1960 French Grand Prix (partially found footage of Formula One World Championship race; 1960)

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Jack Brabham takes his third consecutive World Championship win.

Status: Partially Found

The 1960 French Grand Prix was the sixth race of the 1960 Formula One Season. Occurring on 3rd July at the Circuit de Reims, the race was ultimately won by Jack Brabham in a Cooper-Climax, in a race Brabham deemed was his "most satisfying".

Background

The 1960 French Grand Prix was the tenth running of the event in the Formula One calendar,[1] with the race lasting 50 laps.[2] The 39th French Grand Prix overall,[1] the race has been held at a variety of circuits, with the last one held at Reims occurring in 1966.[3] After the race was dropped from the schedule in 2009, it returned in 2018, where it has consistently been held at Circuit Paul Ricard.[3][1]

Heading into the race, the Formula One world was shaken by the accidents at the Belgian Grand Prix, which saw Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey lose their lives in separate accidents, Mike Taylor suffer career-ending injuries, and Stirling Moss suffer leg injuries that side-lined him for the rest of the season.[4][5][6] Elsewhere, McLaren led teammate Brabham with 20 points compared to the latter's 16.[7] Cooper appeared the most-prepared for the race, with Brabham achieving pole position with a time of 2:16.8.[5][6][2] No other driver came close to challenging Brabham, with Phil Hill qualifying second in a front-engine Ferrari with a time of 2:18.5, while BRM's Graham Hill took third.[8][5][6][2] Motor Sport deemed Brabham's performance as "doing a Fangio and upholding his World Championship status".[5] However, Ferrari believed their cars would be best-suited to the high-speed Reims circuit, with Enzo Ferrari pressurising Hill to win after a barren season for the team.[9] Title challenger McLaren qualified seventh out of 23 competitors.[5][2] Meanwhile, Tony Brooks was handed a new Vanwall car, in what would turn out to be the last World Championship start for the inaugural Constructors Champion.[10][5][6] He would start 13th on the grid.[2]

The Race

With the starting order decided, the 1960 French Grand Prix commenced on 3rd July.[2] At the start, Graham Hill's gearbox jammed, where he was then hit from behind by Cooper-Climax's Maurice Trintignant.[5][8][6][2] Meanwhile, Cooper-Climax's Lucien Bianchi spun right and collided with Brooks and Cooper-Climax's Bruce Halford, although the trio were able to continue.[5][6] Brabham led ahead of Phil Hill and Hill's teammate Wolfgang von Trips, holding onto it until Hill moved by on lap 4.[5][8][6][2] The two Ferraris and Brabham easily left the others behind, and Hill and the Cooper continued swapping the lead each lap with von Trips not far behind.[5][8] On lap 7, Brooks retired after complaining about vibrations, despite no anomalies being detected by his team, ending Vanwall's involvement in the World Championship.[5][10][2] By lap 19, von Trips was now over 30 seconds behind, as the Ferrari narrowly led the Cooper.[5] Eventually, having also set a new lap record, Brabham won the duel by lap 25, with Hill having now dropped behind von Trips.[5][8][2] Four laps later, Hill retired when a transmission issue led to him colliding into straw bales situated near the pits, the resulting collision twisting his Ferrari's front axle.[5][8][6][2]

Two laps later, von Trips was also out following a transmission failure, allowing Brabham to control proceedings.[5][8][6][2] Lotus-Climax's Innes Ireland moved up to second, but was 90 seconds behind Brabham.[5] However, he retired three laps later following a suspension failure.[5][6][2] Now, the top three consisted of Coopers, with Olivier Gendebien driving a BRP-owned Cooper ahead of McLaren.[5][6][8] Despite boasting a newer Cooper, McLaren was out-matched by Gendebien, the Belgian managing to continually re-pass the New Zealander through braking later and accelerating faster in the corners.[8][5][2]

Elsewhere, Brabham claimed his third consecutive World Championship victory and eight points in the Drivers' Championship.[5][8][6][2] His win occurred in fewer than two hours, which put the race under scrutiny by the FIA for failing to comply with minimum race lengths and times for World Championship races.[5] Gendebien pipped McLaren for second, while BRP Cooper-Climax driver Henry Taylor made it a Cooper 1-4.[6][5][8][2] Lotus-Climax drivers Jim Clark and Ron Flockhart took the final points positions of fifth and sixth respectively, Flockhart nearly beating his teammate over the line.[5][6][2] Years later, Brabham regarded the race as his "most satisfying", primarily over his duel with Hill and for beating Ferrari when they considered themselves the favourites to win due to their cars' higher top speed.[9] Following the race, Brabham now tied with McLaren on 24 points in the Drivers' Championship standings, with Cooper leading Lotus 38 points to 19 in the Constructors' Championship.[11]

Availability

The race was reportedly televised partially live by France's ORTF.[12] The broadcast has yet to publicly resurface, although some footage of the race can be viewed in a British Pathé newsreel.

Gallery

Video

British Pathé newsreel of the race.

Images

See Also

References