1959 US GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Sebring
* Location – USA
* Corners – 14
* Laps – 42
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 4:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 3:00.000 (Stirling Moss)
* Lap Record (F1R) – N/A
* Pit Lane Length – 20 seconds\*
* Fuel Consumption – High
* Tyre Wear – High

\*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

All 7 Championship contenders are on the grid for this race (which is more than can be said for Testut's Porsche, as his final race entry ends without appearing on track, or for the entire Lotus team - who may need to look at a change of leadership for next season…). Though we may be able to rule one out as a threat already; it was always going to be tough for Bianchi to challenge for the title (needing a race win and then results to go his way) - but if he manages it from 26th on the grid it will be some achievement!

Trintignant is also a little out of position as he (along with Behra), both didn't manage to complete their final lap due to issues earlier in the session. Watch out for both of them making progress as a result…though up front is where the Championship fight has seen 1st blood go to the home favourite Masten Gregory, with his 1st ever Pole Position - which is also the 1st ever Pole for an American driver!!!

The BRM has company though, as Bonnier's consistency shows again here with 2nd on the grid - and even better for him he has a rear gunner in the shape of another American, Dan Gurney, right behind him in 3rd position! Then it's a 3rd American, as Phil Hill leads Graham Hill for BRM, who line up 4th and 5th ahead of the Ferrari trio - who start in nearly the same positions as in Monza, but will need to have a far better race than there if they wish for either von Trips (6th), Brabam (7th) or d'Orey (8th) to win the Drivers' title.

McLaren is 9th for Maserati, from Flockhart 10th, Fairman with decent pace in the Vanwall for 11th, Behra 12th, Salvadori 13th qualifying well for Aston Martin, Trintignant 14th and Naylor 15th in a very decent qualifying performance for JBW! De Beaufort is 16th from de Filippis in her final ever race and then come a series of drivers who did not complete all 20 laps - whether through issues with pace, collisions or simple organisational issues - starting with Gendebien 18th, Ireland 19th and Brooks 20th overall.

Outside the Top 20 are Scarlatti and Burgess for JBW in 21st and 22nd respectively, with the Connaughts lining up for their final ever race in 23rd, 24th, 25th and 27th positions (though if you had said before qualifying that 3 of them would out-qualify a Championship contender, they probably would have taken it!) - as Piper leads the pack in only his 2nd ever race, from Shelby, Moss and then Allison bringing up the rear behind the Cooper of Bianchi…

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* – On the start-line this championship showdown has 7 drivers in contention, which is the most drivers in contention in a championship finale in F1R history! And one of those contenders has an awful start, as Gregory stalls off the line initially and immediately loses a hatful of places!!! Bonnier has no such issue, as he calmly accelerates away and has already moved some 2 seconds ahead of the next driver, which is his team-mate Gurney – in what looks like an amazing start for the Swede’s title hopes!

Phil Hill moves over to let Graham Hill past (while the American seems to be fixing a minor technical issue in his car), as the Brit moves into 3rd position – while many of those behind have somewhat tentative getaways…but not Naylor in the JBW, who leaps off the start and makes the most of some drivers becoming queued up into the slower corners by staying wide and advancing from 15th on the grid up to 4th place overall! A few drivers latch onto his plan, as he moves through including Fairman, who makes his way up to 5th for Vanwall.

Von Trips has retained 6th place, while Behra has made his way up to 7th from Gregory in 8th, who manages to re-join with a chance at points still. D’Orey is up to 9th thanks to Brabham moving over to let the Brazilian through, while de Filippis is up to 10th for Aston Martin in her final ever race! Flockhart has slipped to 11th for Cooper, from Phil Hill who manages to get back into the line in 12th, with de Beaufort up to 13th, McLaren down to 14th, Burgess 15th, Salvadori 16th, Brooks up to 17th while Brabham has another horror start, dropping down to 18th and looking sluggish in the hairpins particularly!

Trintignant’s championship hopes look a long way off, as he sits 19th right now ahead of Moss up to 20th, Bianchi into 21st, Gendebien down to 22nd, Ireland 23rd and Allison into 24th – and particularly Allison’s improvement is down to a 3-way collision, as two of the four Connaught drivers are involved, with Piper’s youth and inexperience showing somewhat as he overcooks his braking at the 1st corner to plough into Scarlatti’s JBW, with Shelby following in his team-mate’s tyre-tracks to miss his braking point and retire on the spot!!!

*Lap 2* – A new Fastest Lap of the race for Bonnier moves him out to 4.5 seconds ahead of Gurney in a dream start for Maserati! Von Trips meanwhile is having a tricky lap, as he goes wide at the final U-Turn to allow Behra up to 6th position. Behind them it is 6-wide down to Webster 1, with barely enough road to accommodate Gregory, d’Orey, de Filippis, Flockhart, Phil Hill and de Beaufort!!! The man brave enough to come out ahead is…FLOCKHART! The Cooper moves from 11th to 8th thanks to timing his braking just right, while Phil Hill claims 9th from de Beaufort 10th and then Gregory down to 11th after he is far too tentative!

