1959 French GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Reims
* Location – France
* Corners – 7
* Laps – 50
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 4:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 2:19.400 (Tony Brooks)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 2:12.411 (Onofre Marimon – Harrison Whitworth)
* Pit Lane Length – 45 seconds\*
* Fuel Consumption – Low
* 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

Last time's Pole-Sitter McLaren can only manage a lowly 14th today, as Maserati look a little off the pace, given that Bonnier and Gurney will also both line up outside the Top 10! In that regard they are the same as Vanwall (Fairman 15th, de Beaufort 21st & Ireland 22nd) - though the British marque may be starting a little out of position after accidents spoiled their final runs of the session - Connaught (a very respctable performance with Moss 16th, Shelby 17th & Allison 18th), Aston Martin (Salvadori 19th, Brooks 20th & de Filippis (22nd) and JBW (Scarlatti 24th, Burgess 25th & Naylor 27th), who all start without drivers in the Top 10.

Lotus are in an even worse position, given that only 1 car makes the grid - and that is Ward right down in 26th place overall. Team Principal Tom Byrne will need to keep a close eye to ensre this doesn't become a habit for his other drivers!!! The other man failing to make the grid is the Monaco Pole-Sitter Ron Flockhart for Cooper…

…though his team-mates perform admirably without him, as Bianchi is a solid 13th with Behra an impressive 6th overall. BRM line up with Phil Hill a strong 5th, Graham Hill 9th and Gregory 10th, while they will almost certanily be fighting with the resurgent Porsche team - who will start in 8th (Gendebien, for a 2nd race in a row!), 7th (Testut) and 4th (Championship contender Trintignant).

However they, like all the others, were simply outclassed by Ferarri, who (somewhat surprisingly) line up with Brabham 3rd, the newcomer d'Orey 2nd and von Trips on the 2nd Pole of his career, which will elevate him into the Top 10 for Most Pole Positions ever!!!

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* – A slow start for the Ferrari’s, as the sodden track doesn’t offer the grip they may have hoped for…plus they look rather heavier than some of their counterparts – and between the unpredictable start and the long back-straight down to the heavy braking Thillois, there is overtaking galore on this 1st lap!

The BRM team look the most eager to push ahead, and it is Phil Hill who uses his strong qualifying position to leapfrog Trintignant off the line and then comfortably breeze past the Ferrari trio on the back-straight to take the lead! Graham Hill is equally spritely off the line and likewise makes his way past those who look to have taken on more fuel, to join his team-mate and make it a BRM 1-2!!!

Behind them, Testut makes his now usual quick getaway and breezes up into 3rd position! Bonnier likewise gets a great start and is one of many to slipstream past the Ferrari’s on the opening lap, with team-mate McLaren also following through to put two Maserati’s into the points already…

Trintignant finds himself bogged down by the Ferrari’s, though he does get past and moves into 6th, with d’Orey best of the Ferrari’s in 7th (though even he looks like he is struggling for pace right now) and Gurney in 8th also getting a decent start. Von Trips has struggled to get off the line from Pole, and thus must settle for 9th with Gregory maintaining 10th position on the opening lap.

Behra falls to 11th, though behind him Brabham arguably has the worst start as he drops to 12th and is really struggling to get his tyres up to temperature, while de Beaufort arguably gets the best start of all as he rockets from 21st to 13th already! Gendebien is down to 14th and looks to be on a different strategy to his team-mates, while Bianchi is 15th, Shelby the best Connaught in a respectable 16th, Moss maintaining 17th, Brooks up to 18th for Aston Martin, Allison 19th and de Filippis rounding out the Top 20.

Salvadori is 21st from Ireland 22nd and then Ward in the sole Lotus is up to 24th just behind the slow-starting Fairman in 23rd, with the JBW’s behind him already looking somewhat off the pace – though Naylor will take some comfort from moving out of last place and up to 25th, from Scarlatti 26th and Burgess 27th overall.

