1956 Argentine Grand Prix

Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio

The 1956 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 22 January 1956 at Buenos Aires. It was race 1 of 8 in the 1956 World Championship of Drivers. With the withdrawal of Mercedes from Formula One, Fangio and Moss would begin the season with new teams. Fangio would join Ferrari while Moss would lead the Maserati team. The grid in Argentina was composed entirely of Italian cars. Ferrari and Maserati showed up with five cars each. The other three cars were also Maseratis: two private entries and Hawthorn for the B.R.M. team.

Ferrari dominated practice and occupied the first three grid positions, with Fangio's pole time 2.2 sec faster than second. Maserati dominated the early race with Menditeguy and Moss leading the field. Fangio was a non-factor with a faulty fuel pump. He took over Musso's car after 30 laps and re-entered without losing Musso's fifth place in the race. Meanwhile, Musso took over Fangio's ailing car but did not manage to finish in it even a single lap. Fangio quickly passed Behra but lost his position after spinning. On laps 40–43, disaster struck the leaders. While third, Castellotti's gearbox broke, Menditeguy left the lead with a broken driveshaft, and new leader Moss's engine began to smoke. Fangio, who had overtaken Behra, passed the ailing Moss on lap 67, and finished unchallenged after Behra spun late in the race. The race was not without controversy when the Maserati team manager lodged a protest that Fangio was push-started after the earlier spin. The protest was ultimately rejected by both the stewards and the FIA.