1960 Formula One season


The 1960 Formula One season was the 14th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 11th World Championship of Drivers, the third International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and five non-championship Formula One races. The World Championship was contested over ten races between 7 February and 20 November 1960.
Jack Brabham driving for Cooper won his second consecutive Drivers' Championship. Cooper secured their second consecutive Manufacturers' title.
It was the last year of the 2.5 litre formula, the FIA mandating 1.5 litre engines from on. Rear-engined cars were distinctly more successful than the front-engined designs. Ferrari did win their home race when the British teams boycotted the event, opposing the organisers' decision to use the banked circuit. It was the last victory for a front-engined car in a World Championship race.
It was also the last season to include the Indianapolis 500.
Three drivers died in racing accidents: American Harry Schell during practice for the 1960 BRDC International Trophy, and Britons Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey, both killed at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1960 FIA World Championship. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Dunlop.
EntrantConstructorChassisEngineDriverRounds

Team and driver changes

  • Ferrari's Dan Gurney moved to BRM and Tony Brooks moved to BRP. Wolfgang von Trips was hired as their full-time driver for 1960.
  • At BRP, Brooks would be partnered by Harry Schell from the second round on, were it not for the American's fatal accident during the 1960 BRDC International Trophy.
  • Graham Hill moved from Lotus to BRM, so Colin Chapman hired John Surtees. The Brit was a very successful motorcycle racing driver, just switching to racing cars for the first time, but he would become a Formula One champion within five years.
  • Carroll Shelby had driven for Aston Martin in Formula One and had won the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans with largely the same team, but retired from driving in 1960. He opened a high-performance driving school and, later, the Shelby American company to create the famous AC Cobra sports car.
  • Lance Reventlow brought a new constructor to the grid: Scarab. Chuck Daigh and Reventlow himself were the drivers. The front-engined cars turned out to be unreliable and off the pace compared to their rear-engined rivals, and 1960 would be their only season.

    Mid-season changes

  • Ferrari driver Cliff Allison suffered a major crash while practising for the Monaco Grand Prix, and it took him almost the rest of the year to recover from his injuries. He had slammed into a straw barrier and sustained a broken left arm, rib fractures, facial cuts, and a concussion. Later in the year, Belgian Willy Mairesse made his debut with the team.
  • Alongside Innes Ireland and Alan Stacey, John Surtees made his debut with Lotus, but because of his commitments in the Isle of Man TT, their Formula Junior driver Jim Clark was promoted to the third F1 seat. When Surtees returned, both Clark and he became permanent drivers, since Stacey had suffered a tragic fatal accident earlier, in the Belgian Grand Prix.
  • Chris Bristow was also killed in the Belgian Grand Prix. His seat at BRP was taken up by Henry Taylor and Olivier Gendebien. Together, they had already shared the second and third cars in the team. Taylor would later injure his arm in a heavy crash during practice for the Portuguese Grand Prix.
  • Mike Taylor crashed during practice for the Belgian Grand Prix. The steering column weld failed and the car went off track. He was thrown out of the car and actually cut down a tree with his body. He broke several bones and was paralysed but was able to regain the ability to walk through therapy. He later successfully sued Lotus for supplying the faulty chassis.
  • Finally, Stirling Moss was injured as well during practice for the Belgian Grand Prix. He missed three races during his recovery.

    Calendar

Calendar changes

The points-scoring system was changed, with the point for the fastest lap being dropped and a point given for sixth place. The best six scores counted towards the championship, increased from five from the previous season.