*Lap 2* – Graham Hill is applying serious pressure to Phil Hill, as the former takes fastest lap from his less experienced team-mate and moves to within 1 tenth of the race lead! Meanwhile Testut is now over a second behind the BRM duo, while Gurney makes quick work of overtaking d’Orey for 7th and it gets worse for Ferrari, as Gregory passes von Trips for 9th position.

All of them may soon be watching out for de Beaufort though, as the Vanwall makes short work of passing Brabham and Behra – before the Dutchman times his braking to perfection to get a better exit out of Thillois than von Trips and move into the Top 10 at the reigning champion’s expense! Behra follows him through into 11th with von Trips now 12th ahead of Brabham 13th.

Bianchi claims 14th from Gendebien at Muizon, with Shelby into 15th at the Porsche’s expense also. De Filippis meanwhile manages to overtake Allison for 19th, while further back Ward may be the only Lotus – but he is doing well to challenge the other teams, as he manages to out-brake Fairman at Thillois for 23rd!

*Lap 3* – Graham Hill passes team-mate and namesake Phil Hill for the race lead, as the latter moves aside to let his faster team-mate through! Meanwhile Gregory in the 3rd BRM is nowhere near the pace of his team-mates (one can only hope he is on a different strategy), but he does retain 9th after ensuring that there is no way for de Beaufort to make his way past at Thillois!

Brabham meanwhile is under huge pressure from Bianchi – and the Belgian makes it tell by going around the outside at Muizon despite the Ferrari’s attempts to keep him behind! But that allows Shelby to sneak past on the inside up to 13th, with Bianchi now 14th and Brabham down to 15th place.

Further back Brooks is on a real charge, as he takes Moss at Muizon and then moves up to 16th ahead of Gendebien as well! Salvadori makes it a great lap for Aston Martin, as he moves into the Top 20 ahead of Allison, while Ward is also making his way closer to that Top 20 with a comfortable pass on Ireland for 22nd place.

*Lap 4* – De Beaufort’s charge continues apace, as he takes advantage of Gregory pushing d’Orey wide at Muizon to drive past both of them and move up to 8th with the BRM retaining 9th and d’Orey dropping to 10th overall. Gendebien manages to hold Moss behind him, while Allison challenges Salvadori for 20th position – and the Aston Martin reacts to push his adversary wide at Thillois, which hands the initiative to Ward in the Lotus, who claims 20th ahead of Allison 21st and Salvadori 22nd overall.

*Lap 5* – Graham Hill claims another Fastest Lap to move 6 tenths ahead of Phil Hill and 2.6 seconds ahead of Testut in 3rd – though most of the action here is in the midfield, as Brooks gets the better of Brabham thanks to the Ferrari drifting wide at Muizon. On the back-straight they go five wide…with Brabham, Brooks, Gendebien, Moss and de Filippis all jostling for position!

Gendebien brakes first…and that drops him back to 19th place as he was far too cautious, while Brabham brakes latest – but too late and thus falls to 18th overall. Moss times it to perfection though to claim 15th, from Brooks who retains 16th and de Filippis, who moves up to 17th position!

*Lap 6* – Bianchi pulls out to pass Shelby in the Connaught, while Gendebien gets the better of Brabham on the start/finish straight along with Salvadori overhauling Allison and Naylor getting the better of Fairman…in fact the JBW driver goes on to set a fantastic lap-time that Fairman just cannot match! Some excellent laps this time from von Trips, Moss and Bonnier (who claims Fastest Lap with a 2:33.1) close them up to the drivers they are chasing.

Brooks pulls over to let de Filippis through for 16th position in the hope that he can challenge those in front of him!

*Lap 7* – Shelby makes short work of reclaiming 13th from Bianchi on the run down to Thillois, while Ward continues his advance by putting Brabham into the rear-view mirror at Muizon – which allows Salvadori to capitalise and sneak ahead of the Ferrari to move into the Top 20 as well! Ward goes one better at Thillois to get the better of Gendebien and move up to 18th position…

*Lap 8* – No real action on track this lap, as the BRMs continue to stretch away at the front with around a 4 second lead over Testut now.