However, better to be tentative than too greedy – as both d’Orey and de Filippis out-brake themselves going for the same bit of track, and they collide! Disaster for the Ferrari’s championship hopes, as he is forced to pit! The Aston Martin recovers to the track and looks to have a little less damage – so elects to carry on as best as she can…

That means Burgess’s pass on McLaren is now for 12th, while Salvadori moving over to let Brooks past allows the Brit to slipstream up to 13th from McLaren 14th and then Moss has charged up through the field into 15th after a series of overtakes, including one on Salvadori who is now 16th!

A potentially significant moment in the Championship battle sees Trintignant overtake Brabham for 18th, though those two would have clearly hoped to be further up the field in their fight! During that move, Brabham gets pushed wide at the Warehouse Hairpin – and that allows Bianchi into 17th position, as the Cooper takes Trintignant later in the lap too. Gendebien is back inside the Top 20, from Ireland 21st, Allison 22nd, de Filippis down to 23rd thanks to how tightly packed the bunch are and then d’Orey pitting to emerge in 24th and last position.

*Lap 3* – A 3:05.9 for Bonnier extends his lead to over 6 seconds, while Graham Hill is now right behind Gurney in their fight for 2nd place. Just outside the Top 10, Burgess pounces on an error by Gregory at Tower Turn to move into 11th for JBW – as the Pole-sitter’s race doesn’t get any better this time around!

Moss moves up again, as he takes 14th from McLaren at Warehouse Hairpin, while behind them Bianchi pressures Salvadori for 16th – but finds his attempts to no avail on this lap.

*Lap 4* – Bonnier is the class of the field – and either is going to run away with this title…or has less fuel on board than everyone else, only time will tell which though! This lap a 3:05.3 moves his lead out to 8.7 seconds, while Gurney continues to have Graham Hill right behind him in their fight for 2nd position.

Phil Hill this lap passes Flockhart for 8th position – while it’s not all good news for BRM, as their sole championship hope has another lap to forget…sliding wide at the U-Turn to allow both Brooks and Moss to claim 12th and 13th respectively! Bianchi does pass Salvadori this time for 16th place – though his championship hopes look a long way off, despite now being almost directly ahead of two of his main contenders in the shape of Trintignant and Brabham…

Speaking of Brabham, it’s another lap of pain for the Ferrari – who will be hoping he has a much heavier fuel load than those around him, as he loses 19th on the run down to the penultimate corner to Gendebien in the Porsche (much to Trintignant’s delight!).

*Lap 5* – Bonnier sets an incredible 3:03.5 to move out to 12 seconds ahead of Gurney, while Naylor in the JBW has an incredible lap – managing to first overhaul Graham Hill for 3rd, before managing to get the better of Dan Gurney’s Maserati at the Warehouse Hairpin to claim an incredible 2nd position!

Meanwhile Behra, von Trips and Phil Hill all scrap over 6th position for corner after corner – though the one losing out is the man at the back, as Phil Hill takes a wider line at the Le Mans Curve, which allows Flockhart to dive up the inside and claim 8th place. Further back, Moss’s initial attempt to pass Brooks at the Warehouse Hairpin is thwarted by him missing his braking point – but later in the lap he makes no mistake at the U-Turn bend to pass the Aston Martin for 12th position. Bianchi takes 15th from the luckless McLaren also on this lap.

*Lap 6* – Bianchi passes Gregory for 14th at the Le Mans Curve in another potentially crucial overtake in the context of the championship!

*Lap 7* – Bonnier pits from the lead, which gives a clue to his astonishing early pace! That means Naylor leads the race for JBW! Gurney is up to 2nd again from Graham Hill 3rd, Fairman 4th, Behra 5th, von Trips 6th as he defends from Flockhart in 7th, then it’s Phil Hill 8th, de Beaufort 9th and Burgess pushing to overtake the Vanwall.

Moss leads Brooks, Bianchi, Gregory, McLaren (defending from the driver behind), Salvadori, Trintignant, Gendebien, Brabham and Ireland rounding out the Top 20. Allison is 21st and then Bonnier emerges in 22nd position after his early stop.

*Lap 8* – Gurney is blocking Graham Hill for 2nd place, while it’s a three-way fight for 6th place as von Trips desperately tries to maintain his position from Flockhart and Phil Hill, which means the BRM is able to make his way past the Cooper at the Tower Turn. Burgess passes de Beaufort for 9th position overall on this lap also.

*Lap 9* – Naylor has pulled out a 1.5 second lead over Gurney at the front, while behind them Phil Hill overcooks it at Webster 1 and allows Flockhart to ease past into 7th position again.

*Lap 10* – Naylor and Gurney pit from the race lead, with Bianchi also coming in this time around. That means Graham Hill is now into the race lead, with Fairman up to an impressive 2nd for Vanwall with Behra 3rd, von Trips up to 4th, Flockhart 5th, Phil Hill 6th, Burgess 7th, de Beaufort 8th, Moss 9th in Connaught’s final ever race and Brooks up to 10th overall.