Championship report

Race 1: Argentina

The teams came down to Argentina from Europe in February to start the 1960 season, having competed at the last round of the 1959 championship in Sebring, Florida, in the United States only two months previously. Stirling Moss was on pole position in Buenos Aires in his Rob Walker Cooper-Climax with Team Lotus driver Innes Ireland alongside, although he had been 1.6 seconds slower in qualifying. Completing the four-person front row were the BRMs of Hill and Jo Bonnier. The Lotus team had come out with an all-new mid-engined car, the 18, and were expected to be competitive.
At the start, Ireland made a fantastic start and had a good lead at the end of the first lap over Bonnier, Graham Hill, and Phil Hill, who had started from the second row in his Ferrari Dino 246. Moss made a poor start and was eighth at the end of the first lap. On the second lap, Ireland spun, and as he was doing this, Moss was driving a blinding lap, passing the Cooper of Carlos Menditeguy, Froilan Gonzalez's Ferrari, Jack Brabham's Cooper, Phil Hill's Ferrari, and Ireland's Lotus to run third behind Graham Hill and Bonnier. Moss passed Hill on lap ten and took the lead from Bonnier five laps later. The recovering Ireland also made dramatic progress, passing Brabham and Graham Hill to run third on lap 18. Bonnier attacked Moss for the lead and retook it on lap 21, but 15 laps later, Stirling was back ahead. On lap 42. he went out with a broken suspension. Bonnier was left nearly a lap ahead of everyone. Ireland was promoted to second, but both Graham Hill and Brabham retired, so Bruce McLaren was third. With 12 laps to go, Bonnier suffered engine trouble, and Ireland went into the lead only to have his gear-linkage jam, so he too slipped back, leaving McLaren to win. Cliff Allison was second for Ferrari, while Moss took over Maurice Trintignant's car to take third.

Race 2: Monaco

There had been a non-championship round at the Goodwood circuit near the southern English coast, the Glover Trophy, won by Innes Ireland in a Lotus. During this time, most drivers were competing in sportscar races, such as the 12 Hours of Sebring in March; and the Targa Florio and the Nurburgring 1000km in May.
Moss took pole by a second with Jack Brabham's Cooper and Chris Bristow's BRP Cooper alongside, while Jo Bonnier shared the second row with Tony Brooks's BRP Cooper. Bonnier took the lead at the start, with Brabham second and Moss third ahead of Brooks and Bristow in the BRP Coopers. Moss took Brabham on lap 5 and then shadowed Bonnier until lap 17, when he took the lead. Further back Bristow went out with gearbox trouble. Brabham passed Bonnier on lap 20, but the Swede fought back and, on lap 27, retook the position. The pattern of the race was turned upside-down when rain came. Brabham passed Bonnier and Moss to take the lead while Brooks spun back down the order, leaving McLaren in fourth place, battling with Phil Hill. After six laps in the lead, Brabham spun into the wall at Sainte Dévote, and Moss was back in the lead but had to pit to replace a plug-lead, so Bonnier was back ahead until Moss caught him. Bonnier went out with a broken suspension soon after, and G Hill crashed. This meant that McLaren finished second, with Phil Hill third and Brooks the only other survivor. Moss went on to win his 2nd Monaco Grand Prix from McLaren and Phil Hill.

Race 3: Indianapolis 500

The Indy 500, on the World Championship calendar for the final time in 1960, was the only race not run to FIA regulations. Jim Rathmann won this race, which took place on a holiday-day Monday, in an Offenhauser-powered Watson chassis after a thrilling battle for the lead with Rodger Ward.

Race 4: Netherlands

Although there were disputes over prize money and several teams withdrew after qualifying, there was still a decent field for the race with Stirling Moss on pole position in his Walker Lotus-Climax. Jack Brabham was alongside in his Cooper-Climax, and Innes Ireland was on the outside of the front row in his factory Lotus 18. The BRMs of Jo Bonnier and Graham Hill shared the second row. Brabham made the best start and led Moss and Ireland with Team Lotus's Alan Stacey up from the third row on the grid and Phil Hill sixth in his Ferrari from the fourth row. Stacey passed Ireland on the second lap, but Innes soon took back the place while Bruce McLaren moved ahead of Phil Hill in his Cooper. He would retire early with a driveshaft problem. Dan Gurney moved into fifth in his BRM, but he crashed at the hairpin after a brake failure. A spectator in a prohibited area was killed. Jim Clark had made rapid progress in the early laps and took Gurney's fifth place behind his Lotus teammates Ireland and Stacey. On lap 17, Brabham's car threw up part of a curb, which hit Moss's car and caused a puncture and damage to the wheel hub. Moss had to pit for repairs. He drove a storming comeback. Up front, the order remained static until Graham Hill passed Clark, who retired soon afterwards with gearbox failure. Stacey would disappear with a similar problem, leaving Hill to finish third, just ahead of the charging Moss. The Ferraris of Phil Hill and Ritchie Ginther were fifth and sixth but were a lap behind the leaders.