1959 British GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Aintree
* Location – UK
* Corners – 8
* Laps – 75
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 3:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 1:57.000 (Stirling Moss/Bruce McLaren)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 1:58.030 (Bob Gerard)
* Pit Lane Length – 20 seconds\*
* Fuel Consumption – Low
* Tyre Wear – Medium

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

## Qualifying & Grid

Maserati dominate qualifying this time around, with Bonnier claiming Pole Position to move into the Top 10 for Most Pole Positions ever! McLaren and Gurney are 2nd and 3rd, with Porsche also putting in a strong qualifying performance, as Trintignant starts 4th with Gendebien 6th and Testut 7th - while two returning drivers put in a great qualifying performance after missing the race last time; Flockhart lines up 8th for Cooper and Herrmann lines up an astonishing 5th for Lotus! To put that 5th place in perspective, the other Lotus of Ward starts down in 28th position - though did have a crash during qualifying that hampered his progres…

Fairman is best of the Vanwalls, as he lines up 9th (while de Beaufort is 13th and Ireland way down in 29th after a crash) and then it's the remaining Coopers of Behra 10th and Bianchi 11th, ahead of Salvadori, who puts in a strong effort for Aston Martin, who also line up 14th for Brooks and 18th for de Filippis!

JBW have a decent qualifying session, as Naylor lines up 17th - though Scarlatti (25th) and Burgess (26th) would have hoped for a better performance. That leaves Connaught, who take 20th (with Moss), 22nd (Shelby) and 23rd (Allison) and then 2 teams who are massively out of position on the grid…

First of all BRM, who line up 19th for Graham Hill, 21st for Masten Gregory and 24th for Phil Hill (who qualified in the Top 5 last race!), and then Ferrari - who have their worst qualifying session since the 1954 Spanish GP where Mantovani started 16th, Taruffi 19th and Hawthorn 26th! Today they start in a slightly better position, as Brabham lines up 15th, d'Orey 16th and then von Trips (after a crash limited his running on-track) in 27th position on the grid. It's worth noting that on that day in Spain the best finishing Ferrari was in 17th position (Mantovani) - but here, the weather is likely to shake things up significantly…!!!

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* – The race gets under-way with the teams still not quite sure what the weather is going to do today…but with wet tyres on their cars as the rain pours down right now! Off the line the Maserat’s get away without too much issue – though Bonnier elects to move over for McLaren and not challenge his team-mate’s faster start. Speaking of fast starts there are great getaways for the likes of Testut (largely down to his team-mate Gendebien letting him slipstream past down the Sefton Straight), de Beaufort, Phil Hill and – most impressive of all – Brabham in the Ferrari, who makes short work of driving from 15th on the grid to 2nd position by the end of the 1st lap, including a daring overtake on Bonnier (now 3rd) at Tatts Corner!!!

Testut is up to 4th after his great start, with a large part of the reason these drivers were able to take advantage down to Dan Gurney holding up a whole host of cars! These include Trintignant (6th), Herrmann (7th), de Beaufort (up to 8th), Gendebien (9th), Flockhart (10th), Phil Hill (up to 11th from 24th on the grid!) and Behra in 12th position.

D’Orey gets a decent start to move up to 13th, from de Filippis 14th, Brooks 15th, Bianchi (who struggled off the line) 16th, Salvadori (a tough getaway hampered by the Cooper of Bianchi) 17th, and Burgess a strong 18th (from 26th on the grid) who has dragged von Trips with him up to 19th overall – with Gregory rounding out the Top 20.

Graham Hill is 21st from Naylor 22nd, Shelby 23rd, Scarlatti 24th, Moss 25th, Ireland up to 26th, Fairman down to 27th after completely messing up the 1st corner and dropping right down the order! Ward is 28th with Allison down to 29th overall after a tough start to the race for Connaught.

*Lap 2* – McLaren blocks Brabham, as the Ferrari tries to engineer a move on the leader – but is unable to make it happen this time around. Gurney meanwhile is still holding up a queue of cars, which gives de Beaufort the opportunity at Canal Curve to motor around the outside of both Herrmann and Trintignant to claim 6th position, with Gendebien and Phil Hill following them through.

Phil Hill goes on to roar past both of them on the straight, before passing Gurney at Tatts to move into 5th position. Gurney is now 6th, from de Beaufort 7th, Gendebien 8th, Trintignant 9th and then Brooks up to 10th position overall after a great lap by the Aston Martin driver. Behra is up to 11th, while Herrmann has slipped to 12th ahead of Flockhart 13th, d’Orey 14th, de Filippis 15th, Bianchi 16th and then it’s Burgess in 17th, who has overtaken Salvadori this time around.

Gregory meanwhile has passed von Trips for 19th, as the Ferrari’s good start has somewhat faltered already – behind them Shelby passes Naylor, though they are both passed by a resurgent Ireland in the Vanwall, who in turn loses out to Ward in the Lotus, who is now 22nd with Ireland 23rd, Allison 24th (who has followed the Lotus through), Shelby 25th, Moss 26th, Naylor 27th, Scarlatti 28th and Fairman 29th.

*Lap 3* – Brabham takes the lead from McLaren by diving up the inside at Cottage Corner, while Gurney gets overtaken by de Beaufort and then Gendebien allows another team-mate to slipstream past him, as he lets Trintignant through – which allows the Porsche to not only pass Gurney but also de Beaufort as well to move into 6th, from de Beaufort 7th, Gendebien 8th and Gurney 9th after a shocking end to the lap for the Maserati!

D’Orey is briefly moving forward for Ferrari, passing Flockhart and Herrmann – before getting overhauled by de Filippis for 11th, with Bianchi up to 12th on his coattails and Behra now down to 13th from Burgess 14th and d’Orey 15th having ultimately lost ground! Salvadori is 16th, with Herrmann 17th, Flockhart 18th and Gregory 19th overall.