Gregory is back up to 11th from McLaren 12th, Salvadori 13th, Trintignant back to where he started on the grid in 14th, Gendebien 15th, Brabham 16th, Ireland 17th, Allison 18th and Bonnier up to 19th position. Naylor emerges in 20th place with Gurney some 2.4 seconds behind in 21st from de Filippis 22nd, d’Orey 23rd and Bianchi out in 24th and last position…

*Lap 11* – Two drivers that have had completely contrasting starts to the race come into the pits, with Fairman in from 2nd place after an incident free beginning, while de Filippis had that early crash with d’Orey and the resulting damage, which she finally pits to fix.

Meanwhile Graham Hill is setting the pace up front – and almost gets the Fastest Lap already! He is now 12 seconds ahead of Behra in 2nd, with von Trips 3rd, Flockhart 4th and Phil Hill 5th. Burgess is now 6th from de Beaufort, Moss, Brooks and Gregory back inside the Top 10 for BRM…

McLaren, Salvadori, Trintignant, Gendebien, Brabham, Ireland and Allison are all outside of the Top 10 – while Bonnier is now gaining on the Connaught, as he now sits 18th and only 1 second further back! Naylor is up to 19th from Gurney 20th and then Fairman out in 21st position. D’Orey is now 22nd from Bianchi 23rd and de Filippis out of the pits and damage-free in 24th overall.

*Lap 12* – Burgess is the latest driver to stop this lap, while Graham Hill sets a new Fastest Lap of the race with a 3:03.3 to move up to 13 seconds ahead of Behra. Meanwhile von Trips’ resistance finally breaks, as Flockhart muscles his way past at the Esses to claim 3rd place. De Beaufort in 6th looks up for a race this afternoon as he is only a second away from the podium positions, with Moss now in 7th place from Brooks 8th, Gregory 9th and McLaren inside the Top 10.

Salvadori, Trintignant, Gendebien, Brabham and Ireland all follow just outside the Top 10, while Bonnier passes Allison for 16th to begin his climb back up the order after his stop. Naylor is 18th from Gurney 19th, Fairman 20th and d’Orey 21st while Burgess emerges in 22nd ahead of Bianchi and de Filippis.

*Lap 13* – A 3:02.6 for Graham Hill is an absolutely stellar lap – though BRM Team Principal Janne Väänänen doesn’t look as pleased as he could, as instead he is in frantic talks with the pit-crew. Though with a 14 second lead over Behra now, it looks like a great position for the Brit as it stands.

Flockhart pits to allow von Trips into 3rd, Phil Hill 4th, de Beaufort now into a points-paying position in 5th from Moss right behind in an impressive 6th for Connaught, with Brooks, Gregory, McLaren and Salvadori rounding out the Top 10. Trintignant is now 11th from Gendebien, Brabham, Ireland, Bonnier, Allison, Naylor, Gurney, Fairman and d’Orey rounding out the Top 20.

Flockhart emerges in 21st position just a little way behind Fairman and d’Orey but with a bit of a gap to Burgess.

*Lap 14* – And the reason for the consternation in the BRM pits becomes all too apparent, as Graham Hill grounds to a halt half-way around the lap clearly out of fuel! Meanwhile the pits are incredibly busy, as Flockhart, Phil Hill, de Beaufort, Brooks, McLaren and Allison all come into the pit-lane…

…and that means von Trips is now into the race lead, with Moss a stunning 2nd for Connaught just 2.2 seconds behind the Ferrari! Gregory’s bad start looks to have turned around as he now sits 3rd with Salvadori 4th and Trintignant into the Top 5…and with three of the championship contenders in the points now it becomes a far more interesting title picture!

Gendebien is now 6th ahead of Brabham 7th, Ireland 8th – though defending from Bonnier in 9th. Naylor is inside the Top 10 again – though over 20 seconds behind the scorching pace of Bonnier, while Behra emerges in 11th place. Gurney is up to 12th with d’Orey back up to 13th after passing Fairman, who is struggling with his heavier fuel load. De Beaufort emerges from the pits in 14th ahead of both his team-mate Fairman and the BRM of Phil Hill, who he managed to pass during the stops!

Flockhart is up to 17th place, from Brooks out in 18th, Burgess up to 19th and McLaren out just behind the JBW in 20th position. Behind the Maserati are Bianchi, the emerging Allison and de Filippis now into 23rd place thanks to Graham Hill’s retirement.

*Lap 15* – Another flurry of stops sees all attention on the pit-lane, particularly given that Moss is out of his car and pushing it down there! As such von Trips ahead is unaffected, but the likes of Salvadori, Gendebien, Bonnier (for his 2nd stop!) and d’Orey have to take some evasive action to avoid hitting the Brit…

Meanwhile on-track there is drama for Gregory, who looks to have encountered the same issue that Phil Hill did on the 1st lap – though thankfully for this American in the BRM he manages to fix it just as quickly! That means he inherits the race lead from Trintignant in 2nd and Brabham in 3rd (causing an entirely different shape to the Championship picture again!), with Ireland 4th and Naylor back into the points paying-positions, with the JBW the highest ranked driver to have already stopped!

