Which Berlin circuit hosted the 1959 German Grand Prix, its only Formula One World Championship race? AVUS hosted the 1959 German Grand Prix.
AVUS, short for Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungs-Straße, was a high-speed circuit in West Berlin. The 1959 German Grand Prix took place there on 2 August, before the Berlin Wall was built. It remains AVUS’s only race in the Formula One World Championship, which began in 1950.
The circuit was radically different from most Grand Prix venues. It consisted largely of two long straights connected by tight turns, including a steeply banked brick section. Because of concerns about tyre wear and safety, the race was run as two 30-lap heats, with the overall result determined by aggregate time.
Tony Brooks won for Ferrari, ahead of teammates Dan Gurney and Phil Hill, producing an all-Ferrari podium. The event is also remembered for the death of Jean Behra in a support-race accident. From 1960, the German Grand Prix returned to the Nürburgring, and AVUS never again hosted a World Championship Grand Prix.