The Jean Behra Southern Hemisphere Championship

Ciaran · Post by **Ciaran** » 29 Mar 2017, 21:45

I'm bored and an idea for an alternative championship popped into my head, so I might as well post it.

The rules are simple - only F1 World Championship races held south of the Equator will count towards the Southern Hemisphere Championship, and the points-scoring system will be that of the main championship season. When a team has entered more than two cars into any Grand Prix, only the points of their two highest-finishing cars (in either works or customer cars) will count.

1950-1952
Not held

1953:
Drivers' Championship

(C) Alberto Ascari: 9
Luigi Villoresi: 6
Jose Frolian Gonzalez: 4
Mike Hawthorn: 3
Oscar Alfredo Galvez: 2

The all-conquering Ascari is crowned the first-ever Southern Hemisphere Champion after the Argentine Grand Prix, with home favourite Juan Manuel Fangio pulling out after 36 laps (out of 97) with a transmission failure while in second, shortly after a horrific accident in which 1950 World Champion Nino Farina swerved to avoid a fan who had invaded the track, only to plough into more spectators and kill 13 of them.

Constructors' Championship

Scuderia Ferrari: 15
Officine Alfieri Maserati: 6

Ascari and Villoresi's 1-2 in Argentina (with a fastest lap for Ascari) gives Ferrari a perfect 15/15.

1954:
Drivers' Championship

(C) Juan Manuel Fangio: 8
Nino Farina: 6
José Froilán González: 5
Maurice Trintignant: 3
Élie Bayol: 2

With Lancia not showing up due to their car not being ready, Fangio had little competition as he took his first Southern Hemisphere title, winning by well over a minute to Farina.

Constructors' Championship

(C) Scuderia Ferrari: 11
Officine Alfieri Maserati: 8
Gordini: 2

Trintignant's results are disregarded, as he was the third-highest Ferrari finisher, but that still doesn't stop Ferrari from taking a second Southern Hemisphere constructors' title.

1955:
Drivers' Championship

(C) Juan Manuel Fangio: 9
Maurice Trintignant: 3.333... (CB: 74 laps)
Nino Farina: 3.333... (CB: 70 laps)
Jose Froilan Gonzalez: 2 (CB: co-2nd)
Roberto Mieres: 2 (CB: 5th)
Umberto Maglioli: 1.333...
Stirling Moss: 1 (CB: 34 laps)
Hans Hermann: 1 (CB: 30 laps, alphabetical order)
Karl Kling: 1 (CB: 30 laps)

That damned heatwave resulted in 16 driver swaps in this race, and as a result Trintignant drove THREE separate cars! As a tiebreaker for drivers who swapped cars with each other, the driver who did more laps gets the higher championship position.

Constructors' Championship

(C) Mercedes: 12
Scuderia Ferrari: 10
Officine Alfieri Maserati: 2

At least the cars can't swap numbers with each other, and thus the Constructors' title is much, much easier to calculate. Mercedes won't see another title for nearly 60 years.

1956:
Drivers' Championship

(C) Jean Behra: 6
Juan Manuel Fangio: 5
Luigi Musso: 4 (CB: co-1st)
Mike Hawthorn: 4 (CB: 1x3rd)
Olivier Gendebien: 2
Gerino Gerini: 1.5 (CB: co-4th, alphabetical order)
Chico Landi: 1.5 (CB: co-4th, alphabetical order)

Despite commandeering Musso's car and taking it to victory after his own suffered from a faulty fuel pump, Fangio's hopes of another title were dashed as Jean Behra crossed the line in 2nd as he would have to share his points with Musso.

Constructors' Championship

(C) Scuderia Ferrari: 11
Officine Alfieri Maserati: 10

Ferrari edge out their rivals to take back the constructors' title, which Mercedes pulled out of defending after the 1955 Le Mans Disaster.

1957:
Drivers' Championship

(C) Juan Manuel Fangio: 8
Jean Behra: 6
Carlos Menditeguy: 4
Harry Schell: 3
Jose Froilan Gonzalez: 1 (CB: 5th, alphabetical order)
Alfonso de Portago: 1 (CB: 5th, alphabetical order)
Stirling Moss: 1 (CB: FL)

Fangio took back his crown from the young(er) pretender Behra as the duo ran away from the rest of the pack.

Constructors' Championship

(C) Officine Alfieri Maserati: 14
Scuderia Ferrari: 2

If only Moss's throttle linkage held up to cement Maserati's stranglehold on 1957 by shutting Ferrari out of the points!

1958:
Drivers' Championship

(C) Stirling Moss: 8
Luigi Musso: 6
Mike Hawthorn: 4
Juan Manuel Fangio: 3
Jean Behra: 2

Only 10 drivers entered the 1958 Argentine GP, making it the shortest entry list in F1 history. Hey, at least the Michelin-shod cars were actually on the 2005 US GP entry list.

