1959 Monaco GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Monaco
* Location – Monte Carlo
* Corners – 12
* Laps – 100
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 2:30.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 1:39.800 (Tony Brooks)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 1:32.585 (Giuseppe Farina – W Hoeksta)
* Pit Lane Length – 35 seconds\*
* Fuel Consumption – Very Low
* Tyre Wear – Low

\*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 v Ferrari seems to be the main plot for this race, particularly given how difficult overtaking is around the tight and twisty streets of Monte Carlo! Ron Flockhart starts the season in incredible fashion, as he takes his 1st ever Pole Position - and what a relief that will be, as right now he is 2nd in the 'Most Races without Points' stats, behind only Harry Schell (who starting from 22nd is likely to remain atop that particular leaderboard…!).

Von Trips starts his title defence with a strong 2nd place, with Behra right behind for Cooper from the Ferrari duo of d'Orey and Brabham (the former doing well to qualify in front of his more experienced team-mate) and the final Cooper of Bianchi. Following them are the Maserati trio of Bonnier, McLaren and Gurney with de Beaufort really out-performing his machinery to put his Vanwall into 10th position on the grid.

Trintignant does well to line his Porsche up in 11th, with Herrmann 12th for Lotus and another driver really impressing is Shelby in 13th for Connaught! Gendebien is 14th for Porsche with Moss 15th for Connaught and Ward 16th for Lotus - while BRM line up in 17th, 18th and 19th as Graham Hill leads Phil Hill and Masten Gregory, in what must be a disappointing qualifying for the British marque.

Salvadori is the lead Aston Martin in 20th, from de Filippis again starting from 21st and Schell 22nd. Burgess is the best JBW in 23rd, as the new teams struggle against some of the more established outfits, with Scarlatti 24th also for JBW. Behind them are those who had accidents in qualifying, including the Vanwall's of Fairman and Ireland in 25th and 26th, the Aston Martin of Brooks in 27th, the Porsche of Testut in 28th, the JBW of Naylor in 29th and finally Allison's Connaught in 30th on the grid - as every driver takes part!

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* – We are GO in Monaco! Flockhart starts cleanly and will be relieved to avoid being overtaken off the start-line, while behind him there is significant action within the points places, as von Trips swerves to keep Behra behind him, which ripples back down to the Maserati’s – who make some opportunistic moves to make their way past the likes of d’Orey, Brabham and Bianchi. That leaves Bonnier now 4th and McLaren 5th…

…Trintignant is another moving up quickly, with comfortable passes on both de Beaufort and Gurney’s Maserati, while Graham Hill is making passes like his life depends on it…which is rather in contrast to his team-mate Gregory who is busy defending from Salvadori, who moves to block de Filippis – but the only woman on the grid roars past both of them, Ward, Moss and the slow-starting Gendebien, who looks very slow indeed off the line! The upshot of all of that is that Graham Hill is now 6th, Trintignant 7th, Gurney 8th, d’Orey 9th, Brabham 10th, de Beaufort 11th, Phil Hill 12th, Herrmann 13th, Bianchi a very poor 14th off the start and Shelby 15th…

Contrasting fortunes for JBW here, as Burgess passes Schell, Salvadori and Gregory off the start – while Scarlatti gets it completely wrong while trying to defend from Testut, Brooks and Ireland behind and turns too sharply into the barriers at the Start/Finish line! Allison meanwhile looks to put his dire qualifying behind him, as he takes Naylor, Fairman and the incredibly cumbersome Gendebien here. As such Testut is now 16th, de Filippis 17th, Burgess 18th, Gregory 19th, Ward 20th, Moss 21st, Brooks 22nd, Ireland 23rd, Salvadori 24th, Allison 25th, Naylor 26th, Schell 27th, Fairman 28th and Gendebien right down to 29th overall.

*Lap 2* – Behra challenges von Trips for 2nd but finds himself pushed out and starting a ripple effect all the way down the order to the bottom of the Top 10. But as they queue up on the run down to the Station Hairpin, Bonnier is quickest to react initially and slips up the inside of Behra’s Cooper for 3rd place – but as the two of them duke it out they both slide wide later in the lap at Gazométre and that allows the on-rushing Graham Hill (who also passed McLaren at the Station Hairpin) through up to 3rd position with Bonnier still 4th and Behra down to 5th.

Trintignant moves up a place after McLaren fails to brake in time for Chicane du Port and loses time coming back onto the track with d’Orey also capitalising on the train to overhaul Gurney – and then set his team-mate up for an amazing slipstream out of the final corner, as Brabham passes d’Orey, Gurney, McLaren and Trintignant on the home straight! Brabham isn’t the only one managing to make passes stick – as Testut in the Porsche proves with a brilliant series of passes, first at Sainte Devote on Bianchi and Shelby (who also passes the Cooper this time), then at Massenet with a brave move on Herrmann before a pass on Phil Hill at Station Hairpin, de Beaufort through Le Tunnel and then a great exit from Gazométre that sees him slingshot past Gurney, d’Orey and McLaren.

That means Brabham is now 6th, Trintignant 7th and Testut an impressive 8th as two Porsche’s now sit inside the Top 10! McLaren is 9th, d’Orey 10th and de Beaufort 11th overall after the Vanwall also manages to use the gap Brabham makes to move past Gurney. Herrmann is up to 12th, with Gurney 13th, Shelby 14th, de Filippis 15th (after both use Testut’s advances to their advantage), Phil Hill 16th, Bianchi 17th, Tony Brooks 18th (as Aston Martin start to recover from their fairly average qualifying performance), Burgess 19th and Ward rounding out the Top 20.

Gregory has dropped to 21st, from Allison 22nd (clearly keen to redeem himself after his qualifying crash), Moss 23rd, Salvadori 24th, Ireland 25th and then the rest of the grid all being held up but without any other passing moves.

*Lap 3* – Flockhart is getting away at the front, as von Trips is busy defending from Graham Hill – but the BRM looks incredibly quick right now and makes quick work of passing the Ferrari at the Station Hairpin to claim 2nd overall. That causes the usual concertina effect down to 8th placed Testut, with Brabham the man caught out at Chicane du Port this time – as the Ferrari gets pushed off line and loses 6th to Trintignant and 7th to Testut (who is being held up by his more experienced team-mate right now!).

McLaren meanwhile is frantically defending from d’Orey, which sets off another chain reaction down the order – which catches out the likes of de Beaufort, Shelby and Phil Hill initially. Capitalising first of all is Herrmann, who not only benefits from de Beaufort’s error at Chicane du Port but also pounces on d’Orey running a little wide at Gazométre to move up to 10th in the Lotus.

D’Orey is now 11th from de Filippis 12th (thanks to getting the better of Gurney), Brooks 13th (as Aston Martin continue to move up the grid), Gurney down to 14th, de Beaufort 15th, Shelby 16th, Bianchi maintaining 17th, Phil Hill down to 18th and Burgess 19th. Behind them Ireland gets the better of Salvadori, as the ripple effect runs all the way down to the back end of the order!

*Lap 4* – Graham Hill is down to 3.5 seconds behind Flockhart in the BRM, while Testut risks everything at Mirabeau to overhaul his team-mate and ALMOST hits Trintignant – but the ends justify the means eventually, as the Monegasque on home soil advances to 6th overall! Meanwhile Aston Martin continue to play a smart game, as de Filippis sacrifices his own pace to move aside for Brooks, who moves up past d’Orey and Herrmann before a great exit from Gazométre sees him also pass McLaren for 9th position as well!

McLaren is now down to 10th, from Gurney 11th (who follows Brooks through as far as he can go), Herrmann 12th, d’Orey 13th and de Filippis 14th overall. De Beaufort is 15th from Shelby 16th and then it’s Burgess in 17th as the JBW manages to take advantage of the queue into Station Hairpin to go around the outside of both Bianchi and Phil Hill!

Meanwhile Allison moves aside to let Moss through, which allows the Brit to use the momentum to overhaul Gregory for 21st in the process. Allison manages to maintain 23rd despite moving off-line, while behind them Salvadori reclaims 24th from Ireland as their battle intensifies!

*Lap 5* – 3 seconds is the gap at the front as Graham Hill continues to push Flockhart’s lead down (and sets a Fastest Lap of a 1:39.4 in the process), while behind them Testut uses his knowledge of the Monegasque streets to firstly pressure Behra in front of him into moving off-line and then backing off at the perfect time to allow Trintignant through to take advantage! The Frenchman not only overhauls Behra but uses that same momentum through Tabac and down to Gazométre to pass Bonnier and von Trips as well – meaning the Porsche is now up to 3rd position overall!!!

Von Trips is 4th from Bonnier 5th, Behra 6th and then next up is Brabham after Behra going off-line and Testut giving up his own place hands the initiative to the Ferrari. Testut is still 8th from Brooks and McLaren, who round out the Top 10. Behind them the latest concertina effect catches Gurney out as he slides wide at Sainte Devote to give up 11th to Herrmann, 12th to d’Orey and 13th to de Filippis.

