, then Gregory in 3rd right on the Ferrari’s tail (for what could the race victory!) and Brabham in 4th place. Bianchi emerges in an impressive 5th place some 3.4 seconds behind Brabham – and knowing that they both likely have 1 more stop to complete, so if he can get his tyres up to speed soon, he could well win this race!

Trintignant moves up to 6th with a solid pass on Behra at Nordschleife, while de Filippis claims 7th from both Behra and Flockhart in a lap to forget for Cooper! Bonnier emerges from the pits in 10th place, with Salvadori out in 11th, Shelby back up to 12th, Ireland now 13th, Gurney recovering to 14th by overtaking Allison and then it is Naylor out in 16th position.

De Beaufort overtakes Moss for what is now 17th, while Ward is now 19th and McLaren passes Brooks for a place in the Top 20. Testut is out in 29th and last with Scarlatti just ahead in 28th, Schell in 27th and Phil Hill out in 26th just behind Burgess in 25th position.

*Lap 31* – Graham Hill’s lead is up to 23 seconds now, while Gregory has the gap to d’Orey down to just 0.2 seconds as the BRM’s look strong in this segment of the race – while behind them it is 5 wide going down to Sudschleife between Bianchi, Trintignant, de Filippis, Behra and Flockhart…and clearly all 3 Cooper’s are aiming not to tangle with one another as they back off, thereby allowing de Filippis into 5th for Aston Martin, Trintignant into 6th for Porsche, Behra up to 7th, Bianchi down to 8th on his new colder rubber and Flockhart still 9th overall.

Speaking of cold rubber, Salvadori loses ground to Shelby as a result of his recent stop – that moves the Connaught up to 11th in a relatively competitive showing for the British marque. Naylor meanwhile loses a place to de Beaufort with his own cold tyres costing him 16th – and further back Phil Hill also loses ground as he concedes 26th to the Lotus of Schell.

*Lap 32* – 25 seconds is the lead at the front, while Gregory could not be any close to d’Orey as they go over the line neck and neck with one another! Bianchi moves over to avoid slowing team-mate Flockhart down for 8th – and will hope for the same treatment once his tyres are fully up to temperature…if he can claw back the gap!

Gurney passes Ireland for 13th, while Moss takes 17th from Naylor and Gendebien passes Brooks for 21st position.

*Lap 33* – The leader pits, which promotes d’Orey to 1st as he is one of the fastest on track right now to deny Gregory a passing opportunity (the BRM now 0.5 seconds back in 2nd place). Brabham is now 3rd, though the fastest man on track is…a woman! De Filippis in 4th is now just 0.1 seconds behind the Ferrari and pushing to improve her position still…

Trintignant is 5th from the Cooper trio in 6th, 7th and 8th with Bonnier 9th and Shelby a strong 10th for Connaught! Gurney has found some pace, as he overtakes Salvadori for what is now 11th, with Ireland 13th and Allison 14th behind. Graham Hill emerges in 15th position, with de Beaufort 16th, Moss 17th and Ward 18th, after a pass on Naylor at Nordschleife proves successful.

*Lap 34* – The reason for de Filippis’ pace becomes clear, as she pits from 4th to drop to 24th behind von Trips now. That moves Trintignant to 4th, Behra 5th, Flockhart 6th, Bianchi 7th, Shelby now 8th after a bold move on Bonnier proves fruitful at Sudschleife – with Gurney now rounding out the Top 10.

Graham Hill meanwhile is struggling on cold tyres, as he runs wide at Sudschleife to allow de Beaufort into what is now 14th, Moss to 15th and Ward into 16th position. Meanwhile von Trips’ comeback is on in earnest, as he overtakes Fairman for what is now 22nd position on this lap as well…

*Lap 35* – As happened before, Naylor overtakes Graham Hill – but this time it’s a comfortable pass on the heavier BRM for 17th, while behind them another place gained for von Trips, as he passes Brooks for 21st overall. Scarlatti passes Phil Hill for 27th on this lap – with Testut now right behind that pair as well!

