1959 British Grand Prix

Championship standings

Brabham leads the championship with 19 points, ahead of Brooks on 14 and Phil Hill on 9.

Previous race

At Reims, Brooks dominated from the front, leading all 50 laps to win by 27 seconds over Phil Hill. The race was run in extreme heat — 44 °C in the sun — and the bitumen began to melt, with stones from the breaking road surface catching Masten Gregory across the face and forcing him to retire, and a stone holing Graham Hill’s radiator. Brabham came home third. Moss was disqualified from eighth after receiving a push-start, having been unable to keep his BRM running with a failing gearbox.

Between-race developments

Jean Behra was sacked by Ferrari after the French Grand Prix. Following the race, a heated discussion with team manager Romolo Tavoni at a restaurant ended with Behra punching Tavoni and a patron. He will not race for the team again.

Innes Ireland is ill and will be replaced at Lotus by Alan Stacey.

Entrants

Ferrari is absent from the British Grand Prix. A labour dispute in Italy has trapped the entire team at home, leaving the field to the British constructors. Tony Brooks has been given a release to start in a Vanwall — his old team from 1958 — in an attempt to remain within reach of Brabham in the championship.

This is the largest entry of the 1959 season outside the Indianapolis 500: 30 cars entered with 24 starting. Nearly all the drivers are Anglo-Saxon.

Several teams have entered 1500cc Formula Two cars with Coventry Climax, Borgward, or Maserati engines alongside the full Formula One machinery.