Behind them Allison continues his own advance with a strong pass on Gregory through Le Tunnel before Moss offers very little resistance to give his team-mate 21st on track, from Moss 22nd and Gregory 23rd. Ireland and Salvadori again swap places, and Naylor in the JBW is really taking up an interest in this fight now…

*Lap 6* – De Filippis passes d’Orey for 12th as the young Ferrari debutante struggles to get to grips with the twists and turns of the Monaco circuit and runs wide at Tabac, which allows Gurney to pass him as well!

Further back Naylor pounces to overtake Salvadori for 25th position, which means Ireland needs to defend from Naylor this time around! Up front Von Trips looks to pass Trintignant for 3rd but the Porsche easily manages to stay ahead by planting his car on every apex! Phil Hill manages to out-brake Bianchi at Station Hairpin to claim 18th, while Tony Brooks gets himself ahead of Testut and then pressures Brabham into an error at Gazométre – that moves Brooks up to 7th with Testut right on his tail in 8th, McLaren up to 9th and Herrmann up to 10th with Brabham recovering to 11th overall.

Meanwhile up-front Graham Hill sets a 1:39 dead to reduce his arrears…

*Lap 7* – …which he then further reduces to just 1.6 seconds behind Flockhart! Von Trips is defending at the same time, as he keeps Bonnier at bay – while the ripple effect down the order benefits Testut, who uses his knowledge of his home track to squeeze past Brooks on the run through Beau Rivage (with only millimetres remaining!) before he makes quick work of taking Behra for 6th at Chicane du Port.

The traffic jam into Station Hairpin sees Herrmann pass McLaren for 9th, while de Filippis gets the better of Brabham through sheer car positioning – and the man taking advantage of all of that is Fritz d’Orey, who had passed Gurney at Sainte Devote and then follows de Filippis through into 12th position to condemn Brabham to 13th overall.

Meanwhile de Beaufort is busy defending from Shelby in the Connaught (who looks ready to race today!), which ripples down the order to the other Connaughts – as Allison moves aside to let Moss have a crack at Bianchi for a Top 20 position. However not only does Moss not manage to capitalise on the position but Allison also loses a position to Gregory by moving off-line as well!

*Lap 8* – Graham Hill sets a 1:38.7 to move to 0.8 seconds behind Flockhart! However, catching is one thing around Monaco, while passing is very much another!!! Speaking of – the pressure on von Trips has finally come to bear, as he is forced wide at Gazométre by Bonnier…but both drivers are too wide out of the final corner, which hands the incentive to Testut who breezes past both of them into 4th overall! Bonnier ultimately maintains 5th with von Trips down to 6th position.

The resulting concertina effect sees de Filippis mirror Testut’s move as he passes both McLaren and Herrmann to move up to 9th position – albeit only briefly, given that d’Orey gives his team-mate Brabham an incredible slipstream on the run through Tabac, which sees the Australian pass McLaren (who also moves over to let team-mate Gurney through), Herrmann and Brooks to claim no less than five positions in a single lap!!! So, all that means Brabham is now 8th from Brooks 9th, Gurney 10th (who uses his team-mate’s support to move up as well), de Filippis 11th, Herrmann 12th, McLaren 13th and d’Orey down to 14th overall.

De Beaufort in 15th is still defending – and has an entire queue of cars behind him down to Salvadori in 26th position! Within that group Moss is the first to put a foot wrong, as a wide line through Massenet causes him to wrestle with the steering wheel to avoid hitting a barrier – and in turn lose 21st to Gregory and 22nd to team-mate Allison. Salvadori also gets his own back on Naylor with a well-timed pass at Station Hairpin to reclaim 25th overall.

*Lap 9* – Graham Hill finally catches Flockhart but is unable to pass, which is great for the Porsche duo behind – given that they are some 10 seconds adrift right now. Testut in 4th is in fact the fastest man on track right now and the only man below the 1:39 mark this time around!

Brabham is forced to defend from the attack of Brooks, and all the action in the midfield now means that only 9 seconds separates Brabham in 8th from Naylor in 26th!!! This monster-concertina effect catches several drivers out this lap, including Gurney (who loses 10th to de Filippis and 11th to Herrmann), McLaren (who drops behind d’Orey to 14th) and de Beaufort (who loses 15th to Shelby in the Connaught!).

Behind that group Allison again looks to help his team-mate Moss and sacrifices his own pace through Beau Rivage (which ultimately costs him a place to the Vanwall of Ireland), which enables Moss to roar past the likes of Gregory, Bianchi and Ward by going around the outside at the Station Hairpin of all of them!!!

*Lap 10* – A 1:38.5 for Graham Hill keeps him on Flockhart’s tail – though without an overtaking attempt this time around. Meanwhile Brabham is entirely focused on blocking Brooks – and manages to run him wide at Gazométre, though that action compromises both of their exits and they both lose places to de Filippis (8th) and Herrmann (9th) with Brabham now 10th and Brooks now 11th.

De Beaufort is still defending despite losing a place to Shelby before, with Burgess in the JBW now pushing to claim his 16th position. Bianchi is similarly defending from a whole group down to Naylor in 26th.

*Lap 11* – Another lap of Flockhart blocking Graham Hill’s BRM for the lead, while von Trips is having to do similar versus Behra for 6th (but with enough of a lead over de Filippis that the concertina effect ends there). Gurney is the next man in the pack defending from d’Orey, which benefits his team-mate McLaren, who is able to use d’Orey being out of position to claim 13th for himself!

Moss is also under pressure and defending heavily from Ward, which ripples back to allow his team-mate Allison to usurp Bianchi’s 22nd position.

*Lap 12* – Flockhart is frustrating Graham Hill at the front, though Trintignant is now just 7 seconds behind as he begins to reel in the leading duo! Von Trips meanwhile is still defending from Behra, which has allowed de Filippis and Herrmann to close right in…

Brabham is defending in a tigerish manner from Brooks over the last spot inside the Top 10, though again we are starting to see spaces emerge between the contenders and so no concertina effect as a result. There is a concertina effect further back, which is caused by de Beaufort (arguably the busiest man on track in these opening laps!) holding off Burgess and everyone else down to Naylor in 26th!

*Lap 13* – A 1:38.1 for Testut sees him within 3 seconds of his team-mate, while Trintignant is just 6 seconds down on the leading duo – who are still scrapping it out! Von Trips is now 9 seconds down on Bonnier as he expends time and effort in keeping Behra at bay, which now means that everyone down to Herrmann in 9th is also being held up!

Brabham is the cork in the bottle behind them – though despite the gap starting to open up in front of him, Ferrari are at least pleased to see d’Orey capitalise on the queue of cars (which now has Shelby on the back of them) and supplant McLaren from 13th place. De Beaufort holds up Burgess and Phil Hill, while Moss is busy holding up everyone down to Bianchi, which enables his team-mate Allison to breeze past Ireland’s Vanwall for 21st overall.

*Lap 14* – A 1:38 dead for Testut as the Porsche duo continue to gain on the leaders, with Bonnier not far behind either! Von Trips is still holding everyone from Behra in 7th down to Herrmann in 9th up, while Brabham is another Ferrari defending – from Brooks for 10th place. Gurney behind them has d’Orey, team-mate McLaren and Shelby all in hot pursuit in an otherwise quiet lap…

*Lap 15* – Testut breaks the 1:38 barrier with the Top 5 all separated by less than 10 seconds now thanks to Graham Hill still being unable to overhaul Flockhart in front! A monster 13 second gap has now opened up between Bonnier in 5th and von Trips in 6th, as the Ferrari is being kept honest by Behra’s continued attacks!

Brooks is still pressuring Brabham, while de Beaufort holds up Burgess for 16th and Moss queues up everyone from Ward in 20th down to Salvadori in 25th place – as Naylor starts to fall off the back of that group a little…

*Lap 16* – 8 seconds is the gap from 1st to 5th with any of those in the points paying positions still very much in contention for victory here. Von Trips has Behra and de Filippis in close attendance, while Herrmann focuses on his own pace this lap and Brabham continues to keep Brooks at bay.

Gurney is similarly holding up everyone down to Shelby in 15th, while de Beaufort is preventing both Burgess and Phil Hill from making any further progress and Ward is now under pressure from Allison’s Connaught over the final Top 20 position.

*Lap 17* – A quieter lap, as the Top 2 seem to have realised they will soon have company – and stop squabbling to allow Graham Hill to reclaim the Fastest Lap with a 1:37.5.

*Lap 18* – Testut reclaims the Fastest Lap with a 1:37.1, which now sees the Top 5 separated by 7 seconds (thanks to the leading duo fighting again!). Von Trips is clearly keen to hold on to his position, which could be crucial later in the race – while Brabham has Brooks still right on his tail.

De Beaufort soaks up the pressure from everyone down to Allison in 21st (though Ireland, Bianchi, Gregory and Salvadori are also in close attendance).

*Lap 19* – A 1:36.8 for Testut has him now less than half a second behind 3rd placed Trintignant, as it is now less than 6 seconds (!) separating the Top 5. Von Trips continues to keep his team-mate Brabham in touching distance of those ahead – and thanks to Brabham holding up Brooks et al, d’Orey gets the opportunity to out-brake Gurney at Chicane du Port, which he takes with gusto to move up to 12th overall – and allow McLaren to follow him through into 13th as well.