*Lap 36* – D’Orey still leads Gregory by half a second, with the gap never really changing much from that far apart! De Beaufort has a brilliant lap meanwhile, as he slipstreams past both Allison and Salvadori to move up to 12th place!!!

Ward passes Moss for 15th, while Graham Hill looks to be really struggling on those colder tyres – as he loses 18th to McLaren, 19th to Gendebien and 20th to the resurgent von Trips. Testut passes Phil Hill for 28th this time around as well…

*Lap 37* – Shelby passes Bianchi for 7th place, while Bonnier moves over to let Gurney past into 9th position. Brooks passes Graham Hill, who is still really struggling with what looks like a heavier fuel load than usual…

*Lap 38* – Gregory is now a second behind d’Orey, who is fastest on track right now! Salvadori meanwhile gets it all wrong at Sudschleife, as he is starting to lose concentration on this incredibly monotonous track!!! Allison moves up to 13th with Ward 14th as a result and Salvadori down to 15th place.

Von Trips passes Gendebien for 19th, as he continues his comeback from that early accident with Testut. Meanwhile Fairman overtakes the heavily laden Graham Hill for 22nd – as the BRM may well be trying to make it to the end of the race already…

*Lap 39* – A better lap for Gregory cuts his arrears to 0.7 seconds, while Ward overtakes Allison for 13th place. Von Trips overtakes McLaren for 18th position, as he continues to make his way through the pack…

*Lap 40* – 8 of the 10 teams on the grid are busy with a car each in the pits again (JBW and Aston Martin the exceptions this time), which now sees Brabham into the race lead. Flockhart is up to 2nd from Bianchi 3rd, Ireland 4th after he overtakes Bonnier at Nordschleife – with the Maserati now 5th overall.

Allison is up to 6th from Moss, who claims 7th from Salvadori at Sudschleife. Von Trips is now 9th, from Naylor 10th as the JBW loses out to the Ferrari on the back-straight, with McLaren back into 11th place. D’Orey emerges from the pits in 12th with Gendebien back up to 13th and Gregory out in 14th position.

Brooks is back into 15th from Fairman 16th, Trintignant out in 17th, Behra out in 18th, Shelby out in 19th and Graham Hill back up to 20th place. De Filippis is now 21st, from the emerging Gurney in 22nd, de Beaufort out in 23rd, Burgess up to 24th and Ward out in 25th place.

*Lap 41* – Flockhart, Moss, von Trips and Gendebien all pit this time around, which means Bianchi is now back up to 2nd, from Ireland 3rd, Bonnier 4th, Allison 5th, Salvadori 6th, McLaren up to 7th ahead of Naylor in 8th position. D’Orey is 9th, from Gregory 10th, Brooks 11th, Fairman 12th and Flockhart out in 13th place.

Trintignant is up to 14th from Behra 15th, Shelby 16th, de Filippis up to what is now 17th after passing Graham Hill at Nordschleife. Gurney is now 19th from Burgess up to 20th after a pass on de Beaufort, who is now 21st with Moss out in 22nd position. Ward and Schell are now 23rd and 24th, with von Trips emerging in 25th ahead of Gendebien in 26th.

*Lap 42* – Brabham, Ireland, Allison, Burgess and Schell all come into the pits – and that hands Bianchi the lead by 5 seconds from Bonnier in 2nd, with Salvadori now 3rd, McLaren 4th, Naylor 5th and d’Orey up to 6th place some 30 seconds behind the race leader. Brooks is up to 7th, from Brabham out in 8th, Gregory 9th and Fairman up to 10th, with Flockhart 11th, Trintignant 12th, Behra 13th and Ireland out in 14th position.

De Filippis moves up to 15th with a pass on Shelby, with Graham Hill now 17th, Gurney 18th and Allison out in 19th place. De Beaufort is back inside the Top 20, with Moss 21st, Ward 22nd, von Trips 23rd, Gendebien now down to 25th behind Scarlatti, with Testut now 26th, Burgess out in 27th, Phil Hill 28th and Schell out in 29th after a really long pit-stop!!!