Ireland continues moving up to 20th, from Shelby 21st, Moss 22nd, Ward 23rd, von Trips 24th after a tough lap for the reigning champion, Allison 25th, Naylor 26th, Scarlatti 27th and Graham Hill down to 28th after getting slowed up behind the struggling von Trips.

*Lap 4* – Brabham sets a new FL of a 2:10.3 as he moves 1.8 seconds ahead of 2nd placed man McLaren, while Trintignant is holding up de Beaufort over 6th place. Brooks allows de Filippis to slipstream past him, which allows the only woman in the field to pass Gurney for 9th position – while Gurney is now 10th and Brooks 11th overall.

Bianchi moves aside to allow Behra through, which promotes the Frenchman to 12th ahead of his team-mate. Meanwhile Herrmann moves up to 15th from d’Orey 16th and Salvadori 17th, while behind them Ward continues to make moves, as he passes the Connaught duo of Shelby and Moss to move into 21st position.

*Lap 5* – Brabham breaks the 2:10 barrier, while de Beaufort passes Trintignant for 6th at Canal Curve. Meanwhile Behra is making progress for Cooper, as he moves into the Top 10 at the expense of both Gurney and Brooks. Meanwhile Herrmann passes Burgess for 14th and Moss makes significant gains with passes on Shelby, Ward and Ireland to claim 20th place! Naylor passes Allison for 25th, while the others are queued up behind them…

*Lap 6* – Fairman has had a tough start to the race after a decent qualifying but seems to have found a better approach to the corners now and is starting to make up some ground – with passes on Graham Hill, Scarlatti and Allison to move him up to 26th position! Brabham has a 4 second advantage at the front of the race and continues to break the lap record with a 2:09.3 – meanwhile Bianchi literally has every car from Herrmann in 14th to the man in last position queued up behind him!!! The man taking advantage this lap is Ireland in the Vanwall, who out-brakes Moss into Canal Curve for 20th position…

*Lap 7* – Gendebien makes an error at Anchor Bend, which allows de Filippis up to 8th and Behra to 9th overall. Flockhart meanwhile is another Cooper holding those behind him up, which allows Ward to take advantage and pass not only Moss, but also Ireland and Gregory to move up to 19th position! Moss also allows his team-mate Shelby to pass without any resistance, as he drops to

23rd overall.

Fairman meanwhile continues his progress to pass Naylor and von Trips to advance to 24th place. Graham Hill at the back gets the better of Scarlatti for 28th position on this lap as well…

*Lap 8* – A 2:09.2 for Brabham, as he extends his lead to 7.2 seconds. Meanwhile Testut is blocking Phil Hill over 4th, Gurney is holding up Brooks for 11th and Herrmann gets the better of Bianchi for 13th on track! Fairman meanwhile passes both Shelby and Moss this lap to move up to 22nd overall.

*Lap 9* – Testut again holds up Phil Hill, which is allowing de Beaufort to start to close in…Burgess meanwhile shows that JBW’s upgrades are working well, as he holds d’Orey up over 15th position. Ireland meanwhile moves over to let the resurgent Fairman back into 21st position.

*Lap 10* – The reason for Brabham’s early pace becomes clear, as he pits to fall to the rear of the field in what looks to be a fairly unique strategy given how quick his pace was! That re-establishes the Maserati 1-2 with McLaren leading Bonnier by around 4.5 seconds from Testut 3rd, Phil Hill 4th and de Beaufort 5th for Vanwall. Burgess holds up d’Orey for what is now 14th – while Fairman moves up to 17th with passes on Gregory, Ward and Flockhart, which also allows Ireland and Shelby to move past Gregory and Ward thanks to Flockhart blocking those behind him…

*Lap 11* – Testut is again defending from Phil Hill for 3rd, while Gurney holds up Brooks and Herrmann and Burgess continues to thwart d’Orey’s overtaking attempts – with Salvadori now close behind! Flockhart blocks Ireland for 18th and Shelby is holding up everyone from Ward down to Moss, while Scarlatti gets the better of Graham Hill this time around to avenge the pass that happened a few laps ago!

*Lap 12* – Testut continues to hold up Phil Hill, which has allowed de Beaufort to narrow the gap to just 2 seconds, while Brooks is preventing Herrmann from claiming 11th and Flockhart is keeping Ireland at bay over 18th place. Allison is similarly keeping Scarlatti and Graham Hill behind him…

*Lap 13* – Herrmann’s pressure on Brooks finally pays off, as he is able to dive up the inside at Cottage to claim 11th – and the Aston Martin ends up sliding wide and losing 12th to Bianchi as well. Ward meanwhile uses the fact that Flockhart is really slowing up those behind him to overtake Shelby at Canal Curve, which also allows Gregory to move up to 21st at the Connaught’s expense too.

*Lap 14* – Phil Hill finally passes Testut for 3rd with a great switch-back at Village to catch the Porsche unawares – with de Beaufort now only 1 second behind the pair of them as a result of their squabble! D’Orey FINALLY passes Burgess for 14th position – and the JBW loses ground to Salvadori in the process as well…while von Trips holds up Naylor for 24th place (hardly what the Ferrari would have hoped for this race!).

*Lap 15* – Herrmann pits this lap and falls to the rear of the field, which promotes Bianchi to 11th, Brooks to 12th and d’Orey to 13th with the latter pair pressuring the Cooper now. Ireland is how holding up Ward over 18th, while Allison holds up Scarlatti for 26th place.

*Lap 16* – Burgess makes up for his previous error by re-taking Salvadori, who also loses ground to Fairman – who has now bridged the gap to this group and moved up to 15th place. Shelby meanwhile allows Moss to re-pass him, as the Brit reclaims 21st position. Graham Hill passes Scarlatti for 26th this time around as well.