De Beaufort again is holding up everyone behind him (with a 5.7 second gap opening up ahead of him as a result), which will be delightful for Allison – who overtakes both Ward and team-mate Moss at Gazométre to move into 19th with Moss behind in 20th overall. Gendebien meanwhile has now been lapped by the leaders…

*Lap 20* – We now see the first action in the pits already (with only 1/5th of the race remaining!), as Testut and Allison both come in – which demonstrates a large part of the reason for their early pace! Thanks to the leading duo still fighting amongst each other, Trintignant is just 1.2 seconds off the lead – while Bonnier is on his own now 5 seconds behind.

Von Trips is now 5th, from Behra 6th and de Filippis in 7th – as their fight allows Herrmann in 8th and the group behind to stay close. Speaking of that group, Brabham leads it in 9th, with Brooks now 10th, d’Orey 11th, McLaren 12th and Shelby into an impressive 13th for Connaught with a strong overtaking manoeuvre on Gurney’s Maserati at Tabac!

De Beaufort is 15th (and for once not defending from Burgess this lap!), with Burgess now 16th, Phil Hill 17th and Moss 18th, who is holding up a whole host of drivers including Ward 19th, Ireland 20th, Bianchi 21st, Gregory 22nd, Salvadori 23rd and Naylor now back in the pack in 24th. Behind them Schell is 7 seconds back in 25th with Fairman another 9 seconds back in 26th and Testut out in 27th dismayed to see the Vanwall right in front of him! Allison is out in 28th with some good clear air, with both he and Gendebien a lap down on the leaders.

*Lap 21* – Graham Hill is clearly desperate to take Fastest Lap here, which sees him pull out a slightly faster 1:36.8 than Testut’s, which might be good enough to keep that record for a while at least – given that the Porsche is heavily laden with fuel further back down the order! Outside of Graham Hill, Bonnier now looks to be the main threat for the leaders as he moves to within 5 seconds of the race lead!

Brabham is really holding up everyone from Brooks in 10th down to Gurney in 14th, while Ireland in 20th is now holding up Bianchi, Gregory, Salvadori and Naylor – and Testut behind them moves quickly to within 1 tenth of Fairman…but he now will need to get past him ASAP if he is to keep pace with the other leading drivers!

*Lap 22* – Flockhart is now holding up both Graham Hill and Trintignant, as the Porsche sees his first challenge on the leaders fail to live up to the hype – while Bonnier is now just 4 seconds off the lead as a result! Von Trips and Behra are still fighting over 5th, while Brooks must be sick of seeing Brabham’s Ferrari in front as another overtaking opportunity goes begging!

Meanwhile Gurney’s Maserati looks to have developed a minor issue – there are some more developmental parts on the Maserati today, and in all the fighting on-track it looks like there is an issue with his Gearbox that is costing him around half a second per lap…though luckily for him de Beaufort is more concerned by the advances of Burgess in 16th place! Further back Fairman is holding up Testut with ease right now, as the Porsche’s cold tyres are not yet up to speed…

*Lap 23* – Bonnier is the only man under the 1:37 barrier, as he reduces his arrears to just 2.8 seconds behind the leader! Von Trips and the group down to Herrmann in 8th may be queued up but they have managed to open up a 5.9 second gap on Brabham and his group that goes back to Shelby, as Gurney has dropped 1.3 seconds back thanks to his Gearbox issues. Moss holds up Ward and Fairman holds up Testut further back in the pack.

*Lap 24* – Gasps all round and Team Principal Janne Väänänen has his head in his hands, thanks to Graham Hill pulling over to the side of the road seemingly out of fuel! That explains his early pace advantage!!! He does at least retire with the Fastest Lap right now though…

That means Trintignant is now 2nd (what a run for Porsche!), Bonnier 3rd, von Trips 4th, Behra 5th, de Filippis a brilliant 6th for Aston Martin and Herrmann 7th for Lotus. Brabham’s defence of what is now 8th is having to heat up, thanks to the pressure Brooks is applying (which in turn is dragging d’Orey, McLaren and Shelby through as well).

Gurney’s issues see him moving to block de Beaufort, which costs the Vanwall dear as his defence against Burgess crumbles at last – gifting the JBW 14th at Station Hairpin ahead of de Beaufort 15th and Phil Hill right behind him in 16th. Moss is now holding Ward up for 17th, with Ireland 19th and Bianchi back inside the Top 20.

Gregory is 21st from Salvadori 22nd, Naylor 23rd, Schell 24th – and then behind them Testut challenges Fairman with far too much vigour at Tabac, colliding with the Vanwall and causing damage to both cars. Fairman elects to stay out with slightly less damage – while Testut limps into the pits and emerges in 28th and last on the track. Fairman is therefore 25th with Allison 26th and Gendebien 27th overall.

*Lap 25* – A busy pit-lane on this lap, as we start to see some potential difference in strategies emerging! Trintignant, Bonnier, de Filippis, Schell and – disastrously for Aston Martin – Brooks all come into the pits this time around!

Flockhart now leads von Trips, who is up to 2nd place and, crucially, there is no movement in the Ferrari garage at the moment, so no stops look imminent for them! Behra is now 3rd and not managing to apply pressure to the Ferrari ahead this lap for the first time in a while also…

Herrmann is 4th from Brabham 5th and d’Orey 6th, with Ferrari suddenly looking rather more ominous than they did a lap or so ago! McLaren is 7th from Shelby 8th and Burgess now in an incredible 9th for JBW thanks to a well-timed pass on the ailing Gurney who does manage to stay ahead of de Beaufort to claim a Top 10 position.

Behind de Beaufort is Phil Hill now 12th, Moss 13th, Ward 14th, Ireland 15th holding up Bianchi, Gregory and Salvadori, with Naylor into 19th and Trintignant out in 20th position overall with a bit of clear air ahead. Bonnier emerges in 21st from the struggling Fairman up to 22nd, de Filippis out in 23rd, Brooks out in 24th – though now some 17 seconds further back from his team-mate than he was – from Allison 25th and Schell 26th. The Porsche duo are bringing up the rear behind them, as that team’s fortunes look to have swung for the worse over the last couple of laps!

*Lap 26* – The leader pits! Flockhart has had good pace thus far and emerges in 19th position some 5 seconds ahead of Trintignant, while more difficulties for Maserati and their new gearbox as this time it is McLaren losing half a second per lap thanks to how much he has been pushing it around this circuit – which in turn is leading to some furious workings out between John Ibbotson and his Maserati team, with designer Valerio Colotti at the centre of the discussions!

Von Trips has now assumed his usual position of the race lead, though he looks unable to enjoy it right now as Behra continues to hassle the Ferrari, which in turn has Herrmann in 3rd right on their tail. Brabham and d’Orey are 4th and 5th for Ferrari some 6.6 and 7.9 seconds back respectively.

McLaren is 6th with Shelby 7th for Connaught, Burgess 8th for JBW and in a big change it is now Phil Hill up to 9th as the BRM (now their main hope on track after his team-mate and namesake’s retirement) uses de Beaufort’s successful pass on the ailing Gurney around the outside at Station Hairpin as impetus to do the same to the Vanwall at Gazométre!

Therefore, de Beaufort is now 10th from Gurney 11th and Moss unable to move any further up than 12th thanks to Ward’s continued pressure on him…Ireland is now 14th with Bianchi 15th, Gregory 16th, Salvadori 17th, Naylor 18th and then Flockhart out in 19th overall. Further back de Filippis has the pace but Fairman controls the apex of the corner at Station Hairpin, despite his damage, to retain 22nd position.

*Lap 27* – Behra and Burgess both pit on this lap, which promotes Herrmann to a fantastic 2nd for Lotus (who look to have raised their game this season!), Brabham to 3rd, d’Orey to 4th, McLaren some 4 seconds back managing to maintain a decent pace with his gearbox damage – certainly enough to keep Shelby in 6th at bay for now! Could the Connaught team be on for a points finish in the 1st race of the season?!?

Phil Hill is now 7th, from de Beaufort 8th, Gurney 9th holding up Moss 10th, Ward 11th, Ireland 12th and Gregory 13th after an opportunistic dive up the inside of Bianchi at Sainte Devote! Salvadori is 15th from Naylor 16th, Flockhart gaining in 17th, Trintignant 18th, Bonnier 19th (right on the tail of the Porsche ahead) and Behra out in 20th position overall.

De Filippis is up to 21st after an easy pass on the struggling Fairman keeps the Vanwall 22nd, as Burgess comes out in 23rd with some time to make up on those ahead!

*Lap 28* – Lotus are having a decent race so far, as Herrmann continues to run well in 2nd place while thanks to Moss missing a braking point at Chicane du Port we now have Ward into the Top 10! Ireland is up to 11th for Vanwall with Moss recovering back onto the track in 12th, while behind them Gregory is now holding up Bianchi and Salvadori over 13th position.