*Lap 43* – McLaren and Scarlatti both pit, which sees Naylor move up to 4th, Brooks up to what is now 5th after a strong pass on d’Orey at the Nordschleife and then it’s Brabham 7th, Gregory 8th, Fairman 9th and Flockhart 10th overall.

Trintignant is now 11th, from Behra 12th and de Filippis up to 13th after a pass on Ireland 14th – and then it is Shelby 15th, Graham Hill 16th, Gurney 17th, Allison 18th and McLaren down to 19th position after his final stop. Further back Gendebien moves over to let Testut past into 24th place, with Burgess now 26th, Phil Hill 27th and Scarlatti out in 28th position.

*Lap 44* – Bianchi’s lead over d’Orey is now 40 seconds, while the Ferrari is now mixed up in a 4-way battle with Brabham, Gregory and the Vanwall of Fairman (who still has one more stop left to make) – and it is indeed the Vanwall that finishes the lap just behind d’Orey in 7th, with Brabham now 8th basically neck and neck with Gregory over the line!

De Filippis has a great lap meanwhile, as he sprints past both Trintignant and Behra up to 11th overall…

*Lap 45* – The Top 4 all pit for the final time, which means that Brooks now leads (though still has to stop again), with Fairman now up to 2nd after a pass on d’Orey (though the Vanwall also has to pit again), who is now 3rd. Gregory is up to 4th after a determined pass on Brabham at Nordschleife, with Bianchi out in 6th place just 3 seconds behind d’Orey at this point!

Bonnier is out in 7th, with de Filippis up to 8th (with another stop to make) after a pass on Flockhart 9th, while Salvadori emerges in 10th ahead of Trintignant 11th, Behra 12th, Ireland 13th and Naylor out in 14th place overall.

Von Trips passes Ward for 22nd position, while Testut pits to fall behind Gendebien, Burgess and Phil Hill and ends up in 27th place.

*Lap 46* – Brooks and Fairman both stop for the final time, which likely only leaves de Filippis to make her final scheduled stop. That means d’Orey is now 1st and setting a decent pace, with Gregory now 1.3 seconds behind, with Brabham 1.1 further back and Bianchi just 1.2 seconds back in 4th position as well!

Bonnier is now into 5th with de Filippis 6th (albeit yet to stop), from Flockhart 7th, Salvadori 8th, Trintignant 9th and Behra now back inside the Top 10. Ireland is 11th with that whole group from Salvadori to Ireland separated by just 1.3 seconds! Naylor is 12th but setting a decent pace, with Shelby 13th, Graham Hill 14th and Brooks out in 15th position. Gurney is 16th, Allison is 17th, McLaren 18th, de Beaufort 19th and von Trips now back inside the Top 20 with a well-executed pass on Moss.

Fairman is out in 22nd with almost every pit-stop now over…

*Lap 47* – De Filippis passes Bonnier for 5th, though the Maserati barely defends the position as he knows the Italian still must pit again. Salvadori is struggling to keep his focus at this stage, which allows both Trintignant and Behra to pass and move up to 8th and 9th respectively. Ward passes Fairman for 22nd, while Phil Hill takes 25th from Burgess in the JBW.

*Lap 48* – De Filippis finally stops this time around, which means Bonnier resumes 5th position (as up-front Gregory is now less than a second behind d’Orey!), Flockhart is up to 6th, Behra is 7th after a daring overtake on Trintignant around the outside of the banked Sudschleife, with Ireland now 9th for Vanwall after a great pass on Salvadori to move the Brit onto the back of the group ahead of him!

Naylor is 11th from Shelby 12th, Graham Hill 13th, Brooks 14th, Gurney 15th, McLaren now 16th after a pass on Allison – with de Beaufort 18th, von Trips 19th and gaining quickly from Ward now rounding out the Top 20 as he gets the better of the struggling Moss, who is now 21st overall. Fairman is 22nd, from Gendebien 23rd and de Filippis out in 24th position overall! Testut also passes Burgess for 26th place.