Behra is incredibly slow after his stop, which allows Gurney to move past into 6th place with von Trips out in 7th position ahead of Behra in 8th. Behind them de Beaufort actually defends from team-mate Fairman over 9th – though the Dutchman is unable to prevent the Brit from claiming the position and so falls to 10th overall. Flockhart passes Phil Hill at the Warehouse Hairpin for 11th, with Brooks up to 13th and Salvadori out in 14th position for Aston Martin.

Burgess is 15th with Gendebien out in 16th, McLaren up to 17th and Bonnier out in 18th after his somewhat risky strategic calls sees him pit for the 2nd time already! Bianchi is up to 19th, while Moss gets on the road again in 20th place. Allison is back up to 21st, while d’Orey emerges in 22nd having effectively jumped de Filippis in the pit-stops.

*Lap 16* – Gregory, Trintignant and Ireland all stop on this lap, which means that only 1 driver is yet to stop – as Brabham inherits the race lead and the reason for his earlier lack of pace becomes apparent! This certainly solidifies his position as the Championship Leader now…

Naylor reassumes 2nd place for JBW in a real turn-up for the books, while Gurney now sits 3rd from von Trips in 4th now under heavy pressure from Behra behind. Fairman is back up to 6th while Gregory emerges in a respectable 7th place. De Beaufort is back up to 8th though is defending heavily from the pacey Cooper of Flockhart right now, while Trintignant emerges from his stop in 10th position.

Phil Hill is 11th from Brooks 12th, while Burgess passes Salvadori at the U-Turn for 13th place with Gendebien 15th, McLaren 16th, Bonnier back to 17th and Ireland out of the pits in 18th position for Vanwall.

*Lap 17* – Brabham’s lead proves to be short-lived, as he pits to pass the race lead to Naylor in the JBW! He is currently 5 seconds ahead of Gurney in 2nd (which the home fans are loving), while von Trips misses his braking point at the Warehouse Hairpin and – though he re-joins safely – he loses 3rd to Behra (who is having a stellar final race!) and 4th to Fairman in the process.

Gregory is back up to 6th now, while Flockhart passes de Beaufort for 7th place at the Le Mans Curve. Brabham emerges in 9th just under 2 seconds ahead of Trintignant in 10th, who will be eager to pass his Championship rival in the coming laps…

Behind them Brooks defends from Burgess over 12th, while McLaren allows Bonnier to slipstream behind him all the way from the Warehouse Hairpin to Collier Curve, which allows the Swede to leap past Gendebien on the back-straight and up to 15th just 5 seconds behind the former race leader Brabham!

*Lap 18* – Fairman passes Behra for 3rd at the Le Mans Curve, as that Vanwall looks like it’s on rails today! Flockhart also continues to impress with his pace, as he takes 6th from Gregory – though Cooper’s hopes of having a Driver’s Champion in their midst look to be dying with Bianchi well outside the Top 10. That said, there is a glimmer of hope for the young Belgian, as he passes Ireland for 18th on this lap.

The midfield battle is really heating up right now, as Brabham, Trintignant, Phil Hill, Brooks, Burgess, Salvadori and Bonnier in 9th to 15th positions are all engaged in a ding-dong battle…which Brabham manages to stay ahead of as he coolly retains 9th…while Burgess makes his way into the Top 10 ahead of Bonnier attacking hard in 11th, Brooks retaining 12th, Trintignant not competing hard enough in 13th, Phil Hill getting caught behind the Porsche in 14th and then Salvadori pushing far too hard and overshooting the Warehouse Hairpin to drop to the back of that group.

Finally, at the back de Filippis and d’Orey are both almost certainly in their final F1R races of their careers – and it is the Aston Martin that gets the better of the Ferrari for 22nd this time around.

*Lap 19* – Brabham, Burgess, Bonnier and Brooks contest the Battle of the ‘B’s this lap – with the driver out ahead (and up to 9th) none other than resurgent Bonnier in the Maserati…while Burgess retains 10th place, Brooks moves up to 11th and Brabham struggles to stay with them thanks to his heavier fuel load hampering his exits from the slow corners in particular.

Phil Hill passes Trintignant, who must be praying for the wet weather to mix things up now he has fallen to 14th overall, while Bianchi’s resurgence continues behind as he passes both McLaren and Gendebien to move up to 16th position.

*Lap 20* – Naylor, Gurney and Bianchi all pits this lap – as overhead some rather ominous clouds look like they are on their way over the track…though there is no change in weather yet. That means Fairman is now into the race lead, with Behra 2nd in his farewell race and von Trips now 3rd and in a great position for the championship.

Flockhart is up to 4th, while Gregory starts the lap in 5th – but gets his braking all wrong at the Tower Turn to allow both de Beaufort and Bonnier to pass…with the Maserati also making a move on the Vanwall at the Le Mans Curve to claim 5th position from de Beaufort 6th and Gregory 7th. Burgess is up to 8th from Brooks 9th and Brabham back into the Top 10.