*Lap 9* – Shelby continues his strong showing this race, with a brilliant pass on von Trips for 12th at Hovette of all corners! Ward continues his strong showing for Lotus, as he comfortably gets the better of Brooks at Muizon to move into 17th position, which will surely leave Team Principal Tom Byrne questioning where his other drivers were in qualifying!

It’s not all bad news for Aston Martin though, as Salvadori overtakes Gendebien for 19th by braking slightly later at Thillois.

*Lap 10* – The reason for the BRM’s superior pace quickly becomes clear, as Graham Hill pits – and that drops him all the way to the rear of the field, some 12 seconds behind the final JBW entry! Phil Hill now leads (though one wonders whether his next stop is imminent!), from Testut 2nd, Bonnier 3rd, McLaren 4th and Trintignant now within the Top 5. Gurney is now 6th, de Beaufort 7th, Gregory 8th, d’Orey 9th and Behra now inside the Top 10.

Everyone else gains a position, though Allison manages to make his way up 2 places after a pass on the frustrated Brabham in the Ferrari at Muizon makes it three Connaughts in the Top 20!

*Lap 11* – De Beaufort looks far more competitive than Vanwall have in most races so far this season – and is pressuring Gurney to move into 6th place (which may soon become a points-paying position!), while Ward is similarly on the tail of de Filippis for 15th place.

*Lap 12* – Phil Hill pits for BRM and emerges in 26th just 1 tenth ahead of team-mate Graham Hill, while no other teams are even out in the pits. That gives Testut the race lead, from Bonnier 2nd, McLaren 3rd, Trintignant 4th and Gurney now 5th and making it all three Maserati’s in the points right now. De Beaufort is now 6th, from Gregory 7th, d’Orey 8th, Behra 9th and Shelby now into the Top 10 for Connaught.

Bianchi gets the better of von Trips to move up to 11th for Cooper, as the Ferrari team look particularly slow right now…and Team Principal Tim Wagner must be hoping that it is simply their strategy playing out!

*Lap 13* – Ward again pressures de Filippis and both have Moss firmly in their sights! Meanwhile Salvadori, Gendebien and Allison go three-wide on the run down to Thillois, which plays right into the Connaught’s hands as he comes up with a real head of steam and manages to barrel all the way round the outside to move up to 17th position.

At the back, Phil Hill moves aside to let Graham Hill past and allow the BRM to have 1st shot at Burgess in the JBW, who is less than a second ahead of him now.

*Lap 14* – Another battle royale on the run down to Thillois sees Moss, de Filippis and Ward jostling for position – and that allows the Lotus to get the better of his opposition and move into 13th position, with de Filippis retaining 14th and Moss dropping down to 15th place overall. Meanwhile at the back, the BRM charge begins as both of the Hills manage to easily move past Burgess for 25th and 26th positions.

*Lap 15* – No real action this lap, as the field takes stock and prepares for the next set of pit-stops to come…most likely from those at the front of the field!

*Lap 16* – As the rain continues to drive down with no sign of stopping, McLaren comes into the pits (which look much busier than before) and falls from 3rd to 25th, crucially splitting the BRM duo that have also already pitted.

That means Trintignant is now 3rd, Gurney 4th, de Beaufort 5th, Gregory 6th, d’Orey 7th, Behra 8th, Shelby 9th and Bianchi now 10th overall. Meanwhile Ward makes the ultimate pass, as he uses what looks a lighter car to out-drag reigning champion von Trips to claim 11th position.

*Lap 17* – Testut and de Beaufort both come in, as we see those with lower fuel at the start now have to pay the price and make the extra pit-stop. That moves Bonnier into the race lead, from Trintignant and Gurney, with Gregory 4th and d’Orey 5th with a Ferrari back into the points-paying positions!

Behra is now 6th from Shelby a strong 7th for Connaught, Bianchi 8th, Ward 9th and von Trips back inside the Top 10. De Filippis is right on his tail however, while Gendebien is likewise all over Salvadori for what is now 15th. Meanwhile those extra laps have paid dividends for Testut, who comes out in 20th position right behind Naylor (who is now inside the Top 20) and narrowly ahead of Fairman in 21st.