Further back Burgess’ comeback has begun with an easy overtake on Fairman through Beau Rivage to move into 22nd, while Gendebien refuses to let Testut through as the Porsche’s squabble over 27th and 28th on-track.

*Lap 29* – As if to underline the respect shown to the young newcomer at Ferrari, Brabham elects to move over to let d’Orey through into 3rd position. Meanwhile Gurney is holding up a whole queue of cars down to Naylor in 16th, though he isn’t alert enough to Ward’s advance at Tabac as the Lotus squeezes past with barely a centimetre to spare to claim 9th for Lotus! Further back Testut at last overtakes Gendebien for 27th, which likely is the best result for Porsche given their respective differences in strategy.

*Lap 30* – Herrmann pits, which means – ominously – Ferrari now hold a 1-2-3 from McLaren 4th and Shelby 5th with a Connaught in the points after around 1/3 of the race is past!!! Phil Hill is 6th from de Beaufort 7th, Ward 8th, Gurney 9th holding up Ireland 10th, Moss 11th, Bianchi 12th after a composed pass at Station Hairpin on Gregory, who is now 13th for BRM.

Salvadori is up to 14th from Naylor 15th, Flockhart 16th, Trintignant 17th keeping Bonnier 18th at bay and then it’s Herrmann out in 19th overall (for whom staying out later has paid dividends, as he has leapfrogged Behra and de Filippis as a result!). Fairman holds Brooks up for 23rd, while Schell has Testut all over the back of him – but manages to maintain 26th overall.

*Lap 31* – McLaren & Shelby are fighting over 4th position, while Gurney is busy defending from Ireland, who in turn falls prey to Moss’s advances and loses 10th place at the Station Hairpin as a result. Meanwhile Naylor comfortably overhauls Salvadori for 14th at the same corner, with passes there for Brooks on Fairman for 23rd and Testut on Schell for 26th all on this lap as well!

Meanwhile a whole host of drivers are desperate to up their pace right now including the likes of Allison, von Trips, Behra (who sets the Fastest Lap of the race so far with a 1:36.6), Trintignant, Bianchi, Gurney (after his interaction with Ireland earlier in the lap!), Phil Hill and the recovering Flockhart in the Cooper.

At the end of the lap Shelby pits, which promotes Phil Hill to 5th, de Beaufort to 6th, Ward to 7th, Moss a strong 8th for Connaught after he passes Gurney as well thanks to the Maserati’s damage holding him up – with Gurney 9th and Ireland rounding out the Top 10 for Vanwall.

Bianchi is 11th and only narrowly outside the Top 10 now, from Gregory 12th, Naylor 13th, Salvadori 14th, Flockhart 15th, Trintignant 16th, Bonnier 17th, Herrmann 18th, Behra 19th and then Shelby out of the pits in 20th overall for Connaught.

*Lap 32* – McLaren and Ward both come in to shuffle the Top 10 once again! That puts Phil Hill 4th some 12 seconds behind Brabham’s Ferrari in 3rd, de Beaufort 5th, Moss 6th, Gurney 7th and then Bianchi 8th after Ireland pulling out to try and pass Gurney is pounced on by the inexperienced Belgian.

Ireland is 9th from Gregory 10th, Naylor 11th and Salvadori 12th, all of whom were held up by the Gurney pack ahead – which means that Flockhart is up to 13th and gaining quickly on those ahead with Trintignant 14th, Bonnier 15th, Herrmann 16th, Behra 17th and McLaren finally fixing his damage and returning to the track in 18th place.

Shelby is now up to 19th from de Filippis back inside the Top 20 and then Ward emerging from the pits in 21st overall (now the last man on the lead lap…).

*Lap 33* – A series of stops this lap with d’Orey, de Beaufort, Bianchi and Gendebien all coming in – with the Porsche in 28th dropping another lap down on the leaders as he seems keen to load up with as much fuel as possible! That means Brabham is now 2nd, Phil Hill 3rd, Moss 4th, Ireland 5th after he pushes past the ailing Gurney, Gregory 7th, Naylor 8th, Salvadori 9th, Flockhart 10th, Trintignant 11th, Bonnier 12th and d’Orey out in 13th overall.

Herrmann is up to 14th, Behra 15th, McLaren 16th, Shelby 17th, de Beaufort out in 18th with de Filippis 19th, Ward 20th and Bianchi out in 21st overall.

*Lap 34* – More stops this lap with von Trips, Moss, Gurney (to finally fix his damage!), Naylor and Fairman all in – which means Brabham assumes the race lead from Phil Hill 2nd, Ireland 3rd, Gregory 4th and Salvadori 5th the last of those yet to stop. As such in the net race lead right now is Flockhart 6th from Trintignant 7th, Bonnier 8th and von Trips out in 9th overall.

D’Orey is back inside the Top 10 from Herrmann 11th, Behra 12th, McLaren 13th, Shelby 14th and de Filippis up to 15th from de Beaufort as the Vanwall struggles to bring his tyres up to temperature. Moss emerges in 17th, while Ward is up to 18th, Gurney out in 19th and Naylor out in 20th. Meanwhile Testut is up to 25th, Schell is up to 26th and Fairman comes out in 27th overall with his damage now amended.

*Lap 35* – The leading trio pit along with Salvadori, which means we now have the unlikely scenario that Masten Gregory’s BRM leads the race! Flockhart is up to a strong 2nd place from Trintignant 3rd, Bonnier 4th, von Trips 5th and Brabham out in 6th as the Australian leapfrogs his team-mate during the stops. Speaking of, d’Orey is now some 4 seconds back in 7th from Behra 8th after a clean pass on Herrmann promotes the Cooper up a spot at Gazométre and drops the Lotus to 9th overall.

Phil Hill emerges in 10th from McLaren 11th, Shelby 12th, de Filippis 13th, de Beaufort 14th and Ireland coming out of the pits in 15th place. Moss is up to 16th with Ward 17th from Salvadori out in 18th, while behind them Bianchi is blocking Burgess for 21st position.

*Lap 36* – D’Orey is playing rear-gunner for the Ferrari trio, as Behra is held up by the Brazilian and in turn is forced to defend from Herrmann’s Lotus. Shelby is defending from de Filippis over 12th, while Moss is another Connaught on the defensive with Ward, Salvadori and Gurney all in hot pursuit.

Burgess manages to overtake Bianchi for 21st position, as the JBW is on a different strategy and using his warmer tyres to great advantage right now!

*Lap 37* – D’Orey’s resistance ends almost as soon as it begins, as Behra’s lighter car and warmer tyres allow him to drive around the outside of the inexperienced Ferrari driver at the 2nd Portier corner to claim 7th overall! Herrmann is now waiting in the wings to pounce behind d’Orey…

Meanwhile Shelby’s resistance against de Filippis comes to an end, as the Aston Martin makes the move at Chicane du Port to claim 12th place, while Moss defends from Ward and Salvadori keeps both Gurney and Naylor at bay. Behind them Bianchi is really struggling after his stop and ends up giving up 21st to Burgess and 22nd to Brooks by running wide at Gazométre.

*Lap 38* – Gregory finally pits from the race lead, which gives 1st place back to Flockhart from Trintignant 2nd, Bonnier 3rd, von Trips 4th, Brabham 5th, Behra 6th (and gaining quickly on the Ferrari duo ahead), d’Orey 7th, Herrmann 8th, Phil Hill 9th, McLaren 10th, de Filippis 11th, Shelby 12th and Gregory out in 13th overall.

Moss blocks Ward, while Naylor moves over to let Burgess past – but that ultimately allows Brooks through as well, which drops Naylor down to 22nd on-track. Bianchi is vigorously blocking Allison for 23rd position near the back.

*Lap 39* – The Ferrari’s are struggling to keep with the pace thanks to their heavier fuel load – though it could be touch-and-go as to whether doing one less stop will work out for the trio! Herrmann is challenging d’Orey, though cannot find a way through in their fight for 7th, while McLaren manages to stave off de Filippis’ advance at Sainte Devote to retain 10th position.

Further back Salvadori blocks Gurney, which holds up Burgess – all of which hands the initiative to Brooks, who jumps both the JBW and the Maserati at Gazométre to claim 19th from Gurney 20th and Burgess 21st. Behind that group Allison is the latest man to overhaul Bianchi, who drops to 24th with Testut right behind him!!!

*Lap 40* – Brabham is now the man defending from Behra, while d’Orey has his hands full holding up Herrmann for 7th place. Meanwhile McLaren misses his braking point at Massenet and only just stays on track, which allows de Filippis, Shelby and Gregory all to move up a spot and causes the Maserati to fall to 13th place.

Moss defends from Ward over 16th and they will soon have company, as Brooks manages to overtake team-mate Salvadori at Tabac (even though the Aston Martin’s don’t leave each other much room!), while Burgess moves up to 20th ahead of Gurney’s Maserati. Naylor meanwhile is heavily blocking Allison and Testut pits (and seemingly is on a 4-stop strategy!) from 25th to fall behind Schell and emerge 26th overall.