Phil Hill is 11th from Salvadori 12th, thanks to a pass on Trintignant early in the lap, Gendebien 14th, McLaren 15th, Ireland 16th and then Naylor out in 17th. Moss is up to 18th with Gurney out in 19th and de Filippis passing Allison to move back into the Top 20 on her comeback trail. Allison is 21st from d’Orey 22nd and Bianchi out in 23rd and last place.

*Lap 21* – With the clouds looking angrier by the second and the humidity notably intensifying, Fairman takes the chance to move away from Behra and take the lead gap up to 6.7 seconds. Meanwhile Bonnier has some clear air and pumps in a 3:04.3 to reduce his arrears to von Trips in 3rd down to about 2 seconds! Burgess passes Gregory for 7th, as the JBW’s continue to be competitive despite their lack of funding.

McLaren overtakes Gendebien for 14th and behind them Moss makes quick work of overtaking Naylor for 17th to show there is still some pace in the Connaught yet! De Filippis to promote Allison into 20th, d’Orey to 21st and Bianchi to 22nd, with the Aston Martin out in 23rd overall.

*Lap 22* – Fairman’s time in the race lead comes to an end, as he comes in for his stop – and that allows Behra to assume 1st place. It’s great to see the veteran leading in his final ever race! Meanwhile in a potentially huge moment for the Championship, we see von Trips, Flockhart and Bonnier go 3-wide into the Le Mans Curve…and it is FLOCKHART who comes out ahead! Though the Cooper misses his braking point at the U-Turn and that allows Bonnier into 2nd place…with the Cooper recovering to 3rd and von Trips dropping to 4th place.

Burgess overtakes de Beaufort at a crucial moment to claim 5th position, with the Vanwall still 6th from Gregory 7th, Brooks 8th, Brabham 9th and Phil Hill proudly guarding his Top 10 position from the attacking Salvadori behind. Trintignant loses 12th to McLaren at the Warehouse Hairpin, while Moss passes Ireland for what is now 15th position. Fairman meanwhile emerges in 19th place, a couple of seconds behind Gurney and around 10 seconds down on Naylor…

*Lap 23* – Yet another stop for Bonnier – in what is an incredibly risky strategy from the Maserati, which creates a Cooper 1-2 at the front, with Flockhart now up to 2nd behind Behra! Von Trips is now 3rd and back into top spot in the Championship picture, with Burgess 4th, de Beaufort 5th, Brooks 6th and Gregory again still in 7th after he allows the Aston Martin past by missing the apex at the U-Turn!

Brabham is 8th from Salvadori 9th (after he passes Phil Hill at the Tower Turn), with McLaren 11th, Trintignant moving over to let Gendebien into 12th (is that him admitting his championship hopes are over?!?)and then Moss 14th, Ireland 15th, Naylor 16th, Gurney 17th, Fairman 18th and Bonnier out in 19th – much further down the order than he would have hoped for!

*Lap 24* – Another stop for Burgess allows de Beaufort up to 4th, Brooks into an impressive 5th for Aston Martin and then Gregory AT LAST into 6th position for BRM. Brabham is 7th from Salvadori 8th, Phil Hill blocking McLaren over 9th and then Gendebien 11th, Moss up to 12th after a pass on Trintignant, Ireland 14th, Naylor 15th, Gurney 16th, Fairman 17th, Bonnier 18th, Allison 19th and Burgess out in 20th just a few seconds ahead of d’Orey.

No rain on track yet - but the clouds are certainly looming overhead right now…

*Lap 25* – Darker clouds and some rumblings overhead – but not a drop of rain yet on-track…though the first spots cannot be far away!

McLaren shows a decent turn of pace here, as he passes Phil Hill for 9th on the back-straight – with Gendebien defending from Moss behind, which costs him an attempt at the BRM as well.

*Lap 26* – Flockhart pits this time around, which moves von Trips into 2nd position (and arguably a step closer to his 2nd consecutive title), de Beaufort to a strong 3rd, Brooks into 4th, Gregory into the points in 5th, Salvadori up to 6th after a great pass on Brabham at the Warehouse Hairpin, who gets pushed wide and also loses 7th to McLaren as well!

Meanwhile inspiring pace for Moss right now, as he is giving the Connaught a proper swansong with passes on both Gendebien and Phil Hill to claim 9th position at the end of the lap…with Trintignant, Ireland, Naylor, Gurney, Fairman and Bonnier next up ahead of Flockhart emerging in 18th position overall.

*Lap 27* – There are some seriously anxious faces on the pit-wall right now, with frantic fuel calculations occurring – as some teams look nervous about whether they have enough on-board, given that there is still no rain on track!

It is another good lap for McLaren though, as he passes Salvadori – though Moss behind takes 8th from Brabham before using his apparently lighter Connaught to overtake both Salvadori and McLaren and move up to 6th (though Team Principal Mark Witney does not look overly pleased with the current state of affairs), while it is Phil Hill holding up Gendebien over the final Top 10 position. Further back d’Orey is now back inside the Top 20 after a comfortable pass on the heavier Burgess at Collier Curve.

