1959 Portuguese Grand Prix

Championship standings

Brooks has closed to within four points of championship leader Brabham after his German victory.

Previous race

At AVUS, the race was run as two heats with aggregate times counting. Ferrari finished first, second, and third — Brooks ahead of Dan Gurney and Phil Hill — in a result that handed Brabham nothing and brought Brooks sharply back into the championship fight. Masten Gregory held the lead in Heat 1 before his engine failed; Brabham also retired with a transmission problem.

The weekend was overshadowed by the death of Jean Behra, killed the day before the Grand Prix in the Formula Two support race when his Porsche went over the AVUS banking. BRP’s Hans Herrmann also had a spectacular crash in Heat 2, thrown from his car as it somersaulted multiple times; he survived uninjured.

Between-race developments

Following Behra’s fatal accident, Porsche has withdrawn their works team for the remainder of the season.

BRP has also withdrawn from the championship after Herrmann’s crash.

Stirling Moss has returned to Rob Walker Racing Team, driving a Cooper.

Entrants

This is the first Formula One World Championship race held at the Monsanto Park Circuit, a winding road course where the twisty nature of the layout suits the lightweight Cooper over the more powerful Ferrari.