F1: Formula 1 1959 Season Review

The 1959 Formula One season was the 13th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 10th World Championship of Drivers, the second International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and five non-championship Formula One races. The World Championship was contested over nine races between 10 May and 12 December 1959.

At the beginning of the year, there were no world champions on the grid. Five-time champion Juan Manuel Fangio had retired after last year, as had reigning champion Mike Hawthorn. Tragically, just three months after Hawthorn was crowned, he lost his life in a road accident.

Going into the final race, there were three drivers that could clinch their first championship. Jack Brabham driving for Cooper ran out of fuel but pushed his car over the line to win his first Drivers' Championship. He was the first Australian champion. Cooper also won their first Manufacturers' title.

Two F1 drivers lost their lives in racing accidents. Firstly, Jean Behra raced in the sports car race that preceded the 1959 German Grand Prix at AVUS. Rain had been falling and the track was slippery. After two teammates had already crashed, Behra's Porsche 718 RSK went over the top of the 43 degree banked turn and he incurred a skull fracture when he struck a flagpole with his head. And Ivor Bueb crashed his BRP Formula Two car at the Charade Circuit. He was thrown from the car and died six days later in hospital.