*Lap 17* – Salvadori reclaims 15th from Fairman after Brooks holds up that entire group of cars, while von Trips continues to hold up Naylor over what is now 23rd.

*Lap 18* – The reason for the pace of some of the front-runners becomes apparent, as McLaren, Phil Hill and de Filippis come into the pits. That promotes Bonnier to 1st, Testut to 2nd (what a debut season for the Porsche man – though he is under pressure from the Vanwall behind!), de Beaufort to 3rd, Trintignant to 4th and Behra to 5th. Gendebien is now 6th ahead of Gurney, Bianchi, Brooks 9th and d’Orey into 10th place. Burgess is 11th, Salvadori is 12th, Fairman is 13th, Flockhart 14th, Ireland 15th, Ward 16th, Gregory 17th, Shelby 18th (after Moss lets him back through), Moss 19th and von Trips back inside the Top 20.

Naylor is 21st, while McLaren comes out in 22nd place just ahead of those behind him! Allison is 23rd, Graham Hill 24th, Scarlatti 25th and then Phil Hill emerges in 26th from Brabham 27th, who has struggled to get his tyres up to temperature, de Filippis 28th just behind the Ferrari and then Herrmann 29th overall.

*Lap 19* – Bonnier at the front claims the new Fastest Lap of the race with a 2:09.1, which extends his lead over Testut to 6.8 seconds. De Beaufort pits this time around, which demotes him to 26th behind Phil Hill but ahead of Brabham – that means Trintignant is 3rd, Behra 4th and Gendebien 5th, with all 3 Porsches in the points right now! Gurney is 6th from Bianchi 7th, Brooks 8th, d’Orey 9th and Burgess into the Top 10 for JBW!!!

Behind them Flockhart is holding up both Ireland and Ward, while von Trips defends from Naylor and Scarlatti takes advantage of McLaren’s colder tyres and heavy fuel load that is slowing those around him up – by taking the outside line at Canal Curve to drive past Graham Hill, Allison and then ultimately McLaren himself; that’s 25th to 21st in a lap for the JBW thanks to de Beaufort’s pit as well…

*Lap 20* – A 2:08.9 puts Bonnier in a now commanding 14.4 second lead, while Testut pits this lap, along with Shelby in the Connaught (not a good sign for the British marque considering the American was only 17th before this stop). That means Trintignant is 2nd – as the championship protagonists arguably sit 1-2 right now! Behra is 3rd from Gendebien 4th, Gurney into 5th, Bianchi 6th, Brooks 7th, d’Orey 8th, Burgess 9th and Salvadori back inside the Top 10 – though with Fairman right on his tail!

Moss is 16th from von Trips a little way back in 17th, Naylor 18th and Scarlatti 19th – though behind them Graham Hill uses his lighter car to great effect, as he advances past both Allison and McLaren through the Cottage/Country complex. Phil Hill meanwhile is up to 23rd with Testut out right behind him in 24th, from de Beaufort 25th (who will be disgusted to see he is still behind the Porsche ahead!), Brabham 26th, de Filippis 27th, Herrmann 28th and then Shelby out in 29th and last position.

And in the distance, everyone can see blue skies starting to appear…

*Lap 21* – Burgess pits, keeping wet tyres on as the rain is still falling, which promotes Salvadori to 9th and Fairman into the Top 10 after his challenging start to the race is long behind him! Von Trips is still holding up Naylor for what is now 16th, while Allison finally passes the struggling McLaren on his colder wet tyres for what is now 20th position. Phil Hill is now 22nd from Testut 23rd, de Beaufort 24th, Brabham 25th, de Filippis 26th and then it’s Burgess out in a respectable 27th place for JBW.

A 2:08.7 for Bonnier up front has extended his advantage to 15 seconds…

*Lap 22* – …but that’s as far as he gets, before coming into the pits – but with the rain still falling he puts on wet tyres again (just like everyone else on the grid), which passes the lead to Trintignant, Behra is now 2nd and Gendebien 3rd. Gurney is 4th and Bianchi 5th from Brooks, who is holding up d’Orey for 6th position. Fairman meanwhile is starting to charge from 9th in the order…

Flockhart is still the stopper in the bottle in 10th, holding up everyone down to Moss in 14th – which allows Ward to slip past Ireland for what is now 11th place. Bonnier emerges from the pits in 18th place JUST behind Scarlatti with Graham Hill less than 1 second behind…

*Lap 23* – Ward is holding up Ireland, Gregory and Moss right now – while von Trips holds up Naylor for 15th and Graham Hill takes advantage of Bonnier’s heavier fuel load to pass him for 18th position.

*Lap 24* – The rain has noticeably lessened, which has caused the teams in the pits to start bringing out dry tyres. Fairman has noticeably quickened his pace meanwhile, as he passes Salvadori on the back straight for 8th position. Meanwhile Allison is the latest man to pass Bonnier, as he struggles to get his tyres up to temperature – with McLaren also passing his team-mate, as the Swede falls to 21st position.

*Lap 25* – Trintignant, Behra, Bianchi, d’Orey and Ward all pit this time around – and all elect to put on dry tyres as the rain looks to have all but halted now…though the track is still rather wet! That means Gendebien now leads, from Gurney 2nd, Brooks an impressive 3rd for Aston Martin, Fairman 4th (and setting the FL of the race, with a 2:08.4 in clean air!), Salvadori 5th (with 2 Aston Martin in the points positions now), Flockhart 6th, Ireland 7th, Gregory 8th, Moss 9th and von Trips now 10th.

