Automobile World Championship 1956

Automobile World Championship 1956

World Champion
Driver:	Juan Manuel Fangio
Season dates
Number of races:	8th
<1955 season	1957 season>

The 1956 Automobile World Championship was the 7th season of the Automobile World Championship, which is now known as the Formula 1 World Championship . The drivers' world championship was held within eight races from January 22, 1956 to September 2, 1956. Juan Manuel Fangio won the drivers' world championship for the fourth time.

The FIA honorary title Grand Prix of Europe was awarded to the Grand Prix of Italy in 1956 .

The season was dominated by the Italian teams Ferrari and Maserati after the withdrawal of Mercedes-Benz . Ferrari started with modified Lancias , which they had taken over in 1955 after their withdrawal, and with Juan Manuel Fangio had also signed the best driver of the era. But the Ferrari-Fangio combination was fraught with conflict, especially as the team from Maranello with Peter Collins , Alfonso de Portago and Luigi Musso grew up a number of young talents. In the end, it was only through a generous gesture from his team-mate Collins that Fangio was able to win the world title at the Italian Grand Prix. With the British teams Connaught and Vanwall it was only enough to get points occasionally.

The world championship runs

GP Argentina - Buenos Aires (January 22, 1956)

→ Main article : 1956 Argentine Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	JM Fangio / L. Musso	Ferrari	3: 00: 03.7
2	Jean Behra	Maserati	+ 24.4
3	Mike Hawthorn	Maserati	+ 2 rounds
4th	C.Landi / G.Gerini	Maserati	+ 6 rounds
5	Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari	+ 7 rounds

Local hero Carlos Menditéguy surprisingly led in the first half of the race before his drive shaft broke. Then Moss took the lead on the Maserati , but was soon plagued by misfires and had to let Fangio , who had taken over Musso's car, pass. After a spin of Fangios, marshals pushed him back onto the track, actually a reason for a disqualification. But in the home of the world champion, Maserati's protest was crushed and Fangio declared the winner. That was the only time in the history of Formula 1 that the winner of the first race was not also the championship leader. Since Fangio had to share his points with Musso, the championship lead went to Jean Behra, who placed second .

GP Monaco - Monte Carlo (May 13, 1956)

→ Main article : 1956 Monaco Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Stirling Moss	Maserati	3: 00: 32.9
2	P.Collins / JMFangio	Ferrari	+ 6.1
3	Jean Behra	Maserati	+ 1 lap
4th	JMFangio / E. Castellotti	Ferrari	+ 6 rounds
5	Hernando da Silva Ramos	Gordini	+ 7 rounds

Moss celebrated a start-to-finish victory. Fangio drove madly to catch up with him, but smashed his car and Schell and Musso's car in the process . In Peter Collins ' car, the Argentine at least achieved second place.

500 Miles from Indianapolis (May 30, 1956)

→ Main article : Indianapolis 500 1956

space	driver	team	time
1	Pat Flaherty	Watson - Offenhauser	3: 53: 28.84
2	Sam Hanks	Kurtis -Offenhauser	+ 20.45
3	Don Freeland	Phillips -Offenhauser	+1: 30.23
4th	Johnnie Parsons	Kuzma -Offenhauser	+ 3: 25.69
5	Dick Rathmann	Kurtis Offenhauser	+ 4: 21.81

In Indianapolis, Pat Flaherty won on a Watson and managed to break through the years of dominance of the kurtis car. European drivers were not at the start.

Belgian GP - Spa-Francorchamps (June 3, 1956)

→ Main article : 1956 Belgian Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Peter Collins	Ferrari	2: 40: 00.3
2	Paul Brother	Ferrari	+1: 51.3
3	C. Perdisa / S. Moss	Maserati	+ 3: 16.6
4th	Harry Schell	Vanwall	+ 1 lap
5	Luigi Villoresi	Maserati	+ 2 rounds

In rainy Belgium, Moss led the way before he lost a bike and had to take over Perdisa's car. Fangio was in the lead for a long time , but a gearbox defect put him out of action. With the young Briton Peter Collins and guest driver Paul Frère , Ferrari managed a one-two victory. Collins was both the youngest Grand Prix winner at the time, at the age of 24 (at least if you disregard the Indy 500 winner, because then the youngest winner at the time was Troy Ruttman ) and the youngest world championship leader after taking the Took the lead in front of Moss and Jean Behra . However, he lost both records to Bruce McLaren in 1959 and 1960, respectively . The surprise of the race was Vanwall , a new British team that caused a sensation with great top speed and with Harry Schell's fourth place scoring the first points.

French GP - Reims (July 1st 1956)

→ Main article : 1956 French Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Peter Collins	Ferrari	2: 34: 23.4
2	Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari	+ 0.3
3	Jean Behra	Maserati	+1: 29.9
4th	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	+1: 35.1
5	C. Perdisa / S. Moss	Maserati	+ 2 rounds

Bugatti , the big brand of the 1920s and 1930s, attempted a comeback. Maurice Trintignant retired after a modest third from last place on the grid after just 18 laps and the traditional team buried its motorsport ambitions. In the race, the Ferrari young stars Collins and Castellotti dominated , Fangio only reached fourth place and began to harbor a great distrust of team boss Enzo Ferrari .

