The 1959 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zandvoort on 31 May 1959. It was the ninth Dutch Grand Prix. The race was held over 75 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 314 kilometres. It was race 3 of 9 in the 1959 World Championship of Drivers and race 2 of 8 in the 1959 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.

The race was won by Swedish driver Joakim Bonnier driving a front engine BRM P25, the last proper win of such a layout on a twisty track, as the remaining two front-engine GP wins in that year, 1959 French Grand Prix at Reims and 1959 German Grand Prix at AVUS in Berlin, occurred on high speed circuits where the engine power of Ferrari succeeded over the better handling and lower tyre wear of the mid-engine cars. Even the 1959 Italian Grand Prix at the regular flat Monza layout was won by a Cooper while the Ferrari had to pit. The very last front-engine win at the 1960 Italian Grand Prix was helped by the organizers choosing the high banking oval layout and the main British teams, having secured the championships, boycotting the race. The quality of the entrants was low, none of the participating drivers had won a GP before, not even those on the Ferrari factory team that dominated against sub-par F1 and F2 cars.

It would be the only World Championship victory of Bonnier's fifteen-year Grand Prix career. It was the first pole position and also the first win for the Owen Racing Organisation, the race team of the constructor BRM, and also the first pole position and win for a BRM-engine, after almost a decade of effort. Bonnier won by fifteen seconds over Australian driver Jack Brabham driving a Cooper T51, to become the first Swedish driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix. Brabham's American teammate Masten Gregory was the only other driver to finish on the lead lap in his Cooper T51 in third position.

Brabham's second position expanded his championship points lead with Bonnier now second along with the Indianapolis 500 winner Rodger Ward.

The organisers wanted to have a local driver in the race, so Carel Godin de Beaufort was allowed to compete despite his car being an underpowered Porsche RSK sports car.

Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap1 7 Jo Bonnier BRM 1:36.0—2 8 Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 1:36.0 +0.03 11 Stirling Moss Cooper-Climax 1:36.2 +0.24 1 Jean Behra Ferrari 1:36.6 +0.65 14 Graham Hill Lotus-Climax 1:36.7 +0.76 6 Harry Schell BRM 1:37.3 +1.37 9 Masten Gregory Cooper-Climax 1:37.6 +1.68 2 Tony Brooks Ferrari 1:37.9 +1.99 12 Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 1:38.3 +2.310 5 Carroll Shelby Aston Martin 1:38.5 +2.511 10 Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Climax 1:38.7 +2.712 3 Phil Hill Ferrari 1:39.2 +3.213 4 Roy Salvadori Aston Martin 1:39.7 +3.714 15 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 1:44.5 +8.515 16 Cliff Allison Ferrari Source:

Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 7 Jo Bonnier BRM 75 2:05:26.8 1 8 2 8 Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 75 + 14.2 2 6 3 9 Masten Gregory Cooper-Climax 75 + 1:23.0 7 4 4 12 Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax 74 + 1 Lap 9 3 5 1 Jean Behra Ferrari 74 + 1 Lap 4 2 6 3 Phil Hill Ferrari 73 + 2 Laps 12   7 14 Graham Hill Lotus-Climax 73 + 2 Laps 5   8 10 Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Climax 73 + 2 Laps 11   9 16 Cliff Allison Ferrari 71 + 4 Laps 15   10 15 Carel Godin de Beaufort Porsche 68 + 7 Laps 14   11 Stirling Moss Cooper-Climax 62 Gearbox 3 1 6 Harry Schell BRM 46 Gearbox 6   2 Tony Brooks Ferrari 42 Oil Leak 8   5 Carroll Shelby Aston Martin 25 Engine 10   4 Roy Salvadori Aston Martin 3 Engine 13   Notes – 1 point for fastest lap

Notes

This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British driver and future Grand Prix winner Innes Ireland. This was Jo Bonnier's first and only pole position, Grand Prix win and podium. It was also the first pole position, Grand Prix win and podium for a Swedish driver. Lastly, this also marked the first pole position and Grand Prix win for BRM as a manufacturer and engine supplier. This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British manufacturer and engine supplier Aston Martin.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Jack Brabham 15 21 2 Joakim Bonnier 8 1 3 Rodger Ward 8 1 4 Tony Brooks 6 1 5 Jim Rathmann 6Source:

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Cooper-Climax14 2 2 BRM8 1 3 Ferrari8 4 Lotus-Climax3Source:

Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References