Naylor is now 11th, from Scarlatti 12th, Graham Hill 13th, Allison 14th, McLaren 15th, Bonnier 16th and then Trintignant 17th overall. Phil Hill is now 18th from Testut 19th, Behra out in 20th, de Beaufort 21st, Brabham 22nd, Bianchi out in 23rd, de Filippis 24th, d’Orey out in 25th and Ward out in 26th.

*Lap 26* – Several drivers elect to pit this time around, including Gendebien, Brooks, Flockhart, Scarlatti and Allison. That promotes Gurney to the race lead, Salvadori into 2nd as he overhauls Fairman who is now 3rd overall. Gregory passes Ireland easily to claim 4th position, with von Trips now 6th, Naylor 7th, McLaren now 8th as he easily passes Graham Hill (now 9th) and Bonnier 10th overall.

Moss has fallen to 11th after he backs off massively in the drying conditions, with Phil Hill up to 12th, Brabham now charging up to 13th (and reclaiming the Fastest Lap in the process), Behra 14th (the top dry-shod runner), Brooks out in 15th (the 2nd dry-shod runner) de Beaufort 16th, Trintignant 17th (the 3rd dry-shod runner), de Filippis 18th and Gendebien out in 19th position (the 4th dry-shod runner). Testut is 20th overall, with d’Orey 21st (the 5th dry-shod runner), Flockhart out in 22nd just ahead of team-mate Bianchi 23rd, Burgess up to 24th, Herrmann into 25th, Ward down to 26th, Scarlatti out in 27th, Shelby up to 28th and Allison out in 29th overall – as the Connaughts really do not seem to like these conditions…

*Lap 27* – Pits for Gurney, Salvadori, Fairman, Naylor and Moss shake the order up once more – and it’s von Trips, who charges past both Ireland and Gregory this lap into the race lead…clearly loving these mixed conditions! Gregory manages to keep 2nd, with McLaren advancing into 3rd, from Ireland 4th, Bonnier 5th, Brabham up to 6th (with another new FL of a 2:05.8) after comfortably passing Phil Hill now 7th. Graham Hill has dropped to 8th and is clearly struggling with these conditions with Gurney out in 9th, now the top dry-shod runner in the field!

Behra is 10th (2nd of those on dry tyres), de Filippis flies up to 11th place from team-mate Brooks 12th (3rd of those on dry tyres), Salvadori 13th (4th of those on dry tyres) and Fairman 14th (5th of those on dry tyres). De Beaufort is now 15th, from d’Orey 16th, Burgess 17th (and travelling along very nicely in these conditions), Trintignant 18th, Flockhart 19th, Bianchi 20th, Gendebien 21st, Testut 22nd, Herrmann 23rd, Ward 24th, Naylor out in 25th, Scarlatti 26th and then Moss out in 27th ahead of his 2 team-mates; all of whom are really backing off for fear off crashing in these mixed conditions…

*Lap 28* – Pits this lap for Gregory and Ireland mean that von Trips leads – but is really struggling with his tyre wear now, which is allowing McLaren in 2nd to close right up to him. Brabham meanwhile passes Bonnier for 3rd and STILL sets a new FL of a 2:03.6, with the Maserati retaining 4th position. Phil Hill is up to 5th, from de Filippis now 6th as the Aston Martin threads her way through those taking things more easily – including top dry runner Gurney (now 7th), as dry tyres still aren’t quite as quick as the wet tyres…but a dry line is starting to form on track!

Behra is up to 8th (2nd of those on dry tyres), from Brooks 9th (3rd of those on dries), Graham Hill 10th, Salvadori 11th (4th of those on dries), Burgess 12th as he continues to make moves, Fairman 13th (5th of those on dries), d’Orey up to 14th, de Beaufort 15th, Flockhart 16th, Bianchi 17th and Trintignant down to 18th and really struggling, as Porsche look to have similar issues to Connaught in these conditions!

Gendebien is 19th, from Herrmann up to 20th, Testut 21st, Gregory out in 22nd, Ward 23rd, Naylor 24th, Scarlatti 25th, Ireland out in 26th and then Shelby up to 27th after team-mate Moss moves over to let him by.

*Lap 29* – It is now clear that dry tyres are the way to go – which gives those yet to pit the dilemma of whether it is quicker to wait until their next scheduled stop, or to dive in now and put on the better tyres. McLaren and Bonnier both come in for Maserati, much to the distress of the latter – who is now queued up behind his team-mate for around 20 seconds! Also coming in this lap are Graham Hill (who planned this to perfection!), Burgess, de Beaufort, Testut and the lowly Shelby.

A 2:02.7 is enough to give Brabham another FL along with the race lead, as team-mate von Trips on his fading tyres moves over to let him sail by! Phil Hill is now 3rd, from de Filippis 4th and Gurney the top dry-shod runner in 5th position. Though the Maserati may need to watch out, as Behra in 6th is less than a second behind him now and also on dry tyres!

Brooks is 7th on dry tyres (3rd of those on what is now definitely the best tyre), from Salvadori 8th (4th on dries), d’Orey up to 9th after a strong pass on Fairman (5th of those on dries) and Fairman himself rounding out the Top 10.

Flockhart is up to 11th, with Bianchi 12th, Trintignant 13th, Gendebien 14th, Herrmann 15th, Gregory up to 16th, from Ward 17th, Naylor 18th, Scarlatti 19th, McLaren out in 20th, Ireland up to 21st, Graham Hill out in 22nd, Burgess 23rd, Bonnier 24th after having to wait for so long, de Beaufort 25th, Moss 26th, Testut out in 27th, Allison 28th and Shelby out in 29th position.

*Lap 30* – Von Trips comes in to get rid of those heavily used tyres – though it is a rather well-timed stop, given that he can go straight onto a pair of fresh dry tyres! Herrmann is another to pit this lap, though the pace of the Lotus is such that he isn’t a serious contender today unfortunately.