*Lap 49* – Just 0.5 seconds now sits between d’Orey and Gregory in the fight for the lead – with Brabham and Bianchi now just 2 and 3 seconds back respectively! Von Trips passes de Beaufort for 18th position as he looks to try and close the gap down to the Top 10…

*Lap 50* – A better lap for d’Orey sees him move to 6 tenths ahead, while Brabham is now just 0.4 seconds ahead of Bianchi in the fight for the final podium position! Ireland meanwhile passes Trintignant for 8th and Naylor is now up to 10th with a pass on Salvadori at Sudschleife.

*Lap 51* – Bianchi is now less than a tenth behind Brabham, as he looks to convert Cooper’s great qualifying form into a podium at least! Von Trips meanwhile is now up to 17th with a comfortable pass on Allison at Nordschleife.

*Lap 52* – Ireland passes Behra for 7th, as the Brit’s race gets better and better for the British manufacturer. Graham Hill is being blocked by Brooks over 13th position meanwhile…

*Lap 53* – A tough lap for Ferrari, as first of all d’Orey misses his braking point at Sudschleife – which allows Gregory to claim the race lead for BRM on exit! Meanwhile Bianchi moves up to 3rd place after getting the better of Brabham at the very same corner (possibly inspired by Gregory’s move just 3.5 seconds ahead…).

Brooks does take 13th from Graham Hill this time around, while Gendebien passes Fairman for 22nd – and the Vanwall then loses out to de Filippis for 23rd also!

*Lap 54* – Naylor passes Trintignant for 9th position, while Shelby overtakes Salvadori for 11th and de Beaufort manages to get the better of Allison for 18th place. Testut manages to squeeze past Phil Hill for 25th place – and almost collides with him too, but the BRM escapes by the skin of his teeth as the Monegasque continues on his way…

*Lap 55* – The gap at the front is less than 2 tenths, as d’Orey is not willing to give up on this one quite so easily! Other battles to watch on track in the final laps include Bianchi just half a second ahead of Brabham (though the Cooper is moving away bit by bit), then Naylor, Trintignant and Shelby gaining ground on Behra in 8th, Brooks, Graham Hill, Gurney and McLaren catching Salvadori for 12th – with von Trips gaining on all of the above!

Ward is catching Allison for 19th, while Gendebien and de Filippis are both hauling in Moss over 21st position. Finally, Scarlatti is catching Burgess and Phil Hill, whose tyres look to be struggling again with laps running out…

*Lap 56* – Gregory is now the man to catch, with d’Orey moving more freely now – and the young Brazilian picks his moment to strike, as he gets a better exit out of Vierte and puts his nose ahead over the Start/Finish line…and finally Scarlatti takes Burgess for 27th, though the Brit doesn’t make it easy for his team-mate!

*Lap 57* – D’Orey extends his lead to 2 tenths, while Naylor is now less than 2 tenths behind Behra, and Shelby is less than 2 seconds behind Trintignant and moving more quickly…

Ward passes Allison for 19th place, as ahead of them von Trips is now just 0.7 seconds behind McLaren in 16th.

*Lap 58* – Gregory takes the gap down to 0.1 seconds at the front, as the BRM is comfortably the fastest man on track right now. Naylor passes Behra for 8th position with a brilliant overtake on the tired Frenchman – who may now become susceptible to moves from both Trintignant and Shelby.

Salvadori moves over to let Brooks past into 12th, as he also looks to be struggling with the pace right now. Gurney takes Graham Hill for 14th position, as the Maserati looks to end the race strongly…

*Lap 59* – D’Orey manages to move over half a second ahead of Gregory – and barring a disaster for the Ferrari it now looks like the Brazilian will take a debut victory here at AVUS! Meanwhile Shelby is within striking distance of Trintignant for a place in the Top 10 that could be so crucial for Connaught, while Gurney is nearly within a second of Salvadori for 13th place and moving more quickly…

Scarlatti passes Phil Hill for 26th position – with Burgess also lurking with intent behind…

*Lap 60* – As they come across the line…it is Fritz d’Orey who wins his debut race for the Ferrari outfit, while Gregory takes his 2nd podium of the season – and both can now be considered Championship contenders as a result! Bianchi picks up both his 1st ever points and podium for 3rd position, with Brabham 4th and Bonnier 5th both clawing back some of their respective deficits on the Championship Leader.

