1956 Formula One season

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1956 FIA World Championship. The list does not include those who only contested the Indianapolis 500.

Team and driver changes

• Mercedes had withdrawn from all motorsport activities after the 1955 Le Mans disaster. Reigning champion Juan Manuel Fangio moved to Scuderia Ferrari, which had taken over the assets from Lancia. Fangio would go on to win the championship in the Lancia D50. Besides remaining driver Eugenio Castellotti, the squad was completed by Luigi Musso and Peter Collins, both coming from Maserati.
• Stirling Moss, runner-up and Fangio's teammate at Mercedes, had moved to rival team Maserati.
• Maurice Trintignant moved from Ferrari to Vanwall to replace Ken Wharton.

Mid-season changes

• Paco Godia joined the Maserati team from the Belgian Grand Prix on.
• Alfonso de Portago made his debut when he joined Scuderia Ferrari from the French Grand Prix on.
• Also at the French Grand Prix, Colin Chapman made his F1 racing debut with Vanwall but crashed into his team leader during practice and did not start the race. It would be his only race entry, but he would go on to become a legendary race engineer.
• And finally in France, Bugatti made a one-off appearance with their Type 251 driven by Maurice Trintignant.
• For the first time since , BRM used their own chassis, which made its debut at the British Grand Prix. It was also the championship debut for driver Tony Brooks.

Calendar

Calendar changes

• The Swiss Grand Prix was removed from the calendar after the Swiss Government banned motor racing as a result of the 1955 Le Mans disaster. The French Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix were already cancelled in 1955, but were back on the calendar for 1956.
• The Dutch Grand Prix was supposed to have been held on 17 June but was cancelled due to the Suez Crisis. The Spanish Grand Prix, like the French and German rounds, was supposed to return to the calendar, to be held on 28 October, but was cancelled due to the Suez Crisis.
• The British Grand Prix was moved from Aintree Motor Racing Circuit to Silverstone Circuit, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits.

Championship report

Rounds 1 to 3

Argentinian racing driver Juan Manuel Fangio had already won three Formula One World Championships, while driving for three different constructors. Now he was aiming to make it four in four: after his previous employer Mercedes had withdrawn, he moved to Scuderia Ferrari for 1956. The first race of the season was his home race, the Argentine Grand Prix, and he managed to take pole position in front of the adoring crowd. Teammates Eugenio Castellotti and Luigi Musso started alongside him on the front row. Behind them came a series of Maserati, with the whole field consisting of just thirteen cars, all of them Italian. At the start, sixth-starting Argentinian Carlos Menditeguy managed to take the lead, ahead of teammate Stirling Moss. Fangio was able to follow until his fuel pump broke on lap 21. Musso was called into the pits to give his car to the team leader, but Fangio spun off and was almost lapped by Menditeguy. The latter, however, spun off in sympathy and retired on the spot. Fangio made an inspiring recovery drive until he was in second place and, on lap 70, took the lead when his teammate Moss's engine failed. He won the race, but received half the points because of the shared drive, ahead of Frenchman Jean Behra and Brit Mike Hawthorn.

As it had been since the inclusion of the Argentine Grand Prix on the calendar, there was a four-month gap to the second race in the championship, the Monaco Grand Prix. Constructors Vanwall, BRM and Gordini attended, but it was Fangio who once again started on pole, ahead of Moss and Castellotti. It was Moss who reached the hairpin first and quickly extended his lead, with the Ferrari trio of Fangio, Collins and Castellotti in pursuit. Suddenly, Fangio spun and ended up facing the wrong way. Hurrying to turn round, he got in the way of Luigi Musso and Harry Schell, who avoided the Ferrari but in doing so, both crashed out. Like in Argentina, Fangio made an impressive recovery drive up to second place. But through the narrow streets of Monte Carlo, there is little margin for error and the reigning champion tapped a wall, bent his rear wheel and retreated into the pits. But again, like in Argentina, he received the car of a teammate - Collins sacrificed his second place - so he could continue. From almost being lapped by Moss, he pressed on to get within six seconds of the lead, but could not stop the Brit from taking his second career victory. Behra finished third, a lap down.

The Indianapolis 500 was included in the Formula One championship, but no active drivers attended. Former champion Nino Farina did, but he failed to qualify. Pat Flaherty won the race.

In the Drivers' Championship, Jean Behra (Maserati) was leading with 10 points, ahead of Juan Manuel Fangio (Scuderia Ferrari) on 9 and Stirling Moss (Maserati) and Pat Flaherty (winner of the Indianapolis 500) on 8.

Rounds 4 to 6

The Belgian Grand Prix began with a tense qualifying battle, in which the Maseratis and Ferraris seemed evenly matched, until Juan Manuel Fangio set a lap that was more than ten seconds under the lap record and almost five seconds faster than his closest competitor. However, as it had happened already two times this year, the reigning champion fell back at the race start. Stirling Moss (Maserati) and Peter Collins (Ferrari) had started next to Fangio on the front row and led away. Moss was leading over six seconds before Fangio recovered to second place, but after nine laps, it was the Argentinian leading the Brit by the same distance. Things took a turn when Moss's left rear wheel came off and Castellotti retired with a broken transmission. Moss took over the car from one of his teammates but was over a lap down, while Fangio was setting multiple lap records. Collins was in second place, until on lap 24, the leader's Ferrari suddenly came to a halt at the far end of the circuit, providing no opportunity for a car swap in the pit. So Collins won the race, ahead of teammate and local hero Paul Frère and Moss.