Meanwhile at the cross-over point of the tyres it is incredibly even, as we see when Phil Hill, Maria Teresa de Filippis, Dan Gurney and Jean Behra all go wheel to wheel down the Sefton Straight! And the man coming through Tatts Corner in 2nd place is…a woman!!! De Filippis is up to 2nd for Aston Martin, from Gurney 3rd (top dry-shod runner), Behra 4th (2nd dry-shod runner) and Phil Hill in 5th position.

Brooks is 6th (3rd dry-shod runner), from Salvadori 7th and d’Orey 8th – with those two the 4th and 5th best on dry tyres as it stands! Fairman is 9th from Flockhart 10th, Bianchi 11th and then von Trips out in 12th place after his stop.

Ward passes Gregory for what is now 15th, with Naylor following through into 16th and the BRM having to settle for 17th ahead of Scarlatti 18th, McLaren 19th, Ireland 20th, Graham Hill 21st, the fast-moving Burgess 22nd, Bonnier 23rd and Herrmann out in 24th place. Testut meanwhile moves up to 26th at the expense of Moss to re-establish the Connaughts as the last placed team this race so far…

*Lap 31* – Another battle down the Sefton straight over 2nd place happens – but this time the dry tyres have the clear advantage and so it is Behra who emerges in 2nd ahead of Gurney 3rd and de Filippis 4th, though all are some 24 seconds or so down on the race leader Brabham. Phil Hill in 5th is now coming under pressure from Brooks behind in 6th, while d’Orey overtakes Salvadori for 7th and Flockhart likewise passes Fairman for 9th place.

Trintignant meanwhile is really struggling with his dry setup and is easily passed by Ward (now 13th), Naylor (14th) and Gregory (15th) at the start of the lap. Later in the lap he loses 16th to the charging McLaren, though does at least retain 17th on this tour. Scarlatti is still 18th, with Gendebien down to 19th – another Porsche finding the conditions a challenge.

Burgess’s pace is still strong, as he passes both Graham Hill and Ireland on his way to 20th this lap, while Shelby passes Allison to move out of last position also.

*Lap 32* – Brabham is now starting to lose time with his wet tyres fast losing their grip on the drying ground, which means Behra is now just 17 seconds behind him (where last lap he was 24 seconds back!). De Filippis and Phil Hill are the others still on wet tyres, who are looking to eke them out until their next scheduled stop – and that allows Brooks to move up to 4th from d’Orey 5th, then de Filippis 6th, Salvadori up to 7th and Phil Hill down to 8th.

Von Trips is making up strong ground, as he passes both Bianchi and Fairman to move up to 10th place in the race – and right now he is the 2nd fastest on-track! McLaren continues to advance, with comfortable overtakes on Ward, Naylor and Gregory this lap to move up to 13th position.

Scarlatti passes Trintignant for 17th this time around, while Burgess is now right on the back of that group and – in fact – the fastest on track right now!!!

*Lap 33* – The gap is down to 10 seconds at the front, while d’Orey passes Brooks for 4th place (which is likely a net podium position) and de Filippis moves over to let her dry-shod team-mate past for 6th position. Meanwhile another battle down Sefton Straight, between Phil Hill, Flockhart and von Trips – that the Ferrari triumphs to move into 8th position from Flockhart 9th and Phil Hill now 10th…and still on the wrong tyre.

Bianchi passes Fairman for 11th at Cottage, while Burgess makes short work of overhauling Trintignant and Gendebien to move up to 18th position. Behind them Bonnier is making his own comeback, as he overtakes Graham Hill – who in turn passes Ireland in the Vanwall, who has lost places to both of them!

*Lap 34* – Brabham’s lead is only 1 second over Behra and 2 over Gurney – with time ebbing away from him. Von Trips passes de Filippis for 7th, as the Aston Martin still struggles on her wet tyres – while Phil Hill has the same challenge and falls behind both Bianchi (10th) and Fairman (11th) this time around.

Burgess meanwhile is fastest on track again, as he uses team-mate Scarlatti to slipstream past, which catapults him past Gregory, Naylor and Ward – up to 14th place. Herrmann is now blocking de Beaufort over 24th place – as neither are having the race that they would have hoped for here…

*Lap 35* – Brabham falls behind Behra and Gurney here, with the Cooper now leading by just 0.6 seconds from the Maserati! Brabham in 3rd is now 9 seconds behind them, with d’Orey in 4th less than a second down on his team-mate – and in a net podium position effectively!

Flockhart is the latest driver to overtake the struggling de Filippis, for 8th place, while McLaren and Burgess are both homing in on Phil Hill in 12th place and the outer reaches of the Top 10. Bonnier passes both Trintignant and Gendebien to move up to 19th position at the expense of the Porsche duo, while Herrmann holds up de Beaufort over 24th place still.

*Lap 36* – Finally, Brabham, de Filippis and Brooks pit to change their tyres – as coincidentally they all have scheduled stops on the same lap! Now we see the true race order, with Behra 1 second ahead of Gurney, with d’Orey now 3rd some 10 seconds behind. Brooks is 4th, but the Aston Martin hits a patch of rainwater that spits him out into the hay bales at the side of the track – he has sustained a little damage, but nothing he can’t drive through.