Stirling Moss takes the first title for a British driver and a British constructor in the revolutionary mid-engined Cooper T43 (entered by Rob Walker), fending off Musso's efforts to become the first Italian Southern Hemisphere Champion since the now-deceased Alberto Ascari. Musso wouldn't live to see out the year, as he was killed in that year's French Grand Prix at Reims.

Constructors' Championship

Scuderia Ferrari: 10
Cooper-Climax: 8
Officine Alfieri Maserati: 6

Ferrari make up for last year's shoddy performance to keep the constructors' trophy on Italian soil.

1959:
Not held.

Ciaran · Post by **Ciaran** » 03 Apr 2017, 18:03

1960
After a year off the calendar, Argentina returns to the F1 circus, but another former champion wouldn't live to see it - Jean Behra, who died horrifically in a support race for the 1959 German GP at AVUS. His Porsche RSK went over the top of the infamous north banking, and his body was thrown from the car into a lamppost. In his honour, the Commission Sportive Internationale re-named the Southern Hemisphere Championship after him.

Drivers' Championship:

(C) Bruce McLaren: 8
Cliff Allison: 6
Carlos Menditeguy: 3
Wolfgang von Trips: 2
Innes Ireland: 1

A new rule introduced in 1958 meant that shared drives wouldn't yield any points, so co-3rd place holders Trintignant & Moss wouldn't get anything. Bruce McLaren claims the title by 26 seconds from Cliff Allison in the Briton's only appearance in the Southern Hemisphere Championship.

Constructors' Championship:

(C) Cooper-Climax: 8 (CB: 1x1st)
Ferrari: 8 (CB: 1x2nd)
Cooper-Maserati: 3
Lotus-Climax: 1

1961:
Not held

1962:
Drivers' Championship

(C) Graham Hill: 9
Bruce McLaren: 6
Tony Maggs: 4
Jack Brabham: 3
Innes Ireland: 2
Neville Lederle: 1

The southern hemisphere round swaps the start of the year for the end of the year, as F1 comes to East London, South Africa. Jim Clark is denied his first title after an oil leak 20 laps from home, gifting victory to Graham Hill.

Constructors' Championship

(C) Cooper-Climax: 10
BRM: 9
Brabham-Climax: 3 (CB: 1x4th)
Lotus-Climax: 3 (CB: 1x5th)

1963:
Drivers' Championship

(C) Jim Clark: 9
Dan Gurney: 6
Graham Hill: 4
Bruce McLaren: 3
Lorenzo Bandini: 2
Jo Bonnier: 1

Jim Clark's Climax doesn't fail him this time, and takes the title in dominant fashion by over a minute to the American Dan Gurney.

Constructors' Championship

(C) Lotus-Climax: 9
Brabham-Climax: 6
BRM: 4 (CB: 1x3rd)
Cooper-Climax: 4 (CB: 1x4th)
Scuderia Ferrari: 2

1964:
Not held

1965:
Drivers' Championship

(C) Jim Clark: 9
John Surtees: 6
Graham Hill: 4
Mike Spence: 3
Bruce McLaren: 2
Jackie Stewart: 1

Clark becomes a double champion by 29 seconds from Surtees, and Bruce McLaren was the only man standing in the way of a British lock-out of the points-paying positions.

Constructors' Championship

(C) Lotus-Climax: 12
Scuderia Ferrari: 6
BRM: 5
Cooper-Climax: 2

1966:
Not held

1967:
Drivers' Championship

(C) Pedro Rodriguez: 9
John Love: 6
John Surtees: 4
Denny Hulme: 3
Bob Anderson: 2
Jack Brabham: 1

The Rhodesian privateer John Love was only a few gallons of fuel away from claiming a shocking title win in the first Grand Prix at Kyalami, and the title went Pedro Rodriguez's way instead.

Constructors' Championship

(C) Cooper-Maserati: 9
Cooper-Climax: 6
Honda: 4 (CB: 1x3rd)
Brabham-Repco: 4 (CB: 1x4th)
Brabham-Climax: 2

1968:
Drivers' Championship

(C) Jim Clark: 9
Graham Hill: 6
Jochen Rindt: 4
Chris Amon: 3
Denny Hulme: 2
Jean-Pierre Beltoise: 1

It's fitting that Jim Clark would win his last ever race before his fatal crash in an F2 car at the Hockenheimring three months later, and to win it in style. He tied Fangio's record of three Jean Behra Championships, took pole by a second from his teammate Hill and went on to win the race by 25 seconds while also setting the fastest lap.

Constructors' Championship

(C) Lotus-Ford: 15
Brabham-Repco: 4
Scuderia Ferrari: 3
McLaren-BRM: 2
Matra-Ford: 1

1969:
Drivers' Championship

(C) Jackie Stewart: 9
Graham Hill: 6
Denny Hulme: 4
Jo Siffert: 3
Bruce McLaren: 2
Jean-Pierre Beltoise: 1

Jack Brabham's pole went to waste as he retired after 32 laps due to handling issues, and Stewart took the win.

Constructors' Championship

(C) Matra-Ford: 10
Lotus-Ford: 9
McLaren-Ford: 6

Matra become the first constructors' champions from France.