*Lap 28* – First of all, the reason for Witney’s displeasure becomes apparent, as Moss pulls his Connaught over to the side of the road to retire what is likely their best hopes today thanks to running out of fuel. Several teams use the lack of rain thus far to bring their drivers in – but with no moisture on track yet they all opt for dry tyres, which impacts Behra from the lead of the race, de Beaufort, Brooks, McLaren and – sensibly – the final Connaught of Allison!

All of that means – ominously – von Trips leads the race by 14 seconds…from Gregory in the BRM, who looks like his championship hopes may not be dead quite yet! Salvadori is up to an incredible 3rd for Aston Martin, with Brabham 4th and Gendebien up to 5th after a strong pass on Phil Hill at Webster 1.

Trintignant is now 7th from Ireland 8th, Naylor 9th and Behra out in 10th position. Gurney is 11th from Fairman 12th, Bonnier 13th and then de Beaufort out in a solid 14th overall. Brooks emerges in 16th narrowly ahead of Burgess 17th and Flockhart 18th, as they are all victims to the pace of d’Orey, who moves himself up to 15th with a brilliantly attacking lap!

McLaren is out in 19th, with Bianchi 20th, de Filippis 21st and Allison out in 22nd and now last position of those still running, thanks to Moss’s retirement.

*Lap 29* – A series of on-track blocks this lap accompanies the rain starting to come down on certain parts of the track…though Gendebien does manage to overtake Brabham – though somewhat pointlessly given that he pits later in the lap! Several drivers get caught out by the changeable conditions, including Allison, Brooks, Fairman and most surprisingly of all von Trips, who loses nearly 10 seconds with an initial spin on a slick patch on track…

Though the biggest casualty of the weather change is Salvadori, who completely skates off the road at Le Mans Curve to retire on the spot for Aston Martin! Gendebien meanwhile pits this lap, though given that dry tyres are still quicker the mechanics send him back out on dry tyres…he will need to hope for the weather to stop soon or he will almost certainly pit again to put on wets!!!

Meanwhile von Trips has retained the lead despite his spin, with Brabham now up to 2nd position and just 3 seconds down on his team-mate. An unlikely contender emerges from a chaotic lap in 3rd, as Trintignant is now just 9.5 seconds off the lead thanks to passing both Phil Hill and Gregory this time around. Gregory finishes the lap in 4th, though looks to be struggling in these conditions…while Gurney has made incredible progress up to 5th overall, narrowly getting the better of Naylor at the U-Turn meaning the JBW finishes the lap in a respectable 6th place.

Phil Hill falls to 7th after taking it far too easy in these conditions, while Bonnier is up to 8th, Ireland 9th, Behra retains 10th, d’Orey up to 11th in this changeable weather, while Gendebien emerges in 12th from his stop ahead of de Beaufort 13th, Burgess up to 14th, Brooks down to 15th after his spin, Flockhart 16th, Fairman down to 17th after he has a lap to forget, McLaren 18th, de Filippis up to 19th, Bianchi retaining 20th and Allison up to 21st thanks to Salvadori’s retirement…

*Lap 30* – A whole host of drivers pile into the pits this lap to put on wet tyres, with the rain now firmly coming down – while many of those staying out will wish they had pitted already! Von Trips, Naylor, Bonnier, Ireland and Bianchi have their pit-crews on stand-by with wet tyres on…while the likes of Behra, Gendebien, de Beaufort (who crashes on his way into the pits…luckily for him!), Brooks, Flockhart, McLaren and Allison all rather surprise their mechanics with their unexpected pits this time around and that costs them a little time.

Meanwhile there is a particularly vicious slick area forming at the Le Mans Curve, which sees both Trintignant and Gurney slide wide and do some minor damage to their cars…all of which means that Brabham now leads the race from Trintignant 2nd and Gurney 3rd despite their issues – while Gregory drops to 4th overall.

Phil Hill is up to 5th from d’Orey now 6th – though all the Top 6 are on the wrong tyres for the conditions at this stage. Von Trips emerges in 7th position with Burgess up to 8th (though on the wrong tyres), Bonnier out in 9th (though some 36 seconds behind von Trips right now), Naylor out in 10th having lost out to the Maserati in the pits by some distance, de Filippis making great headway up to 11th, Fairman up to 12th (though on the wrong tyres), Gendebien pitting again to put on wet tyres in 13th, Ireland out in 14th and Behra out in 15th.

De Beaufort comes out in 16th with his damage fixed and then Brooks out narrowly behind in 17th on-track. Flockhart emerges in 18th from McLaren 19th, Bianchi 20th and Allison still bringing up the rear in 21st position in Connaught’s final ever race.

*Lap 31* – In come Gurney, Phil Hill, d’Orey and de Filippis on this lap, which means Gregory is now up to 3rd place (with the leading trio still on dry tyres), von Trips now 4th and Gurney out in 5th and looking good to score points today if he can keep this pace up. Burgess is down to 6th and starting to struggle on dry tyres now, with Bonnier in 7th looking somewhat rejuvenated in terms of his pace!