Von Trips is into the final points-paying position in 5th, as he roars past Salvadori on the Sefton Straight. Flockhart is 7th from Bianchi 8th, Fairman 9th, McLaren now up to 10th with Burgess around half a second back in 11th! Brabham emerges from his stop in 12th ahead of Ward 13th, Naylor 14th, Gregory 15th, Scarlatti 16th, Bonnier 17th, de Filippis out in 18th, Trintignant 19th, Gendebien 20th, Graham Hill 21st and Phil Hill out in 22nd (in a race to forget for BRM thus far!). Herrmann is still blocking de Beaufort for 24th meanwhile…

*Lap 37* – Von Trips passes Brooks for 4th, as the Aston Martin struggles a little with the minor damage he has sustained. Meanwhile McLaren’s progress is halted by the pace of Burgess, who overtakes the Kiwi for 10th position! Further back, de Beaufort is SO close to claiming 24th from Herrmann – as they are both gaining on Ireland ahead…

*Lap 38* – A new Fastest Lap for von Trips in 4th (a 2:02.1), as he is now just 16 seconds behind the leader Behra and going significantly faster…while lower down in the Top 10 Fairman becomes the first driver to be able to resist Burgess, as he blocks him heavily at Canal! McLaren and de Beaufort both pit this lap, which promotes Brabham to 11th, Ward to 12th, Naylor 13th and then Gregory passed by Scarlatti for 14th in what is looking like a very promising race for JBW here…!

Bonnier is up to 16th from de Filippis 17th and McLaren out in 18th overall. De Beaufort emerges in 25th still, all on his own now.

*Lap 39* – Fairman’s resistance is short-lived, as he loses 9th to Burgess and 10th to Brabham now. Graham Hill meanwhile puts a small smile on the BRM team’s faces, as he overtakes Gendebien for 20th position on-track!

*Lap 40* – Gregory is holding up Bonnier for 15th, while Trintignant holds up Graham Hill for 19th and Phil Hill moves up to 21st at the expense of Gendebien this time around too. Flockhart makes the same mistake as Brooks did a few laps back to sustain a little damage to his car – but nothing he can’t press on with…

*Lap 41* – D’Orey moves aside for team-mate von Trips to move up to 3rd and claim a new Fastest Lap of a 2:01.7 – with now just a 9 second deficit on Behra in the lead (who is now 1.8 seconds ahead of Gurney). Burgess now passes Bianchi for 8th, who will have to contend with Brabham very soon indeed…

Bonnier passes Gregory for 15th at Cottage Corner, while Trintignant drops behind both of the Hill’s, with Graham now 19th and Phil now 20th overall – in what is a race that has completely fallen apart for Porsche! Ireland is now blocking Herrmann for 23rd position – but it may only be a matter of time before the Lotus gets past…

*Lap 42* – Burgess’ great pace has come to an end for now, as he pits to drop from 8th to 11th, which allows Brabham to take advantage and pass Bianchi for 8th with Fairman back up to 10th with a decent advantage over the JBW that emerges narrowly ahead of Ward’s Lotus!

Scarlatti blocks Bonnier for 14th place, while Gendebien pits to promote Herrmann now to 22nd, as he passes Ireland, who is 23rd ahead of the Porsche emerging in 24th place overall.

*Lap 43* – Bonnier finally makes the move on Scarlatti to claim 14th place, while further back Trintignant pits to fall behind Herrmann now 21st and Ireland 22nd. Von Trips meanwhile sets a 2:01.2 that will take some beating to move within 2 seconds of the race lead…

*Lap 44* – Von Trips makes the move on Gurney for 2nd position, with a well-timed pass on the Maserati at Cottage Corner. De Filippis passes Gregory for 16th position at Canal Curve this lap, while further back Graham Hill forces his team-mate Phil Hill wide at the same corner…though the American does make his way past into 19th place here.

*Lap 45* – Behra could have come under pressure from von Trips this lap…if it wasn’t for the fact that the Ferrari pits this time around! Gurney is therefore back up to 2nd, from d’Orey 3rd, Brooks 4th, Salvadori 5th and von Trips out in 6th place.

Brabham passes Flockhart for 7th position, while further back Bonnier pits from 14th to emerge in 18th, thereby promoting Scarlatti, de Filippis, Gregory and McLaren. Herrmann also pits, as he falls behind Ireland and Trintignant to 23rd overall.

*Lap 46* – Gurney pits from 2nd position, which promotes d’Orey to 2nd some 9 seconds back, from Brooks 3rd for Aston Martin, Salvadori 4th and von Trips crucially up to 5th position some 3 seconds ahead of the Maserati in 6th. Herrmann also passes Trintignant for 22nd position this time around as well.

*Lap 47* – Salvadori is the latest to slip off into the hay bales at the top of Canal Curve and do a little damage to his car – which won’t help him any with keeping von Trips behind, with the Ferrari 4 seconds back and gaining…! Scarlatti is holding up de Filippis for 14th right now.

*Lap 48* – D’Orey pits and drops to 7th position, which promotes Brooks to 2nd, Salvadori to 3rd, von Trips to 4th and Brabham now into 5th place, as he passes Gurney through Tatts Corner – with d’Orey out some 3 seconds behind. De Filippis gets the better of Scarlatti now for 14th, with a neat slip up the inside at Cottage Corner.

*Lap 49* – Von Trips passes both Salvadori for 3rd and Brooks for 2nd, as he continues to push hard to close back in on Behra in 1st. Allison pits this lap from last and emerges even further back, in a race that has not gone to plan for Connaught.

*Lap 50* – A whole host of stops here, with Behra, Bianchi, Ward and Scarlatti all coming in. That promotes von Trips to 1st, Brabham up to 2nd after he passes Brooks (now 3rd) and Salvadori (4th) with Behra out in 5th position in a positive sign for the Cooper! Fairman is up to 9th from Burgess 10th, Bianchi out in 11th, Naylor 12th, de Filippis 13th, Gregory 14th, McLaren 15th, Bonnier 16th, Ward out in 17th and Scarlatti out in 18th position.

