Hans Herrmann

I took this photograph on practice day for the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1959.

On the left is Hans Herrmann who drove in Grand Prix races from 1953 to 1969 for a variety of teams, including Mercedes-Benz, Maserati and Porsche, several private entrants, and in cars ranging from a Veritas Meteor to a Lotus 59B. I think that the gentleman on the right could be Guglielmo Dei, founder of the Scuderia Centro Sud, for whom Hans Herrmann drove a Maserati-engined Cooper T51 in this race. He qualified in nineteenth position on the grid alongside his team-mate Fritz d'Orey who drove a Maserati 250F. Hans Herrmann retired with gearbox problems after 21 laps of the race.

Hans Herrmann's best season in Formula One was 1954 when he had 3rd and 4th place finishes in the Swiss and Italian Grands Prix respectively, but he is probably better known for his efforts with the Porsche team at Le Mans between 1953 and 1970, gaining four class wins, and an overall victory with Richard Attwood in a Porsche 917K in 1970 - after which he announced his retirement from motor racing.

Cooper Climax T45

This car is pictured in the paddock at Aintree in April 1960 where it took part in the BARC 200 race for Formula 2 cars.

It's the Scuderia Centro Sud Cooper Climax T45 and was driven in the race by Maurice Trintignant, finishing in fifth place. It's the ex-Rob Walker car and is chassis #F2-9-58.

Cooper T51 Maserati

I took this photograph in the paddock at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

It's not listed in the programme of the event and didn't take part in any of the races, but it's a 1959 Cooper T51 Maserati. It looks as if it's one of the cars campaigned by Guglielmo Dei's Scuderia Centro Sud in 1959 and 1960. Hans Herrmann drove one in the 1959 British Grand Prix at Aintree.