*Lap 41* – Brabham’s defence against Behra comes to an end after the Cooper gets a great exit from Gazométre and manages to move up to 5th position. Meanwhile d’Orey blocks Herrmann for 7th again, while further back Shelby holds up both Gregory and McLaren.

Brooks continues his brilliant progress as he overtakes both Moss and Ward to move up to 16th position, while behind them Salvadori is keeping a whole host of cars at bay – which causes a concertina effect to ripple back through to the back of the group, which is capitalised on by Allison in the Connaught, who passes both Gurney and Naylor to move up to 21st overall!

Naylor loses another position to Bianchi as well, which the inexperienced Cooper driver claims despite having to cope with the impact of a Gearbox malfunction – though he looks to have fixed the issue from inside the car! Impressive stuff from the young Belgian…!!!

*Lap 42* – Herrmann continues to pressure d’Orey, while de Filippis makes great progress to move past Phil Hill into 9th overall. Moss continues to hold up Ward behind him, whereas Salvadori is unable to hold his line at Tabac and drifts wide to let Burgess into 19th and Allison into 20th overall.

*Lap 43* – Another lap that d’Orey keeps Herrmann behind, which might be the key to Brabham also staying ahead of the Lotus driver – though need to watch out for de Filippis gaining ground quickly! Ireland blocks Brooks and behind them Moss holds up Ward and Burgess, while Allison uses that opportunity to dive past the entire trio on the run down to Sainte Devote and move up to 17th in one fell swoop!

Salvadori keeps Gurney, Bianchi and Naylor at bay – while the fastest man on-track right now is Bonnier in 3rd position; but arguably more importantly the leading trio have opened up a 31 second advantage over the chasing Ferrari of von Trips…

*Lap 44* – De Filippis now finally catches up with d’Orey and Herrmann but is unable to pass either of them this time around – and Phil Hill is blocking both Shelby and Gregory too. Further back, Brooks moves up to 15th with a comfortable pass on Ireland at Station Hairpin. Moss again holds up Ward, but this time Burgess is there to pounce and move up to 18th ahead of that particular duo!

*Lap 45* – D’Orey is still holding up Herrmann and de Filippis, which is keeping the likes of Phil Hill, Shelby, Gregory and McLaren in contention for their positions. Moss holding up Ward and the others allows Gurney to get the better of Salvadori at Tabac, which moves the Maserati up to 21st overall.

*Lap 46* – With d’Orey focusing so hard on blocking Herrmann it was only a matter of time before de Filippis capitalised, which she does at Chicane du Port by managing to go around the outside of the pair ahead! Shelby is holding up Gregory and McLaren, while Moss holds up everyone from Ward in 20th down to Naylor in 24th – all of whom move up a position thanks to Allison pitting and emerging down in 26th behind Schell and Testut also.

*Lap 47* – Behra is down to just 3 seconds behind von Trips, while d’Orey continues to keep Herrmann at bay. A little further back, JBW look at least vaguely competitive here with Burgess making short work of passing Ireland for 16th position, while Moss again blocks Ward.

*Lap 48* – Bonnier has been gaining on 2nd placed Trintignant lap after lap and is now less than a tenth behind the Porsche! D’Orey blocks Herrmann but behind them Phil Hill holds up Shelby, which allows Gregory to move up to 10th position – though Shelby does eventually manage to pass Phil Hill at Gazométre to maintain 11th overall.

Brooks is up to 14th position with a clinical move on de Beaufort at Station Hairpin that the Vanwall is powerless to defend from, while further back Bianchi and Naylor are both looking to overtake Salvadori with no luck thus far…

*Lap 49* – Much to the relief of Flockhart in 1st and von Trips in 4th, both Trintignant and Bonnier have started to squabble with one another over 2nd position – although von Trips is likely more concerned that Behra will overtake, as the Ferrari is forced to defend from the Cooper at Tabac.

Herrmann has a crack at d’Orey for 8th again, though without success – while Moss defends from Ward and Gurney to maintain his 18th position yet again!

*Lap 50* – The pits are again somewhat active, as Trintignant and Bonnier both pit (with the Porsche mechanics doing enough to bring the Frenchman out ahead of the Maserati still) along with de Filippis, Brooks (who still loses a few seconds being stacked behind his team-mate) and Schell. That moves von Trips up to 2nd with Behra right on his tail in 3rd, Brabham 4th and – ominously for the 2-stoppers – next up are Trintignant and Bonnier out of the pits in 5th and 6th respectively!

D’Orey finally manages to break free of Herrmann (now fighting over 7th place), who is rather more concerned with Gregory and Shelby behind him in 9th and 10th. Phil Hill is up to 11th from McLaren 12th, de Beaufort 13th, Burgess 14th, Ireland 15th, Moss 16th with Ward and Gurney closer than ever before! Salvadori is up to 19th from Bianchi, Naylor and then the Aston Martin’s of de Filippis and Brooks sandwiching Testut in 22nd to 24th positions. Allison lies 25th with Schell emerging from the pits in 26th overall.

*Lap 51* – Behra and von Trips are fighting over 2nd position – and it looks like von Trips has managed to keep the Cooper behind, despite costing them both a significant amount of time; though as they power through Gazométre, Behra finally manages to position his car up the inside of the Ferrari to move up to 2nd place on track – but von Trips gets the power down more effectively and manages to reclaim the position over the line!!!

Herrmann blocks Gregory, which in turn ripples back to hold up Shelby, Phil Hill and McLaren – the latter two in that pack fight each other through Chicane du Port but it’s the Maserati that comes out ahead in 11th position overall. Further back Gurney claims 17th from Ward at Station Hairpin, while Bianchi passes Salvadori for 19th place with a well-timed move at Tabac.

Attacking the track this lap in their pursuit of positions and glory are the likes of Moss, Flockhart and Testut – though the latter pair both manage to slide wide at Mirabeau thanks to what looks like some oil that’s been spilled earlier in the race…and Testut narrowly avoids being passed by Brooks as a result!

*Lap 52* – Flockhart pits from the race lead and emerges in 3rd behind von Trips and Behra – with only a 10 second deficit to the race leader now! And things get even better for the Cooper outfit, as Behra manages to successfully make the pass on von Trips that he failed to complete last time around – meaning the Frenchman now leads the race from von Trips and Flockhart.

Bonnier has caught up with Trintignant in their fight over the final points position, while Moss holds up everyone down to Salvadori in 20th (which is allowing Naylor to keep pace with the group) – and that hands the opportunity to Ward, who wastes no time in jumping past Gurney to reclaim 17th position overall.

*Lap 53* – Ferrari’s mechanical woes continue here, as d’Orey finds himself struggling with a Gearbox issue, which is costing him time particularly in the lower gear corners! He does manage to hold his position from Herrmann and Gregory though, which in turn is bringing those directly behind into much closer contention.

Burgess pits here, which moves Ireland up to 14th, Moss 15th, Ward 16th, Gurney 17th, Bianchi 18th, Salvadori 19th and Naylor replacing his JBW compatriot inside the Top 20. De Filippis is 21st and Burgess emerges in 22nd position, while Testut looks distraught that the JBW has come out directly in front of him!

*Lap 54* – Behra’s lead is short-lived as he pits this time around, which promotes von Trips back to the race lead some 13 seconds ahead of Flockhart now with Brabham just 1.7 seconds further back and gaining on the erstwhile race leader! Trintignant is up to 4th from Bonnier 5th and d’Orey holding up Herrmann, Gregory and Shelby for 6th overall.

McLaren is up to 10th from Phil Hill 11th, de Beaufort 12th, Ireland 13th and Behra out in 14th position – while behind them Moss has a whole host of drivers queued up behind him as they arrive at the station hairpin, which allows Naylor to capitalise and squeeze past Salvadori to claim 19th place. Meanwhile Testut makes short work of overtaking Burgess for 22nd, whose tyres are still cold after his recent stop!

*Lap 55* – D’Orey’s problems are soon more then he can cope with – and that allows Herrmann to sneak past into 6th position at Gazométre. Behra meanwhile is desperately trying to warm his tyres up – including weaving around frantically on track, which blocks Moss and in turn allows Ward to pounce and move up to 15th at the expense of the Connaught! Further back Schell is now holding up Fairman, as they squabble over 26th position.

*Lap 56* – Brabham is pressuring Flockhart for 2nd position but the Cooper manages to hold firm for now. At the same time, d’Orey is still having to use every ounce of his cunning and intuition to stay ahead of the chasing pack – while Behra is simply unable to stay ahead of Ward, as the Lotus powers past on the run through Beau Rivage and up to 14th place.

Behind them the concertina effect strikes again and this time it is the experienced Salvadori (a veteran of some 4 Monaco GP) who takes advantage with a sneaky pass up the inside of Naylor into the tight opening Portier corner! Further back, Fairman gets the better of Schell as he blasts past him down the Start/Finish line to claim 26th position!

*Lap 57* – A disastrous lap for Flockhart, as first of all he contracts the same mechanical issue that Bianchi encountered earlier in the race – though he does at least manage to fix it on the same lap that it develops…though the time and effort it takes to mend the issue from within the car costs him on-track thanks to Brabham’s opportunistic passing overtake on the run through Le Tunnel.