*Lap 51* – Brooks moves over to let team-mate Salvadori through – but moving over allows Behra to capitalise too, which means Salvadori is now 3rd, Behra 4th and Brooks 5th overall. Burgess passes Fairman for 9th, as the JBW continues to make progress – while Naylor stops to promote de Filippis to 12th, Gregory to 13th, McLaren to 14th, Bonnier 15th and Naylor out in 16th position.

*Lap 52* – A tough lap for Aston Martin, as Behra passes Salvadori for 3rd position, who also loses 4th to Gurney as well thanks to his tyres really fading fast! Behind them Brooks pits (meaning he fixes his damage at least), dropping to 8th, which means Salvadori is 5th, d’Orey 6th and Burgess 7th.

Fairman is up to 9th, as Flockhart pits and emerges in 10th place overall. Gregory also stops, which promotes McLaren to 13th, Bonnier to 14th, Naylor 15th, Ward 16th, Phil Hill up to 17th after passing Scarlatti (now 18th) with Gregory emerging in 19th overall. De Beaufort also gets the better of Gendebien for 24th place this lap as well.

*Lap 53* – Brabham is catching von Trips and has the gap down to 1.3 seconds – plus he is moving quicker than his team-mate too right now! D’Orey is another Ferrari advancing, as he passes the struggling Salvadori for 5th position – while a little further back de Filippis passes Bianchi for 11th place.

Near the back de Beaufort passes Trintignant for 23rd, as the Vanwall tries to make his way back to somewhere near the Top 20! Moss pits to drop from 27th to 28th for Connaught.

*Lap 54* – Brabham passes von Trips for the race lead, as the German generously moves over to let his team-mate into 1st position! Salvadori, Fairman and Graham Hill all come into the pits this time around, which means Burgess is now 6th, Brooks 7th and Salvadori out in 8th position. Flockhart is up to 9th, de Filippis 10th, Bianchi 11th, McLaren 12th, Bonnier 13th and Fairman out in 14th place.

Naylor is blocking Ward for 15th position, while Graham Hill pits from – and emerges in – 20th place.

*Lap 55* – Behra blocks Gurney for 2nd position, while Naylor is holding up Ward – and Ireland pits to promote Herrmann to 21st, de Beaufort 22nd, Trintignant 23rd, Gendebien 24th and Ireland then out in 25th place overall.

*Lap 56* – Behra, Gurney and d’Orey go toe-to-toe down Sefton Straight – and it is the Maserati who emerges in 3rd from Behra 4th and d’Orey 5th for Ferrari! Further back Naylor blocks Ward over 15th, while Phil Hill pits from 17th to emerge in 19th behind both Scarlatti and Gregory. Meanwhile, Trintignant moves over to let Gendebien through into 23rd – with Ireland now gaining ground on them both quickly…

*Lap 57* – It’s now a 1.9 second lead for Brabham, but von Trips is keeping him in his sights – while behind them Behra loses 4th to d’Orey, as Ferrari seem to be tightening their grip on the top spots now…and that is helped by Burgess pitting from 6th and emerging in 8th behind the Aston Martin duo of Brooks and Salvadori.

Naylor again defends from Ward over 15th, while further back de Beaufort pits from 22nd to emerge in 25th behind Gendebien, Trintignant and team-mate Ireland.

*Lap 58* – Brabham pits from the race lead for what is surely the final time, which promotes von Trips back to 1st, Gurney to 2nd, d’Orey to 3rd and then Brabham emerges marginally ahead of Behra in 4th position! McLaren also stops on this lap, which promotes Bonnier to 12th and Fairman to 13th with the Kiwi emerging in 14th place.

Finally, Naylor’s resistance is broken, and Ward makes the pass into Cottage to claim 15th position from the JBW. Testut is the latest man to slide wide and hit the hay at Canal, which causes him a little damage that he may choose to come in to repair…

*Lap 59* – If Brabham was expecting cooperation from d’Orey, he will be sorely disappointed – as his team-mate swerves to block his momentum at Canal Curve and retain 3rd position, which could be crucial for Brabham’s hopes of winning this race vs his team-mate von Trips!

Further back, Gendebien pits from 22nd to promote Trintignant, Ireland and de Beaufort accordingly.

*Lap 60* – Von Trips stops for the final time…and comes out of the pits in 1st still, with Gurney 2nd and Brabham now up to 3rd after having to pass d’Orey the hard way. The Australian shakes his fist at the rookie Brazilian, knowing those were valuable seconds he has lost in having to overtake him!

Bonnier pits from 12th to promote Fairman, McLaren, Ward and Naylor all up a place, with the Maserati emerging in 16th position on-track. Testut and Moss both pit near the back, which allows Moss to make up one place and move back into 27th ahead of his team-mate here.

*Lap 61* – Brabham is now just 0.2 seconds behind Gurney, with von Trips a further 1.3 seconds up the road…while Burgess hunts down the Aston Martin duo in 6th and 7th, de Filippis stops to fall out of the Top 10 behind Bianchi – with limited time left to make up the 33 second deficit that now exists between them!

*Lap 62* – Brabham passes Gurney for 2nd and is now just 1.1 seconds behind von Trips, who is not as young and fit as his Australian colleague behind! Bonnier passes Naylor for 15th this time around in an otherwise quiet lap…

*Lap 63* – There is now just 1 tenth of a second between von Trips and Brabham – but will the German defend the lead or just hand victory over to his faster team-mate?!? Near the back, Moss moves over to let Shelby through – though the Connaughts are so far back it doesn’t really make a difference to their final positions…

*Lap 64* – Von Trips does decide to preserve team harmony and let Brabham past, which gives the Australian a great shot at his 1st win since Monaco last season – and which would put him inside the Top 10 for Most Wins ever in F1R history! D’Orey is right behind Gurney at the moment for 3rd, while Burgess continues his epic race to split the Aston Martin duo and claim 7th from Salvadori…

Trintignant pits meanwhile and drops from 22nd to 24th behind both Ireland and de Beaufort.