Fangio scored his fourth pole position in a row during the French Grand Prix, with teammates Castellotti and Collins making it an all-Ferrari front row. Two Vanwalls separated them from their main rivals, Maserati. Fangio again lost the lead at the start, but the trio of red cars did run away from the rest of the field. Moss and Schell retired and the Ferrari team even occupied five positions at the front. Schell, however, took over the car from one of his teammates, set a new lap record and managed to close up to the unsighted leaders. The green car from Britain was faster on the straight, so the Italian squad drove side-by-side to try and block him. But going into one of the hairpins, Schell managed to pass Collins and Castellotti in one move and immediately dove into Fangio's slipstream. The reigning champion held on, however, and Schell's valiant drive came to a halt when technical issues forced a pit stop. On lap 40, Fangio also pitted with a split fuel line. It seemed not one race was going smoothly this year. Collins was carefree as he scored his second win in a row, ahead of teammate Castellotti and Frenchman Jean Behra.

The British Grand Prix saw three local drivers qualify on the front row, which the wide Silverstone circuit allowed to consist of four cars: Moss, Fangio, Hawthorn (BRM) and Collins. The BRM seemed the odd one out, even more so when he took the lead at the start and was closely followed by his teammate Brooks. Fangio got past into second place on lap six, but in an attempt to catch the leader, he spun off and fell back to fifth. Moss was the next to pass Brooks for second and managed to get Hawthorn on lap 16. Both BRMs then sadly retired, as did fellow Brit Salvadori, who was running second at one stage, and Collins. When Moss pitted for motor oil, Fangio closed right up, and when the Brit pitted again due to his engine losing power, there was nothing left to stop the Argentinian from winning. In second came Collins, who had taken over the car from one of his teammates, and in third came Behra.

In the Drivers' Championship, Peter Collins (Ferrari) was leading with 22 points, ahead of Juan Manuel Fangio (Ferrari) with 21 and Jean Behra (Maserati) with 18.

Rounds 7 and 8

After an exhilarating British Grand Prix with lots of local drivers, no British teams entered the German Grand Prix. So the grid consisted of the Italian Ferraris and Maseratis, and a few French Gordinis at the back. Juan Manuel Fangio qualified on pole position, three tenths ahead of rival and teammate Peter Collins. Once again, Fangio lost the lead at the start, but he retook it later in the opening lap. Stirling Moss started fourth in his Maserati but overtook Ferrari's Eugenio Castellotti. The leading trio got into a rhythm in which they focussed on finishing the race instead of fighting. They all broke the lap record that was set in 1939. Collins suddenly pitted, he was barely conscious at the wheel. After examining the car, they figured that a leaking fuel line had sent fumes into the cockpit. Collins recovered quickly and took over the car from one of his teammates. But trying everything to catch the leaders, he spun off the track. Fangio won the race quite comfortably, ahead of Moss and Jean Behra. The Frenchman was not in the spotlights but this fifth podium of the year brought him to a shared second place in the championship.

Collins was trailing Fangio by 8 points and the only way for him to win the championship, was to win the Italian Grand Prix and for Fangio to score three points or less, because then his result would not count towards the championship. This scenario would end in both men equalling on 30 points, but Collins winning on countback. The extra point for a fastest lap could make a big difference as well. Future race winner Wolfgang von Trips made his debut with the Ferrari team, but he crashed in practice while doing around 130 mph. He was thrown out and escaped with scratches and bruises, but the car was a complete wreck. The Ferrari team accepted it as the cost of a young driver in a fast car and were blind to the fact that it was caused by a tyre blowout. Fangio scored his sixth pole of the year, ahead of teammates Castellotti and Musso. It might not have surprised anyone, but Fangio lost the lead at the start, this time to both his teammates, who decided to have a personal battle and completely overlook any team tactics. Harry Schell managed to put his Vanwall ahead of Fangio, putting the championship leader close to Moss and Collins. After just five laps, the fierce fighting led to tyre troubles for the leading pair and they both pitted. Castellotti would have another puncture on lap 10, this time crashing out on the steep Monza banking. Schell, Moss and Fangio were released and for the next six laps, there was nothing between them. Collins pitted for new tyres, but the championship leader retired with a broken right front suspension. Moss managed to overtake Schell and grew a big lead, so when Collins came in for another tyre change, he gave his car to Fangio in a gesture of great sportsmanship. A win at Monza would mean so much to the Ferrari team, so he granted his teamleader the opportunity to try and catch the Maserati. Moss pitted twice, bringing him very close to Fangio, but in similar fashion to Monaco, Moss won with a six seconds lead over Fangio. Ron Flockhart took advantage of all the tyre troubles and finished third in his Connaught.

Juan Manuel Fangio (Ferrari) had gathered 30 points and was awarded the 1956 Drivers' Championship. Stirling Moss (Maserati) finished second on 27 points, Peter Collins (Ferrari) third on 25.

Results and standings

Grands Prix

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top five classified finishers, with an additional point awarded for setting the fastest lap, regardless of finishing position or even classification. Only the best five results counted towards the championship. Shared drives result in shared points for each driver if they finished in a points-scoring position, however, if both cars driven in a shared drive finished in a points-scoring position, only the highest finishing position would count. If more than one driver set the same fastest lap time, the fastest lap point would be divided equally between the drivers. Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points were awarded in the following system:

World Championship of Drivers standings