Gendebien is up to 8th after an easy pass on Fairman, while D’Orey emerges in 9th place and looks much happier with these conditions now – with Naylor completing the Top 10 for JBW as it stands. Phil Hill emerges from his stop in 11th, with Fairman now 12th from Brooks an incredible 13th after he makes a series of overtakes this lap on the likes of Behra now 14th, de Beaufort 15th and Ireland 16th! De Filippis meanwhile comes out of the pits in 17th and looks in the mood to go racing on her final ever F1R outing…

*Lap 32* – The leading trio all pit for wet tyres, while further back Fairman elects to do likewise. The race is therefore on – with potentially huge championship connotations for both Brabham and von Trips…but the German looks to be taking things a little easier to avoid incidents on track, while the Aussie pushes his car right to the limit on his in-lap…

…and it pays off! Brabham is out in the race lead with an 8 second gap back to…Trintignant in 2nd position for Porsche after his stop! Von Trips is 3rd but that hesitancy looks to have cost him, as a 22.8 second gap has emerged between the two Ferrari’s now…and it looks like it is Brabham’s Championship to lose!!!

Gurney is now 4th from Bonnier up to 5th – though the Maserati has Gendebien in the Porsche breathing down his neck…Burgess falls to 7th and is the only driver in the race on the wrong tyre, while Gregory is out in 8th, just a single second ahead of d’Orey behind in 9th.

Brooks moves up to 12th thanks to Fairman’s stop, while the other beneficiary is de Filippis, who catapults herself past Ireland, de Beaufort and Behra to claim 13th from Behra 14th, de Beaufort 15th, Ireland 16th, Flockhart 17th, McLaren 18th and then Fairman out in 19th place.

*Lap 33* – Brabham is leading and fastest on-track, with every reason to be hopeful right now…while behind him Gendebien gets the better of Bonnier for 5th, Burgess pits to finally move onto rain tyres and d’Orey passes Gregory at Webster 1 to move up to 7th place overall. Naylor is now 9th from Brooks 10th and de Filippis 11th after both Aston Martins overtake Phil Hill this time around.

Burgess comes out of the pits in 13th, while further back Ireland completely messes up the Le Mans Curve and is forced to pit immediately to fix the damage, which promotes Flockhart to 16th and McLaren to 17th place.

*Lap 34* – In a more sedate lap up front, the battles to watch out for are 3rd place von Trips losing time to Gurney and Gendebien in 4th and 5th respectively, d’Orey gaining on Bonnier for 6th and the Aston Martin duo of Brooks and de Filippis making their way through the Top 10 – though the latter gets it all wrong at Collier Curve and thus sustains some minor damage on his car. Further back Flockhart is the latest Le Mans Curve victim, which causes him to pit and drop to 20th behind McLaren, Ireland, Fairman and Bianchi!

*Lap 35* – Disaster for Naylor in 9th as he misjudges his braking point at the Le Mans Curve to necessitate immediate repairs, which moves Brooks and de Filippis easily into 9th and 10th, while Phil Hill has a lap to forget as he overcooks it at the Warehouse Hairpin to allow Burgess into 11th and de Beaufort up to 12th after a late lunge up the inside of Behra (13th) with Phil Hill dropping to 14th and the last man on the lead lap still.

Naylor emerges in 15th, with Bianchi also misjudging Le Mans Curve to see him fall back to 20th behind the recovering Flockhart…

*Lap 36* – Brabham is 12 seconds ahead of Trintignant and gradually pulling away, while von Trips in 3rd is now some 55 seconds behind the leader. Brooks moves over to let de Filippis past in her final ever race, as she takes up 9th position with Gregory in 8th a very realistic target still.

Meanwhile to complete the Cooper set, Behra manages to miss his braking at the Le Mans Curve and must pit to fix the damage – that means Phil Hill takes 13th and Naylor 14th with the Frenchman out in 15th overall. Flockhart meanwhile overtakes Fairman for 18th place on-track…

*Lap 37* – Bonnier, Gendebien and Brooks all push hard and secure decent lap-times, while von Trips also pushes hard this lap – though overcooks it a little at Collier Curve…and that allows both Gurney and Gendebien to pull alongside on the run down to Le Mans Curve, which sees von Trips brake latest…but too late! He manages to avoid an accident, but 3rd place is long gone – and is sitting with none other than Gendebien, as we now have 2 Porsches in the podium places!

Gurney retains 4th and von Trips falls to 5th with his hopes of defending his title looking completely gone at this point. Meanwhile, despite her damage, de Filippis overtakes Gregory for 8th – and Phil Hill becomes the latest driver to get his braking all wrong at Le Mans Curve, which means he has to pit to fix his damage and therefore falls behind Naylor (now 13th) and Behra (now 14th).

*Lap 38* – Another lap and another BRM getting it all wrong at Le Mans Curve, as this time Gregory confirms that his championship hopes are all but over as he is forced to pit, which allows Brooks to move up to 9th and de Beaufort to claim 10th after Burgess also makes a mistake at that same treacherous corner to incur some damage…though not enough for him to consider pitting with only 4 laps remaining.