*Lap 65* – Gurney pits from 3rd position, which promotes d’Orey to make it a Ferrari 1-2-3, with Behra up to 4th for Cooper. The Maserati emerges in 5th place and now looks odds on to score only his 2nd ever points scoring position…

*Lap 66* – Naylor and Ireland both push hard this lap, while von Trips and Burgess both struggle to keep it on the black stuff – as they manage to encounter some remaining rain water on track and lose some time as a result.

*Lap 67* – Bonnier passes Ward for 14th this time around…as dark clouds are gathering on the horizon…

*Lap 68* – In a shocking move, d’Orey pits – clearly hoping to have timed that stop with the weather but failing to make that happen as he emerges in 4th on dry tyres to promote Behra into 3rd position!

*Lap 69* – McLaren moves over to let Bonnier past for 13th position, in a race that has really not lived up to its potential for the Maserati outfit…

*Lap 70* – The rain has started to fall again, which Gregory uses to his advantage as he makes short work of passing Scarlatti for 17th position.

*Lap 71* – McLaren is blocking Ward for 14th place, as the heavier Maserati is struggling to keep the lighter Lotus behind…

*Lap 72* – Ward makes the pass this time around, which demotes McLaren to 15th position overall, in what may well be the last pass on-track this race…

*Lap 73* – No action on track this lap, as the rain start to fall even harder…

*Lap 74* – Brabham’s lead is 6.7 seconds at the front, as (barring an error) he will take his 1st victory of the season here!

*Lap 75* – Brabham claims the race victory by just under 7 seconds ahead of team-mate von Trips – both will now consider their championship challenges to be under-way! Behra completes the podium to record consecutive points finishes, with his own title hopes still alive…

D’Orey finishes 4th overall, after that unfortunate late stop with Gurney finishing 5th for Maserati to round out the points scorers ahead of Brooks in 6th for Aston Martin (their best finish of the season), Burgess 7th for JBW (comfortably their best finish!), Salvadori 8th for Aston Martin and Flockhart the last of those on the lead lap for Cooper in 9th.

*1 LAP DOWN* – Bianchi comes home 10th for his 1st career Top 10 finish, ahead of de Filippis 11th (who must be cursing how late he left it to switch over to dry tyres), Fairman 12th (after his initial charge halted at around the midfield) and Bonnier 13th. Ward should be next over the line…and there he comes around Tatts – but he slows with no fuel left in the car!!! That allows McLaren to come home 14th (scant consolation for the Kiwi) and Naylor 15th (his best finish of the season) with Ward just pushing his car over the line in 16th position.

*2 LAPS DOWN* – Gregory finishes 17th in a race to forget for BRM, with Scarlatti 18th (meaning all 3 JBW’s finish inside the Top 20 in a significantly improved race for the new British marque), Phil Hill 19th and Graham Hill rounding out the Top 20.

*3 LAPS DOWN* – Herrmann comes home 21st, from Ireland 22nd, de Beaufort 23rd, Trintignant 24th and Gendebien 25th in a really challenging race for the Porsche squadron.

*5 LAPS DOWN* – Testut comes home 26th…

*7 LAPS DOWN* – …with Shelby across the line in 27th ahead of Moss 28th…

*10 LAPS DOWN* – …and Allison rounding out the finishers in 29th overall.

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

## Race Setups

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

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

## Milestones

* Trintignant up to 6th in Most Race Entries Ever, at the expense of Juan Manuel Fangio
* 50th race entry for Salvadori
* Behra, Brabham and Trintignant move up to 8th, 9th and 10th for Most Starts ever at the expense of Giuseppe Farina
* 20th ever race start for de Beaufort
* 10th ever race start for Gregory
* Flockhart is up to 6th for Most Races without a Win, at the expense of Umberto Maglioli
* De Beaufort is up to 5th for Most Races without Points, at the expense of Eugenio Castellotti
* Win for Brabham moves him into the Top 10 for Most Victories ever
* Brabham is now in the Top 3 for Winning from the Furthest back on the Start Grid (15th position!)
* 5 of the 9 British Grand Prix ever have been won by just two drivers; Bob Gerard (retired) in 1954, 1956 and 1957 preceded by Paul Pietsch (retired) in 1950 and 1953; while other former winners are Yves-Girard Cabantous (retired) in 1951, Élie Bayol in 1952 (retired), Ken Wharton in 1955 (retired) and Dick Gibson (retired) last season.
* Podium for Brabham moves the Australian into the Top 10 for Most Points Ever
* Von Trips finishes in the points and so moves up to 5th for Most Races Finished in the Points, at the expense of Giuseppe Farina
* Points finish for d’Orey, von Trips and Behra is their 2nd points finish in a row
* Von Trips claims his 1st ever Fastest Lap!
* FL at the British GP last time out was Graham Hill (the only current driver on the grid to have achieved that particular feat), while in 1956 and 1957 it was Bob Gerard and other past FLs were Peter Whitehead (’53 and ‘54 – retired), Ken Wharton (’55 – retired), Élie Bayol (‘52 – retired), Yves-Girard Cabantous (’51 – retired) and Giuseppe Farina (’50 – retired)
* Pole for Bonnier moves him into the Top 10 for Most Poles ever at the expense of Toulo de Graffenried
* Pole at the British GP in 1958 was Salvadori, while past Pole-Sitters were Yves-Girard Cabantous (’50 & ’51 – retired), Bob Gerard (’56 and ’57), Ken Wharton (’55 – retired), Herrmann Lang (’54 – retired), Peter Whitehead (’53 – retired) and Paul Pietsch (’52 – retired)
* Podium for von Trips moves him up to 4th at the expense of Collins