On totally different strategies, the Trintignant v Bonnier fight now has company from Herrmann’s Lotus, who breezes past Bonnier for 5th position overall. Shelby and Gregory meanwhile continue to struggle to overhaul d’Orey, despite the Ferrari’s apparent lack of pace! Behra is still holding up every driver down to Naylor in 20th position…

*Lap 58* – Herrmann has an even easier time passing Trintignant, as he passes the Porsche to move up into 4th place – and much to the Frenchman’s disgust he is helpless to defend from Bonnier, who follows the Lotus through into 5th position!

Meanwhile d’Orey is unable to hold off Gregory any longer either and can only watch as the BRM gets a better exit from Chicane du Port and moves up to 7th overall. Behra still hasn’t quite managed to warm his tyres up yet, which costs him places to both Moss and Gurney this time around thanks to sliding a little wide at the Station Hairpin…while Burgess is busy defending from Brooks over 23rd place.

*Lap 59* – D’Orey blocks Shelby, McLaren and Phil Hill this time around and Moss keeps Gurney at bay. Meanwhile Behra recognises that he and Bianchi are on very different strategies and so moves over for his team-mate, who claims 17th ahead of the fighting duo of Salvadori and Naylor.

Further back Burgess is unable to keep up his own resistance to Brooks, as the Aston Martin forces his way past at Tabac!

*Lap 60* – Herrmann pits for what may be the last time here (along with Testut much further down the order as well), which elevates Bonnier to 4th and Gregory to 5th – as the BRM looked odds on to smash the Fastest Lap but has to settle for moving into the final points position ahead of Trintignant at Gazométre instead. Behind them d’Orey continues to frustrate Shelby’s progress as they fight over what is now 7th with McLaren now 9th, Phil Hill 10th, the Vanwall’s of de Beaufort and Ireland 11th and 12th, Ward 13th, Moss 14th, Gurney 15th, the Cooper duo of Bianchi and Behra 16th and 17th ahead of Salvadori 18th, Naylor 19th and Herrmann out in 20th overall.

A little later out of the pits is Testut, who has now dropped behind Brooks, Burgess and Allison to emerge in 25th spot in the race…

*Lap 61* – Gregory makes quick work of passing Bonnier at Sainte Devote, which moves the BRM up to 4th position. McLaren and Shelby are still behind d’Orey and pushing hard to get past the Ferrari – while Behra is still blocking Salvadori and Naylor over 17th place.

*Lap 62* – Gregory, Shelby and Ward all pit this time around, which promotes Bonnier to 4th and…McLaren (!) to 5th place – that’s due to Trintignant pushing too hard at Cassino and running wide, which allows d’Orey (now 6th) through before the Ferrari is unable to stay ahead of the charging Maserati. Trintignant is subsequently 7th, from Phil Hill 8th, de Beaufort 9th, Ireland 10th, Moss 11th, Gurney 12th, Bianchi 13th, Salvadori up to 14th after a pass on Behra through Le Tunnel, which the Cooper struggled to be able to defend against and Naylor into 16th overall.

Herrmann is 17th from de Filippis 18th, Gregory and Shelby out in 19th and 20th respectively, with Brooks 21st and Ward emerging just behind the Aston Martin in 22nd position.

*Lap 63* – Trintignant is still recovering from his slip off-line and works hard to keep Phil Hill and de Beaufort behind him! Moss meanwhile knows that a Top 10 position may well be his soon, if he can keep Gurney and Bianchi at bay – which he does on this lap thanks to some excellent defensive driving through the later parts of the lap.

Further back Behra’s pace leaves a lot to be desired, as he seems to be struggling with the physicality of the Monaco experience this season! Indeed, he finds himself losing out on 15th place to Naylor, who dodges past with a switchback manoeuvre at the Station Harpin.

*Lap 64* – Trintignant blocks Hill over 7th place, which is allowing d’Orey to scamper up the road and actually gain ground on the Maserati duo ahead right now! Lower down the order, Herrmann is busy holding up de Filippis for 17th position, which could be crucial after the next round of stops…

*Lap 65* – Trintignant again holds up Phil Hill and now sees de Beaufort join the back of that particular battle, though the Vanwall is unable to make an impression this time around and Moss is still keeping Gurney and Bianchi honest – which is allowing Salvadori to close in behind them!

*Lap 66* – McLaren, de Beaufort and Gendebien all pit – with the latter unfortunately still 28th and last on track as it stands. That moves d’Orey up to 5th, Trintignant to 6th, Phil Hill to 7th, Ireland to 8th, Moss 9th, Gurney 10th, Bianchi 11th (with the latter duo still unable to find a way past the Connaught!), Salvadori 12th, Naylor 13th, Behra 14th and McLaren out in 15th thanks to Herrmann and de Filippis slowing each other up as ultimately the Aston Martin does make it past the Lotus at Gazométre – but only in time to see the Maserati emerge ahead of them…

De Beaufort is out in 18th position, as we still await several strategies playing out to work out who will ultimately come out on top in this race!

*Lap 67* – The leader von Trips pits, along with Bianchi and Naylor, which promotes Brabham to the race lead from Flockhart, Bonnier, d’Orey and Trintignant the points scorers at the moment. Phil Hill is still being held up in 6th from Ireland 7th and then von Trips out in a little bit of clean air in 8th position.

Salvadori meanwhile is up to 11th from Behra 12th, de Filippis 13th after she passes the heavily laden Maserati of McLaren through Beau Rivage, while Herrmann is now 15th from de Beaufort 16th, Gregory 17th, Shelby 18th and (thanks to the Dutchman holding up that latter pair) Brooks in 19th gaining on those ahead at a rate of knots!

Ward is back inside the Top 20 from Burgess 21st, Bianchi out in 22nd, Allison 23rd and Naylor out in 24th place.

*Lap 68* – Brabham’s tyres are starting to cry “enough” at the front of the race – but he is still setting vaguely competitive lap-times, while behind his team-mate d’Orey, the fighting duo of Moss and Gurney and then Fairman in the Vanwall all come into the pits.

That means Trintignant is now 4th and comfortably keeping Phil Hill behind right now – in fact he is actually increasing his lead over the BRM lap by lap! Ireland is up to 6th from von Trips 7th, Salvadori 8th, Behra 9th and d’Orey out in 10th position with his Gearbox issue finally fixed! De Filippis is 11th, while Herrmann is up to 12th after a quick pass on McLaren at Gazométre drops the Maserati to 13th.

De Beaufort in 14th is keeping both Gregory and Shelby at bay, while Brooks is just 7 seconds back in 17th from Ward 18th, Burgess 19th and then Gurney out in 20th after the Maserati mechanics do a fantastic job to leap-frog Moss in the pits – so the Connaught emerges 21st overall. Meanwhile Bianchi’s cold tyres are no match for Allison’s pace and temperature, as the Connaught drafts past on the start/finish straight. Behind them Fairman pits to emerge behind Schell in 27th position.

*Lap 69* – No sooner is d’Orey out of the pits than he is defending from de Filippis, who looks desperate to overtake the Ferrari and move inside the Top 10 – but her attempts prove fruitless this time around. Behind them Shelby takes advantage of de Beaufort blocking Gregory to dart past the BRM at the Station Hairpin and claim 15th, while Brooks is now less than 3 seconds back and still closing quickly!

*Lap 70* – Brabham, Phil Hill, Ireland and Salvadori all come in from within the Top 10 – which promotes Flockhart back into the race lead, Bonnier into 2nd and Trintignant into 3rd. Von Trips is back up to 4th but has dropped to 54 seconds behind race leader Flockhart – and it looks like a two-horse race between the pair of them over who will take the victory today! Bonnier is also in contention – though at 3 seconds back would need to find a way to overtake Flockhart on the same strategy…

Brabham emerges in 5th position some 15 seconds down on his team-mate, mostly caused by his early delays in traffic! Behra is up to 6th from de Filippis 7th, who squeezes her Aston Martin past the Ferrari of d’Orey on the run down to Chicane du Port with Herrmann now in 9th also becoming very interested in this battle!

Phil Hill comes out of the pits in 10th in what is a decent showing for the BRM youngster, with McLaren up to 11th, Ireland out in 12th for Vanwall and then it’s Shelby up to 13th after the Connaught manages to out-fox de Beaufort at Gazométre, which is a move emulated by Brooks to claim 15th from Gregory at the same corner!

Ward is up to 17th from Burgess 18th, Gurney 19th and Salvadori out in 20th for Aston Martin. Directly behind him, Allison manages to overtake Moss for 21st, though the more senior team-mate is clearly reluctant to let him through and does put up a bit of a fight before the pass is made at Tabac.

*Lap 71* – Moss and Brooks both push a little too hard on this lap and suffer as a result, while Bonnier up front has trimmed Flockhart’s advantage down to 2.8 seconds while von Trips is 41 seconds down on the Cooper but losing ground quickly…

Meanwhile Herrmann makes quick work of passing d’Orey with a well-timed move at Sainte Devote to claim 8th place and send d’Orey into the waiting arms of Phil Hill, who is next up to have a go at the young Brazilian!