Graham Hill is still making progress behind them though and passes Scarlatti for 22nd, while McLaren is 24th, Phil Hill 25th, Burgess 26th and de Beaufort emerging in 27th overall.

*Lap 18* – Bonnier pits from the race lead, passing over to Trintignant in the Porsche now 1st, Gurney 2nd, Gregory up to 3rd for BRM, d’Orey 4th, Behra 5th, Shelby an impressive 6th, Bianchi 7th, Ward 8th (and gaining ground!), de Filippis 9th after a strong pass on von Trips, who retains 10th position.

Further back Brabham starts his comeback drive, with a good out-braking manoeuvre at Muizon to claim what is now 15th from Gendebien. Bonnier emerges in 21st position (with the leader of those that have stopped – Testut – now up to 19th), behind Fairman in 20th but crucially ahead of Graham Hill in 22nd.

*Lap 19* – Trintignant has a 3.5 second lead at the front and is setting a blistering pace right now! Brabham meanwhile has his comeback drive halted prematurely, as he slides a little too wide at Thillois to allow Gendebien to reclaim 15th place. Further back it’s a great lap for BRM, as Graham Hill passes the newly-pitted Bonnier and then moves into the Top 20 at the expense of Fairman – narrowing his arrears to Testut to just 3 seconds.

Meanwhile Phil Hill also passes a recently stopped Maserati, in the shape of McLaren, before comfortably overhauling Scarlatti for 23rd position!

*Lap 20* – Gurney pits this time around, and the pits look to have died down in activity – which implies that everyone else may only be doing a 1 stopper. Gregory is now 2nd, from d’Orey 3rd, Behra 4th and Shelby into an incredible 5th for Connaught! Bianchi is up to 6th, Ward an impressive 7th for Lotus, de Filippis 8th, von Trips 9th and Moss inside the Top 10.

Testut is 5 seconds behind Naylor, while Graham Hill is just 1.4 seconds behind the Porsche and closing in…Bonnier meanwhile passes Fairman for what is now 20th overall and McLaren takes Scarlatti for 23rd in a great lap for Maserati! Gurney meanwhile emerges in 25th position, some 10 seconds down on his compatriot.

*Lap 21* – Trintignant continues to stretch his lead at the front of the race, which could well be confirming his place in the Championship battle – while Bonnier and von Trips (those ahead of him in the standings) have more challenging afternoons…

Further back what could be a crucial pass takes place, as Graham Hill overhauls Testut for 18th and becomes best of those who have pitted (as he was before the stops took place).

*Lap 22* – De Beaufort moves out of last position and up to 25th ahead of Burgess, and with thanks to Allison pitting for Connaught from 12th and dropping to the rear of the field.

*Lap 23* – Ward passes Bianchi for 6th position with a well-timed move at Thillois, which puts him within touching distance of the points! Graham Hill meanwhile comfortably passes Naylor for 16th place.

*Lap 24* – Trintignant pits from the lead, which promotes Gregory into 1st place for BRM from d’Orey a strong 2nd, Behra 3rd, Shelby 4th and Ward into 5th for Lotus! Bianchi is close behind in 6th while von Trips is up to 7th (thanks to de Filippis pitting), Moss 8th, Brooks 9th and Salvadori 10th. Gendebien is now 11th, from Brabham 12th and Ireland 13th.

Concerningly for BRM, Graham Hill only makes it up to 16th before he pits again – that elevates Naylor to 14th, Testut to 15th (who shows no sign of stopping any time soon, and is now the best of those to have stopped again), Bonnier 16th and then Trintignant out in 17th overall.

Phil Hill challenges Fairman, who pulls across the track to thwart the BRM’s progress – and they collide to comfortably allow McLaren into 18th, Phil Hill is now 19th and struggling with his pace ahead of Fairman 20th, who has sustained even more damage from their collision!