Flockhart comes home 6th after a race that promised much more for Cooper, with Ireland a solid 7th for Vanwall ahead of Naylor’s JBW – which is a crucial finish for the JBW outfit, who remain ahead of Vanwall thanks to that 8th placed finish alone! Behra finishes 9th after his Pole Position evaporated during the race, while the fight for 10th position goes right down to the line…and on the line it is SHELBY who takes the Top 10 place from Trintignant in 11th for Porsche.

Brooks and Salvadori finish 12th and 13th for Aston Martin, with Gurney 14th, Graham Hill 15th and von Trips recovering to 16th thanks to a last lap pass on McLaren (and taking the Fastest Lap earlier in the race, in the process of recovering), who comes home 17th as a result. De Beaufort finishes 18th, with Ward 19th and Allison finishing 20th overall.

Moss manages to stave off Gendebien for 21st, with de Filippis finishing 23rd, Fairman 24th, Testut 25th, Scarlatti 26th and then Burgess finishing 27th thanks to a pass on Phil Hill at the Nordschleife.

*1 LAP DOWN* – Schell comes over the line just a couple of moments behind the race leader, as the only driver not to finish on the lead lap.

Watch this space for the next race of the season, which will be the Portuguese Grand Prix at Monsanto (the 1st time a race will be held there).

## Milestones

* Behra up to 8th and Herrmann up to 9th in Most Race Entries Ever, at the expense of Toulo de Graffenried
* 20th race entry for Scarlatti
* Behra, Brabham and Trintignant start the race move up to 7th, 8th and 9th for Most Starts ever at the expense of Umberto Maglioli
* Salvadori’s 50th ever race start
* McLaren’s 10th ever race start
* Schell is up to 4th for Most Races without a Win, at the expense of Carlos Menditeguy
* Fairman is up to 8th for Most Races without a Win, at the expense of Alberto Ascari
* Fritz d’Orey takes his 1st ever race victory, which puts him 4th for Best % race victories and 8th for soonest ever race win in a driver’s career (only his 5th race!)
* A win for anyone from 6th place or below on the grid would be within the Top 10 for Wins from the Furthest back on the Start Grid. It is also the 5th lowest starting position (9th on the grid) for a race winner of all time
* 6 of the 7 German Grand Prix ever have been won by just two drivers; Bob Gerard (retired) in 1951, 1954, 1956 and 1957 preceded by Peter Whitehead (retired) in 1952 and 1953; while the other former winner was von Trips last season.
* Points finish for d’Orey is his 3rd points finish in a row
* Points finish for Brabham is his 2nd points finish in a row
* FL for Trips moves him into the Top 10 for Most Fastest Laps at the expense of Yves-Girard Cabantous, right behind Testut in that same list!
* FL for von Trips is his 2nd Consecutive Fastest Lap (only 7 drivers have ever achieved this before)
* FL at the German GP last season went to Salvadori, while in 1952, 1956 and 1957 it was Bob Gerard. Other past FLs were Erwin Bauer (’53 – retired), Peter Whitehead (‘54 – retired) and Yves-Girard Cabantous (’51 – retired)
* Pole for Behra moves him into the Top 10 for Most Poles ever at the expense of von Trips
* Past Pole-Sitters at the German GP were Yves-Girard Cabantous (’51 – retired), Bob Gerard (’52, ’56, ’57 and ‘58), Rodney Nuckey (’54 – retired) and Paul Pietsch (’53 – retired)
* Bianchi becomes the 50th ever driver to stand on an F1R podium here!