Further back, despite pushing too hard early in the lap Brooks does atone for it by outfoxing de Beaufort at Gazométre to claim 14th position – and even further back Salvadori puts up very little resistance to Allison’s pass for 20th, as the Aston Martin likely realises they are on very different strategies indeed…

*Lap 72* – …and he is proven correct immediately, as Allison pits this time around! Though Allison gets a shock as when he enters the pits, he sees team-mate Shelby in there – it seems that the young American got involved in an altercation with Brooks’ Aston Martin as he swerved to block him, and they collided!

As such Allison gets queued a little and drops to 25th behind Salvadori, Moss, Bianchi, Naylor and Testut. Brooks meanwhile elects to stay out and causes chaos in the process, as he defends heavily from de Beaufort and elects to block him off at the Station Hairpin…but that hands the initiative to Gregory, Ward and Burgess, who all sneak past that particular pair!

In the fight for 13th it is ultimately the Lotus of Ward who comes out top with a great pass on Gregory at Chicane du Port, with Burgess following him through to 14th and then Gregory 15th from Brooks 16th and de Beaufort a frustrated 17th. Gurney is now 18th from Salvadori 19th, Moss 20th, Bianchi 21st, Naylor 22nd and Testut 23rd – with Shelby emerging from his stop in 24th overall.

Meanwhile, up at the front of the field it’s now 2.6 seconds between Flockhart and Bonnier, while von Trips is now some 45 seconds back!

*Lap 73* – A rare quiet lap, with the gaps at the front 2.4 between Flockhart and Bonnier and 48 between Flockhart and von Trips. Trintignant in 3rd is still there of course, though is not making much of an in-roads into the 12 second deficit to Bonnier ahead…

*Lap 74* – Behra overhauls Brabham for 5th but the Ferrari looks unconcerned given that the Cooper will need to pit again in all likelihood…while at the front 2.0 and 51 seconds are the relevant gaps to keep an eye on…!

*Lap 75* – Bonnier and Trintignant both pit for the final time, along with de Filippis, Brooks (who have enough of a gap that they aren’t slowing each other up) and Schell. That means von Trips is now 2nd but 54 seconds behind Flockhart – and the big question is; when will the Cooper come into the pits…?!?

Behra is 3rd but also needs to pit again with Bonnier out in 4th place (which is likely a net podium position for the Maserati!), Brabham 5th, Trintignant out in 6th (and looking like he might trouble the points-paying positions!), Herrmann 7th (but still to pit again), d’Orey 8th, Phil Hill 9th, McLaren 10th, Ireland 11th, Ward 12th, Burgess 13th, Gregory 14th, de Beaufort 15th, Gurney 16th, Salvadori 17th, Moss 18th, Bianchi 19th, de Filippis out in 20th, Testut 21st after a daring pass on Naylor through Tabac comes off without a hitch (by the skin of his teeth!), Shelby 23rd and Brooks out in 24th with his damage completely repaired.

Schell emerges from his final stop just 5 seconds down on Fairman in 26th – though the Vanwall has upped his pace in recent laps!

*Lap 76* – Still no stop for Flockhart and the gap is now 57 seconds – this is looking like it could be mightily close right now!!! Meanwhile Bonnier gives a thumbs up to the pits, as it looks like he manages to apply the same fix that both Gurney and McLaren had to apply earlier in the race, from within his car – and without losing any time either!

Moss has a queue of cars behind him meanwhile, as Bianchi, de Filippis and Testut all look eager to try and move past the Connaught and further up the order…

*Lap 77* – The gap is a full minute now – and STILL Flockhart stays out, but his final stop must be coming soon surely!?! Behra is also gaining heavily on von Trips – could he yet factor in to help his team-mate out (though he surely won’t win the race given that he has a stop still to complete)?

Herrmann will soon be challenging Trintignant for 6th at his current pace, though with a stop still for the Lotus to complete that is perhaps less relevant than the pace being shown by d’Orey and Phil Hill behind, who are starting to close the gap to the Porsche (and what looks likely be the final points position) down lap by lap!

Further back, de Filippis’ cold tyres meant she was always going to struggle to keep with the pace and so it proves as Testut manoeuvres his way past at Sainte Devote to claim a place in the Top 20 (though he still has another stop to make himself).

*Lap 78* – Flockhart pits from the lead – the Cooper crew look nervous as they wait…but they needn’t have worried, as it’s their best stop of the day! And so, attention turns to the start/finish straight where von Trips powers his way down there in a hurry…as Flockhart exits the pit-lane…but despite the great stop it’s only enough to see the Ferrari flash around Sainte Devote and on his way to a 3.6 second advantage. 1 more lap would likely have been enough for the Cooper here!

That said, Behra is just 4.9 seconds behind von Trips and could yet cause some damage if he can make quick work of passing his team-mate…behind them Trintignant defends from Herrmann with gusto, though likely doesn’t need to given that the Lotus needs to stop again – but the pass is made without incident as the German nips into 6th as they run through Le Tunnel.

Ireland is busy defending from Ward and Burgess – though both need to stop again, so it may be quicker to just let them past at this point! Testut meanwhile lines himself up beautifully at Gazométre to out-drag both Bianchi and Moss to move up to 18th position (albeit with yet ANOTHER stop still to complete!)

*Lap 79* – Flockhart moves out of his team-mate’s way to allow Behra to move to within just 2.4 seconds of the leader! The Brit meanwhile is some 4.2 seconds back and struggling to get his colder race tyres to be more effective…

Ward finally makes the move on Ireland stick to claim 11th, while thanks to Burgess making his final stop it is now Gregory 13th, de Beaufort 14th, Gurney 15th, Salvadori 16th, Testut 17th, Moss 18th, Bianchi 19th, de Filippis 20th, Naylor 21st, Shelby 22nd and then it’s Burgess’ JBW out in 23rd overall.

*Lap 80* – Behra doesn’t manage to make the pass on von Trips but he does hassle him enough to bring Flockhart back to within 3.3 seconds of the Ferrari…meanwhile Testut stops for the final time to promote the squabbling trio of Moss, Bianchi and de Filippis (all of whom are around the same point on track as the race leaders!) up to 17th, 18th and 19th respectively.

Naylor is back inside the Top 20 in a solid showing for JBW, with Shelby 21st for Connaught, Burgess 22nd for JBW, Brooks 23rd for Aston Martin and Testut out in 24th for Porsche – though with a clear run until the end of the race the questions begs as to how many of those positions the Monegasque driver will be able to claim back before the end!

*Lap 81* – Von Trips and Behra both dual over the race lead – though the Ferrari manages to stay ahead and even goes further and pushes on to set a half-decent lap-time! Several other drivers are pushing hard on this lap, including Testut and Bonnier – though both Trintignant and Naylor fall foul of the oil spill at the outside of Mirabeau, though at least they avoid hitting the wall!

Behra pits at the end of the lap, which promotes Flockhart to 2nd position some 4 seconds off the lead – though that may be too much for him to catch up. Bonnier is 3rd with Brabham 4th, Herrmann 5th (though still yet to pit), Trintignant 6th, d’Orey 7th, Phil Hill 8th, McLaren 9th fending off Ward, who is now inside the Top 10 for Lotus (though also yet to pit).

Ireland is up to 11th and Behra emerges in 12th position for Cooper – as a Top 10 position is about the best he can now hope for…

*Lap 82* – Herrmann and Shelby both pit, which promotes Trintignant to a net 5th position and gives Porsche genuine hope of a points finish in the opening race of the season! D’Orey is now 6th from Phil Hill 7th, Ward up to 8th after a relatively easy pass on McLaren at Sainte Devote (though the Lotus still needs to pit) and then Ireland now rounds out the Top 10 for Vanwall.

Behra is 11th though Gregory is right behind in 12th, from de Beaufort 13th, Gurney 14th and then Herrmann out in 15th overall. Moss blocks Bianchi for 17th, while Burgess is now 21st from Brooks 22nd, Testut 23rd, Allison 24th and Shelby emerging from his final stop in 25th position.

Meanwhile for Brabham the Ferrari design flaw that has dogged them before seems to have returned as a Gearbox issue looks to be slowing him down a little at this stage – making both Trintignant and d’Orey much more interested than they previously were…!

*Lap 83* – Von Trips looks a little faster than Flockhart at the moment, which could spell the end of the Cooper’s chances to win the race – though 2nd place would still be a fantastic effort for the man who is yet to score a point! Behra blocks Gregory for 11th, while Moss keeps Bianchi and de Filippis at bay – which is allowing Naylor to close right in on them!

*Lap 84* – Ward finally comes in for his final stop and that looks to be the final scheduled stop on the grid, which means it should be all be plain sailing from here on in! As a result, McLaren is now 8th from Ireland 9th, Behra 10th, Gregory 11th, de Beaufort 12th, Gurney 13th, Herrmann 14th, Salvadori 15th, Moss 16th, Bianchi 17th, de Filippis 18th, Naylor 19th and then Ward out in 20th position overall.