Scarlatti is 21st, from Gurney 22nd, de Beaufort 23rd, Burgess 24th and de Filippis out in 25th ahead of Allison and then Graham Hill in 27th and last position.

*Lap 25* – Another series of stops this lap, as Gregory, Shelby, Ward, Bianchi, Gendebien, Naylor and the damaged Fairman all come into the pits. That means a Ferrari now leads, though few would have predicted it would have been d’Orey to be in that position (and fastest on track too, no less)! Behra is now 2nd from von Trips back up to 3rd, Moss 4th, Brooks 5th, Salvadori 6th, Brabham 7th, Ireland 8th, Testut 9th and Bonnier 10th. Trintignant is struggling with his cold tyres, which allows McLaren into 11th ahead of the Porsche, from Phil Hill 13th and still struggling with his damage and then Scarlatti in 14th place ahead of Gregory, who emerges from the pits in 15th overall.

Gurney is up to 16th, from de Beaufort 17th, Burgess 18th, Shelby out in 19th, Ward out in 20th and Bianchi emerging in 21st overall. De Filippis is up to 22nd, from Gendebien out in 23rd, Allison up to 24th, Graham Hill 25th, Naylor out in 26th and Fairman out in 27th having fixed his damage.

*Lap 26* – Moss is pressuring von Trips for 3rd but cannot find a way past this lap…while Scarlatti passes the damaged Phil Hill for 13th place. Graham Hill needs to gain ground quickly and makes quick work of passing Allison for 24th – though the BRM will need to increase his pace significantly if he is to make this strategy work!

*Lap 27* – D’Orey, Behra, Moss and Burgess all pit for what is surely their only scheduled stop this race. That means von Trips leads the race now, from Brooks 2nd and Salvadori 3rd (two Aston Martin’s on the podium now!). Brabham is up to 4th (with his poor start to the race now explained by his heavier fuel load!), Ireland 5th, Testut 6th, Bonnier 7th, McLaren 8th, Trintignant 9th (now top of the drivers that have likely no further stops to make) and Scarlatti up to 10th position.

Phil Hill is 11th despite his damage, while d’Orey emerges in 12th, from Gurney now 13th after a strong block-pass on Gregory at Muizon. Behra is out of the pits in 15th, from de Beaufort 16th and Moss out in 17th position. Shelby is up to 18th, from Ward 19th, Bianchi 20th, de Filippis 21st, Gendebien 22nd, Graham Hill 23rd, Allison 24th, Naylor 25th, Fairman 26th and Burgess out in 27th and last on-track, now a lap behind the race leader.

*Lap 28* – Brooks and Scarlatti both pit this time around, which promotes Salvadori to 2nd, Brabham up to 3rd, Ireland 4th, Testut 5th, Bonnier 6th, McLaren 7th, Trintignant 8th – and then it’s Gurney, who roars past both Phil Hill and Fritz d’Orey and into 9th. D’Orey rounds out the Top 10 from the damaged Phil Hill still 11th, Gregory 12th and de Beaufort now 13th after a slick in/out manoeuvre at Muizon is enough to overhaul Behra.

Brooks emerges in 15th from Moss 16th, Shelby 17th, Ward 18th, Bianchi 19th and de Filippis up to 20th position. Scarlatti meanwhile is out in 25th just behind team-mate Naylor for JBW!

*Lap 29* – Ireland pits from 4th to leave only the leading trio of von Trips, Salvadori and Brabham yet to come in. Testut is now up to 4th and gaining ground on those ahead, with Bonnier up to 5th, McLaren 6th, Trintignant 7th, Gurney 8th, d’Orey 9th and Gregory now 10th after Phil Hill moves over to let him through.

De Beaufort is up to 12th, from Behra 13th, Brooks 14th, Moss 15th, Shelby 16th, Ward 17th, Bianchi 18th and Ireland out in 19th position overall.

