1959 British Grand Prix

The 1959 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Aintree Circuit on 18 July 1959. It was race 5 of 9 in the 1959 World Championship of Drivers and race 4 of 8 in the 1959 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 14th British Grand Prix and the third to be held at the Aintree Motor Racing Circuit, a circuit mapped out in the grounds of the Aintree Racecourse horse racing venue. The race was held over 75 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 362 kilometres.

The race was won by Australian Jack Brabham taking his second Grand Prix victory in a works Cooper T51 with rear-mid engine, from Climax. Brabham dominated the race (and the season), leading all 75 laps to win by 22 seconds over British driver Stirling Moss driving a British Racing Partnership entered front engine BRM P25. It was the first time a BRP entry finished in the top three. Brabham's Cooper Car Company teammate, New Zealander Bruce McLaren finished in third place, just 0.2 seconds behind Moss, having lost second place late in the race. Harry Schell finished fourth for the Owen Racing Organisation BRM team a lap behind Brabham.

The British Grand Prix had the biggest entry of the 1959 season, outside the 1959 Indianapolis 500, with 30 cars competing and 24 starting the race, all despite the absence of Ferrari. Strikes in Italy trapped the team at home, leaving the local British teams to fight over the race, with nearly all drivers being Anglo-Saxons. Ferrari's new driver Tony Brooks was given a release and started the race in a Vanwall, the dominating team of 1958. Vanwall wasn't nearly as good in 1959, Brooks was the first to retire with misfire after 13 laps, having started in a lowly 17th after winning the French Grand Prix a few weeks earlier, then in a front engine 2500cc Ferrari.

Several teams entered 1500cc Formula 2 cars, most with the smaller of the Coventry Climax FPF versions, but some with a Borgward 1500 RS engine. Like Climax, Maserati 4-cylinder engines came in both sizes.

The win saw Brabham expand his points lead over Brooks to 13 points. Moss and McLaren moved into fourth place just half a point behind the absent Phil Hill.

On the last lap of this race, McLaren became the youngest driver to set a fastest lap in Formula One, aged 21 years and 322 days. It was another 44 years before Fernando Alonso relieved him of that achievement with fastest lap in the 2003 Canadian Grand Prix. He was a day younger aged 21 years and 321 days.