Gregory emerges from the pits in 11th just ahead of Burgess in 12th place – with the battle for the Top 10 now looking like it may be over in the favour of de Beaufort’s Vanwall…

*Lap 39* – This time around the Le Mans Curve victim is McLaren, who caps a miserable race by having to pit and fall behind Ireland (now 16th), Flockhart (now 17th) and Fairman (now 18th) – with McLaren out just 2 tenths behind the Vanwall in 19th position!

Gendebien also gets it wrong at Le Mans – and picks up some minor damage as a result, but it shouldn’t impact his position given the gap back to Gurney already.

*Lap 40* – Naylor and Burgess fight for the honour of being top JBW driver, which is a battle won by the former – as Naylor brakes latest at the Warehouse Hairpin to move up to 12th position. Behind them Flockhart passes Ireland for 16th place at Webster 1 and McLaren gets the better of Fairman for 18th at the Tower Turn.

*Lap 41* – Brooks is another to get it wrong at Le Mans Curve, which costs him some damage – though not enough to necessitate a pit-stop.

While in the penultimate lap of the season Brabham now knows that as long as he doesn’t fall to 3rd position, he will be crowned Champion. If that did happen, it would be Trintignant that would step up to claim that place…but as he starts the lap Brabham has a 1:08.5 second advantage over Gendebien in 3rd, which means he looks odds on to be…

*Lap 42* – …THE F1R 1959 CHAMPION!!! Brabham crosses the line, takes the chequered flag and punches the air in delight, as he manages to finish ahead of team-mate von Trips in the standings at the 3rd time of asking to claim his 1st ever F1R Championship. Trintignant crosses the line in 2nd and will have to wait to see where that puts him in the final reckoning, with Gendebien making it a great day for Porsche in 3rd place overall (his 2nd podium of the season in fact!).

Gurney comes home 4th for Maserati to equal his best finish of the season, while 5th place is scant consolation for von Trips who is another who will have to wait to see where he has finished in the final season standings. Bonnier and d’Orey (in what is now confirmed as his final ever race) come home 6th and 7th, and at least managed to finish on the lead lap after a challenging end to the race.

*1 LAP DOWN* – De Filippis’ final ever race finishes with a very respectable 8th position (her best result of the season), while 9th for Brooks is a decent result for Aston Martin! De Beaufort also secures comfortably his best result of the season with a Top 10 finish, ahead of the luckless Gregory in 11th, Naylor 12th, Burgess 13th and then Behra’s final ever race ending a glittering career down in 14th overall.

*2 LAPS DOWN* – Phil Hill finishes 15th from Flockhart 16th, Ireland 17th, McLaren 18th and Fairman 19th overall – as none of them enjoyed the miserable conditions on-track today.

*3 LAPS DOWN* – Bianchi’s slim title hopes never looked like coming to fruition after his qualifying performance (or lack thereof…) and he comes home in 20th overall.

*6 LAPS DOWN* – And so we say goodbye to Connaught, with Allison at least classified as a finisher in 21st place – albeit some 6 laps down on the leaders. Though he will be classified ahead of Salvadori (after his wet weather crash), Moss (with his fuel issue), Graham Hill (fuel issue – though he does have the consolation of the Fastest Lap point!), Scarlatti, Piper and Shelby (all with a crash at the start), as the latter bids farewell to the series alongside his team.

## Race Setups

**How close setups were to perfect - DRY**

**How close setups were to perfect - WET**

## Milestones

* 40th race entry for Flockhart
* 10th race entry for Phil Hill
* Phil Hills’s 10th ever race start
* Schell and Flockhart are up to 3rd and 4th for Most Races without a Win, at the expense of José Froilán González
* McLaren is up to 9th for Most Races without Points, at the expense of Paul Emery
* Win for Brabham moves him past Herrmann, Paul Pietsch and Peter Whitehead into 4th for Most Victories EVER! Also moves him into the Top 10 for Most Race Wins as a % of Race Entries ever
* Brabham winning from 7th place on the grid is within the Top 10 (at 9th place) for Wins from the Furthest back on the Start Grid
* No previous US Grand Prix, so no previous winners, pole-sitters or fastest lap holders (Brabham takes the win, Gregory the Pole and Graham Hill the FL today)
* Top points for Brabham move the Australian up to 9th in Most Points Ever at the expense of Herrmann
* Von Trips 5th position is enough to move him up to 100 Career Points – he becomes only the 3rd driver to reach this milestone (after Bob Gerard and Paul Pietsch).
* Von Trips points finish is his 20th Points finish
* Brabham’s points move him into 9th for Most Races Finished in the Points, at the expense of Hans Herrmann
* Points finish for Trintignant is his 2nd points finish in a row
* FL for Graham Hill moves him into the Top 10 for Most Fastest Laps at the expense of von Trips
* Podium for Brabham moves him up to 8th for Most Podiums of all time, at the expense of Bonnier, Hans Herrmann and Salvadori