*Lap 30* – Von Trips and Salvadori both pit, which promotes Brabham to the race lead, Testut to 2nd, Bonnier to 3rd, McLaren 4th, Trintignant 5th, Gurney 6th, d’Orey 7th, Gregory 8th and de Beaufort up to 9th after an easy pass on the ailing Phil Hill, who at least is now inside the Top 10. Though he does have von Trips out behind him in 11th, Behra up to 12th, Brooks 13th and Salvadori out in 14th position.

Graham Hill is pushing as hard as possible and makes reasonably quick work of overtaking Gendebien for 21st place, as he looks to use his low fuel load to make some strong progress.

*Lap 31* – Brabham pits from the race lead and is followed into the pits by Phil Hill, who finally gets his damaged car fixed! Testut therefore inherits the race lead, though will likely have to stop again, as will Bonnier in 2nd and McLaren in 3rd – with Trintignant in 4th looking solidly in with a chance of his 1st victory this season if he can keep his pace up!

Gurney is up to 5th (and likely will need to stop again), from de Beaufort 6th – who passes both Gregory and d’Orey on the run down to Thillois, who are clearly on a different strategy to him – d’Orey 7th and Gregory 8th. Von Trips is up to 9th from Behra 10th and Brabham out in 11th position.

Brooks is now 12th from Salvadori 13th, Moss 14th, Shelby 15th, Ward 16th, Bianchi 17th, Ireland 18th, de Filippis 19th and Graham Hill up to 20th and pushing hard! Phil Hill emerges in 25th and looking good to get to the end of the race, with the BRM’s clearly having split their strategies between a 1 stop (Gregory), 2 stops (Phil Hill) and 3 stops (Graham Hill) – with the former best placed as it stands!

*Lap 32* – Graham Hill comfortably passes de Filippis for 19th and moves right onto the rear of Ireland ahead…

*Lap 33* – McLaren makes his final stop of the race, which promotes Trintignant to 3rd, Gurney to 4th and de Beaufort to 5th position. D’Orey is up to 6th just 1 second ahead of Gregory in 7th, with von Trips 2.5 seconds back in 8th, Behra 9th and Brabham up to 10th overall.

Ireland is struggling with his heavier fuel load and runs wide at Muizon, which allows Graham Hill into 17th and de Filippis up to 18th. McLaren emerges in 21st, with Gendebien 20th behind Ireland 19th overall.

*Lap 34* – Testut and de Beaufort both come into the pits, which promotes Bonnier to 1st (though needing to pit again), Trintignant to 2nd, Gurney to 3rd (also needs to pit again), d’Orey to 4th, Gregory 5th and less than a second behind the Ferrari, with von Trips 6th, Behra 7th, Brabham 8th and Salvadori up to 9th after Brooks pulls over to let his faster team-mate through.

Moss is up to 11th ahead of Testut, who emerges in 12th position, from Shelby 13th, Ward 14th, Bianchi 15th, Graham Hill 16th, de Filippis 17th, Ireland 18th, McLaren up to 19th after a strong pass on Gendebien – and then it’s de Beaufort emerging in 21st position.

*Lap 35* – Gurney pits this time around, which moves d’Orey up to 3rd, Gregory to 4th, von Trips 5th, Behra 6th, Brabham 7th, Brooks 8th (after Salvadori allows his team-mate to re-pass him) and then Moss rounds out the Top 10.

Testut is back up to 11th, from Shelby 12th, Ward 13th and Graham Hill desperately trying to make up time in 14th after an easy pass on Bianchi at Muizon for 15th. De Filippis is up to 16th, ahead of Ireland 17th, McLaren 18th, Gendebien 19th and Gurney out in 20th position overall.

*Lap 36* – Bonnier pits from the race lead, which promotes Trintignant to 1st spot with a 17 second advantage over d’Orey in 2nd, Gregory 3rd, von Trips 4th and Behra 5th – and they look like the most likely points scorers right now! Brabham is 6th from Salvadori 7th after another swap with Brooks on track – in what is looking like a great race for Aston Martin! Moss is in a solid 9th for Connaught from Testut in 10th, who is gaining ground on those ahead…

Shelby is 11th with Graham Hill now 12th after a comfortable pass on Ward on the run down to Thillois – and then it’s Bonnier out in 14th position. Phil Hill passes Scarlatti for 24th position, as the JBW team are finding reality starting to bite in this race.