*Lap 85* – Brabham’s lead is still up at 16 seconds over Trintignant, as he looks to be driving his way around the problem – though Trintignant is likely more nervous about another Ferrari, given that d’Orey is down to just 6 seconds behind the Porsche and will surely catch him before the end of the race at his current pace level!

Behra blocks Gregory for the final place in the Top 10, while Moss defends tigerishly from Bianchi, de Filippis and now Naylor as well! Further back Allison moves out of the way for Shelby to come through into 24th – though their chances of catching Testut some 28 seconds up the road look slim…

*Lap 86* – Moss holds up Bianchi for 16th in an otherwise quiet lap…

*Lap 87* – Brabham has definitely stabilised the gap to Trintignant at around 16 seconds, though the same cannot be said of the Frenchman, who is now just 4.9 seconds ahead of d’Orey. Meanwhile disaster strikes for Behra, as it seems the problem that Flockhart and Bianchi were able to fix relatively quickly is not one he can do the same with – meaning he no has even more pressure on him from Gregory’s BRM than before!

*Lap 88* – Behra continues to defy his car’s inadequacy and the pressure from Gregory to hold onto 10th overall, though de Beaufort won’t be gaining much on this pair, as he has his hands full with Gurney behind him!

Further back, Moss holds up Bianchi again – which is allowing de Filippis, Naylor and even Ward to move into contention for that 16th position.

*Lap 89* – D’Orey is now just 4 seconds behind Trintignant in the battle for the final points position with Phil Hill a further 4.4 back, while Gregory does manage to make it past Behra for the final Top 10 spot (as it stands) – though a 15 second deficit to Ireland in 9th may be too much to bridge.

De Beaufort again blocks Gurney, which has brought Herrmann in turn right into contention…

*Lap 90* – D’Orey looks to have been spurred on by the fact he can now see Trintignant’s 5th position up ahead – and so closes to within 3 seconds of the Porsche. Moss continues to hold up Bianchi et al behind him as well.

*Lap 91* – Naylor pulls out to pass de Filippis for 18th with a brilliant switchback manoeuvre at Station Hairpin! Bianchi also manages to overhaul Moss for 16th position and will set off to try and catch Salvadori up the road – but it’s a big gap to close down…while ahead of them Herrmann and Gurney are going at it hammer and tongs but neither is able to come out top, and they lose a significant amount of time as a result.

Attacking hard near the end of the race are von Trips (who looks odds on to win comfortably now), Trintignant (helping him pull clear of d’Orey and gain significantly on Brabham) and then both Gurney and McLaren – though the latter duo both slip on the oil spill at Mirabeau, which costs them a decent amount of time…

*Lap 92* – 3.9 seconds is the gap between Trintignant and d’Orey, with the Ferrari gaining ground – while Gurney is gaining ground on de Beaufort for 12th position in an otherwise quiet lap.

*Lap 93* – Another quiet lap, with the gap down to 3.6 seconds between Trintignant and d’Orey, and then just the 3.3 seconds between de Beaufort and Gurney.

*Lap 94* – 3.3 seconds between Trintignant and d’Orey and just 2 seconds between de Beaufort and Gurney now, as the Maserati really closes in quickly!

*Lap 95* – D’Orey is down to 2.3 seconds behind Trintignant, while Ireland is less than a second behind McLaren for 8th and Gurney is less than a second behind de Beaufort as Vanwall v Maserati looks to be the theme for the final few laps. Naylor is right on Moss’s tail for 17th, while de Filippis is holding up Ward as they fight over 19th position.

*Lap 96* – 2 seconds flat is the gap between Trintignant and d’Orey – can the Ferrari debutante deprive the Porsche of their first points since Trintignant’s podium at the 1957 French GP?!? De Beaufort has now been caught by Gurney, but the Maserati is unable to make any further progress on this lap.

Moss meanwhile has a queue of cars behind him forming, with Naylor, de Filippis and Ward all breathing down the Connaught’s neck!

*Lap 97* – It’s now a 1.3 second gap from Trintignant to d’Orey, with Ireland just 0.5 seconds behind McLaren and de Beaufort now holding up both Gurney and Herrmann – and de Filippis coping with Ward.

*Lap 98* – Von Trips looks to be struggling with his tyres a little bit, which allows Flockhart to reel him in by a full second – though with the gap at 7.4 seconds it’s likely to be too little too late. Meanwhile it’s 1 second separating Trintignant from d’Orey over 5th, while McLaren and Ireland are duking it out over 8th but without any clear winner as yet!

Meanwhile de Beaufort takes the inside line to block Gurney’s Maserati, but the American takes an outside line and goes all the way around the outside of the Vanwall – but he can’t quite get the power down on the less-travelled wide line, which hands the opportunity to Herrmann to pull off a spectacular double-overtake, around the outside of de Beaufort and up the inside of Gurney to claim 12th! Gurney thus remains 13th with de Beaufort down to 14th and now likely worrying about Salvadori’s advances behind…

*Lap 99* – 6.6 seconds is the gap at the front – but it almost certainly won’t be enough for Flockhart to take his first victory. McLaren is blocking Ireland for 8th, while Salvadori is now right on de Beaufort’s rear…

*Lap 100* – Von Trips picks up from where he left off last season with victory here, which makes him only the third driver ever to claim three consecutive victories in F1R races. Flockhart comes home an admirable 2nd place to finally break his points duck and get Cooper off the mark! Bonnier finishes in 3rd position to show there is hope for Maserati in the post-Gerard era…

Brabham manages to drag his battered car across the line in 4th, while Trintignant DOES finish 5th for Porsche to give them a dream start to the season! D’Orey is about 1 second behind in the end, as he comes home 6th in his first ever F1R championship race, with Phil Hill 7th, McLaren managing to hold Ireland off for 8th and then a surprise in 10th place as Gregory’s tyres completely give up on the final lap and he is powerless to prevent Behra from catching and passing him despite his own damaged vehicle!!! A Top 10 place and a Fastest Lap is not a bad return for the Cooper in the end…

Behind Gregory in 11th is Herrmann in 12th, who is the last man on the lead lap.

*1 LAP DOWN* – Gurney finishes 13th, while Salvadori gets only one chance to take a shot at de Beaufort – on the final lap at the final corner…and he manages to block pass the Vanwall to come home 14th with Dutchman in 15th ahead of Bianchi 16th and Moss a creditable 17th for Connaught. Behind them Naylor makes a crucial error at the 2nd Portier corner, which allows both de Filippis and Ward to draft past him into 18th and 19th – but it is still a debut Top 20 finish for the JBW outfit thanks to the Brit’s efforts today.

Burgess comes home 21st, from Brooks 22nd, Testut 23rd and Shelby 24th overall.

*2 LAPS DOWN* – Allison finishes 25th on his own race debut with Fairman 26th after a race to forget for the Vanwall.

*3 LAPS DOWN* – Schell finishes 27th for Lotus, in a race where he simply could not stick with the pace…

*5 LAPS DOWN* – …though he does at least fare better than Gendebien, who rounds out the finishers in 28th ahead of the luckless duo of Graham Hill and Scarlatti, who failed to finish.

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

## Milestones

* 10th race entry for Masten Gregory
* Salvadori up to 4th most entries ever (47 total), at the expense of Juan Manuel Fangio
* Behra up to 10th most entries ever (39 total), at the expense of Giuseppe Farina
* De Beaufort up to 8th in Most Races without Points, at the expense of Paul Emery
* Scarlatti up to 10th in Most Races without Points, at the expense of Robert Manzon
* 30th race start for Hans Herrmann
* 20th race start for Harry Schell
* Moss moves into 7th for Most Starts ever at the expense of Giuseppe Farina
* Behra moves into 10th for Most Starts ever at the expense of Carlos Menditeguy
* von Trips becomes only the 3rd driver ever to achieve 3 Consecutive victories in a row, only Bob Gerard has ever managed 4 in a row!
* Jack Brabham won the 1958 Monaco GP; other past winners are Gerard (’56 and ’57 – retired), Farina (’55 - retired) and de Graffenried (’50 - retired).
* von Trips moves up to 4th in Most Points Ever, at the expense of Peter Collins and Giuseppe Farina
* Points finish for von Trips moves him up to 6th in Most Points Finishes ever, at the expense of Peter Collins
* 3rd place for Bonnier moves him up to 7th in Most Points without a Win, at the expense of Cesare Perdisa, Horace Gould, Georges Grignard and Chico Landi (who drops out of the Top 10).
* Points finish for von Trips is his 5th points finish in a row (two more after that to move into the Top 10 of all time)
* FL at Monaco in 1958 was Salvadori; past FLs were Collins (’57 – retired), Gerard (’56 – retired), Farina (‘55 – retired) and Fagioli (’50 – retired)
* 1st ever FL for Jean Behra!
* Pole at Monaco in ’58 was Brabham past Pole-Sitters were Gerard (’56 and ’57 – retired), Farina (’55 – retired) and Pietsch (’50 – retired)
* 1st ever Pole for Ron Flockhart!
* Podium for von Trips is his 5th Consecutive Podium