*Lap 37* – Testut passes Moss for 9th and will soon make his way up to the Aston Martin’s at this pace! Graham Hill makes his way past Shelby for 11th at Thillois, while Bonnier overtakes Ward for 13th as he looks to make his way back inside the Top 10.

McLaren is up to 17th after an easy pass on Ireland, as the 2-stoppers look to take advantage of their fresher tyres and potentially lighter fuel loads!

*Lap 38* – Graham Hill pits from 11th and emerges in 25th, as all scheduled pit-stops look to have been taken…and that moves Shelby up to 11th, though Bonnier is 12th and right on his tail! Ward is 13th, Bianchi 14th, de Filippis 15th, McLaren 16th and Gendebien up to 17th after a well-timed pass on Ireland at Muizon.

*Lap 39* – Bonnier makes his way past Shelby into 11th and may yet prevent Connaught from finishing inside the Top 10 as he gains ground on Moss in 10th as well…while further back Phil Hill is making up some ground himself, as he passes Naylor at Muizon and Allison at Thillois to claim 21st position overall.

*Lap 40* – Trintignant is now 19 seconds ahead at the front – and is the fastest man on track to boot, now Graham Hill has pitted! D’Orey meanwhile has Gregory 0.3 seconds behind him, which is a gap that is only getting smaller and smaller…

*Lap 41* – Gregory passes d’Orey for 2nd place and will now set off after Trintignant – but they are setting similar lap-times right now, which should keep the Porsche in 1st position! Bonnier is now right behind Moss in the fight for the final Top 10 position, while further back Graham Hill is now looking likely to scythe his way through the JBW contingent in 23rd and 24th positions.

*Lap 42* – Bonnier is just 1 tenth behind Moss for 10th, while the action is at the back predominantly, with Graham Hill passing Scarlatti for 24th and Allison defending from Naylor over 22nd position!

*Lap 43* – Bonnier makes his move on Moss and spares Maserati blushes by moving inside the Top 10 at last! Meanwhile it gets worst for Connaught, as Allison finds himself out-braked by Naylor for 22nd position at Muizon.

*Lap 44* – Graham Hill is moving quickly – though not enough to make up for his somewhat excessive 3-stop strategy! He passes both Allison and Naylor on the run down to Thillois to move up to 22nd position overall.

*Lap 45* – Testut passes Brooks for 8th place, as the Porsche hasn’t completely given up on his chances of points yet!

*Lap 46* – No real action on track this lap, as it looks like the calm before the storm…

*Lap 47* – Testut makes another place up, as he moves past the tiring Salvadori to move into 7th position at the Aston Martin’s expense.

*Lap 48* – McLaren passes de Filippis for 15th position, though that is likely to be all the progress he makes given the 13 second gap to Bianchi ahead…

*Lap 49* – Testut is pushing hard to close in on Brabham but may struggle to close the gap in the laps remaining…meanwhile Salvadori looks to be running out of steam and Brooks moves up to 8th thanks to his team-mate’s struggles. Bonnier is closing down on both of them though…!

Gurney passes Ireland for 18th, while Phil Hill makes it even worse for Vanwall – as he claims de Beaufort’s 20th position with a strong passing manoeuvre at Thillois.

*Lap 50* – Trintignant takes the race victory to finally claim his 1st ever win and signal his arrival as a legitimate Championship contender! Gregory claims 2nd for BRM and d’Orey 3rd for Ferrari, as both take their first ever Podium positions!!!

Von Trips claims 4th position (after failing to convert Pole Position here) with Behra 5th for Cooper ahead of Brabham, Testut (who claims Fastest Lap on the final tour of the circuit, and the point that goes with it!) and Brooks. Bonnier passes Salvadori for 9th position on the final lap – with the Brit claiming 10th place to ensure there are two Aston Martin’s inside the Top 10!

Moss finds himself under pressure from Shelby and despite desperately trying to defend from him, the American manages to dive up the inside of Thillois at the last minute to take 11th position with Moss in 12th. Ward comes home 13th in a decent effort for the sole Lotus, with Bianchi 14th, McLaren 15th de Filippis 16th, Gendebien 17th, Gurney 18th, Ireland 19th and Phil Hill 20th and surely rueing his crash during the race.

De Beaufort comes home 21st, after the 2-stop strategy failed to pay dividends for both him and the others who attempted to navigate Reims’ long pit-lane twice during this race! Meanwhile Graham Hill’s attempt to do 3 stops proved unsuccessful, as he comes home 22nd (and you have to ask whether BRM threw away a chance of a double podium here today!) ahead of Naylor 23rd, Allison 24th and Scarlatti last man on the lead lap in 25th overall.

*1 LAP DOWN* – Fairman finishes 26th after a race to forget, though Burgess in 27th will at least be pleased that he was not that far behind a Vanwall at the flag.

Watch this space for the next race of the season, which will be the British Grand Prix at Aintree…

## Milestones

* Moss up to 5th in Most Race Entries Ever, at the expense of Juan Manuel Fangio
* 20th race entry for de Beaufort
* Salvadori moves up to 3rd for Most Starts ever at the expense of Mike Hawthorn
* Behra moves up to 9th and Brabham moves up to 10th for Most Starts ever at the expense of Juan Manuel Fangio
* Schell is up to 6th for Most Races without a Win, at the expense of Umberto Maglioli
* Flockhart is up to 8th for Most Races without a Win, at the expense of Alberto Ascari
* Fairman is up to 10th for Most Races without a Win, at the expense of Piero Taruffi
* Trintignant finally wins after 46 races! That moves José Froilán González up to 3rd, Carlos Menditeguy up to 4th, Harry Schell to 5th despite not starting, Umberto Maglioli up to 6th, Ron Flockhart up to 7th despite not starting, Alberto Ascari up to 8th, Fairman up to 9th and Piero Taruffi back inside the Top 10!
* Brooks is up to 4th for Most Races without Points, at the expense of Eugenio Castellotti and André Simon
* De Beaufort is up to 5th for Most Races without Points, at the expense of Simon and Castellotti also
* Scarlatti is up to 8th for Most Races without Points, at the expense of Paul Emery
* The French GP has now seen three debut winners in four seasons, after Collins in ’56, Behra in ’57 and now Trintignant in ’59!
* Jean Behra (in 1957) and Roy Salvadori (in 1954) are the only active winners of the French GP on the grid this time, while other former winners are Bob Gerard (retired) in 1958, 1953 and 1951, Collins (’56 – retired), Farina (’52 – retired) and de Graffenried (’50 - retired).
* Trintignant’s win moves Mike Hawthorn up to 6th, Cesare Perdisa up to 7th, Horace Gould to 8th, Georges Grignard to 9th and reinstates Chico Landi into the Top 10 for Most Points without a Win
* Points finish for Trintignant is his 3rd points finish in a row
* FL for Testut moves him into the Top 10 for Most Fastest Laps at the expense of Piero Taruffi (and indeed up to 8th ahead of both Élie Bayol and Yves-Girard Cabantous. Also means he has scored FL in 67% of his F1R races – the best % of any driver ever!!!
* FL for Testut is his 2nd Consecutive Fastest Lap; only the 7th driver to achieve this feat!
* FL at the French GP in 1950, 1951, 1957 and 1958 was Gerard; other past FLs were Collins (’56 – retired), Marimón (’54 – retired), Landi (’53 – retired) and Taruffi (‘52 – retired)
* Pole for von Trips moves him into the Top 10 for Most Poles ever at the expense of Hermann Lang
* Pole at the French GP in 1958 was Bonnier, while past Pole-Sitters were Gerard (’51, ’52 and ’57), de Graffenried (’56 – retired), Lang (’54 – retired), Maglioli (’53 – retired) and Cabantous (’50 – retired)
* Podium for Trintignant is his 2nd Consecutive Podium!