British GP - Silverstone (14 July 1956)

→ Main article : 1956 British Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	2: 59: 47.0
2	A..de Portago / P.Collins	Ferrari	+ 1 lap
3	Jean Behra	Maserati	+ 2 rounds
4th	Jack Fairman	Connaught - Alta	+ 3 rounds
5	Horace Gould	Maserati	+ 4 rounds

The British brand BRM is making a strong comeback: Drivers Mike Hawthorn and Tony Brooks are in the lead in the early stages of the race, but both are eliminated. Moss in the Maserati inherits the lead, but he doesn't bring his car to the finish either, so that Fangio is at the top of the podium in the end.

GP Germany - Nürburgring (August 5, 1956)

→ Main article : 1956 German Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	3: 38: 43.7
2	Stirling Moss	Maserati	+ 46.4
3	Jean Behra	Maserati	+ 7: 38.3
4th	Paco Godia	Maserati	+ 2 rounds
5	Louis Rosier	Maserati	+ 3 rounds

Since the recently strong British teams were not at the start and Moss was handicapped by transmission problems, Fangio celebrated a safe, superior victory.

Italian GP / European GP - Monza (September 2, 1956)

→ Main article : 1956 Italian Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Stirling Moss	Maserati	2: 23: 41.3
2	P. Collins / JM Fangio	Ferrari	+ 5.7
3	Ron Flockhart	Connaught - Alta	+ 1 lap
4th	Paco Godia	Maserati	+ 1 lap
5	Jack Fairman	Connaught - Alta	+ 3 rounds

In the World Cup, Fangio is eight points ahead of Collins , if the Argentine remains without points and the Brit wins, this is the world champion. In fact, Fangio was eliminated due to a steering problem and Collins was in a promising third place when he pitted for a tire change. In a generous gesture, the Briton gave his title rival his car and Fangio only needed second place to win the title. Collins said later that he was still so young and still had enough time, a tragic mistake, as it later turned out. Victory went to Stirling Moss , also thanks to the help of a team colleague: when his Maserati ran out of fuel, he pushed his car into the pits, where he could refuel and continue.

Driver ranking

• The first five of each race received 8, 6, 4, 3 and 2 points, respectively, and another point was awarded for the fastest race lap.
• Only the five best results were counted.
• It was allowed to change drivers. If this was done, each driver received half the number of points for the place achieved with the vehicle, regardless of how large his share of the total distance was. The marking is ^FW .

rank	driver									Points
01	Juan Manuel Fangio	1 FW / DNF	2 FW / 4 FW		DNF	4th	1	1	2 FW / 8 FW	30 (33)
02	Stirling Moss	DNF	1		3 FW / DNF	5 FW / DNF	DNF	2	1	27 (28)
03	Peter Collins	DNF	2 FW		1	1	2 FW / DNF	DNF FW / DNF	2 FW	25th
04th	Jean Behra	2	3		7th	3	3	3	DNF FW / DNF	22nd
05	Pat Flaherty			1						8th
06th	Eugenio Castellotti	DNF	4 FW / DNF		DNF	2	10 FW	DNF FW / DNF	8 FW / DNF	7.5
07th	Sam Hanks			2						6th
08th	Paul Brother				2					6th
09	Paco Godia				DNF	7th	8th	4th	4th	6th
10	Jack Fairman						4th		5	5
11	Luigi Musso	1 FW	DNF					DNF FW	DNF	4th
12	Mike Hawthorn	3				10 FW	DNF			4th
13	Ron Flockhart						DNF		3	4th
14th	Don Freeland			3						4th
15th	Alfonso de Portago					DNF	2 FW / 10 FW	DNF FW	DNF	3
16	Cesare Perdisa		7th		3 FW	5 FW	7th	DNF		3
17th	Harry Schell		DNF		4th	10 FW / Ret	DNF	DNF	DNF	3
18th	Johnnie Parsons			4th						3
19th	Louis Rosier		DNF		8th	6th	DNF	5		2
20th	Luigi Villoresi				5	DNF	6th	DNF	DNF FW	2
21st	Hernando da Silva Ramos		5			8th	DNF		DNF	2
22nd	Horace Gould		8th		DNF		5	DNF		2
23	Olivier Gendebien	5				DNF				2
24	Dick Rathmann			5						2
25th	Gerino Gerini	4 FW							10	1.5
26th	Chico Landi	4 FW								1.5
27	Paul Russo			DNF						1
-	André Pilette		6 FW		6th	11		DNF		0
-	Luigi Piotti	DNF							6th	0
-	Bob Sweikert			6th						0
-	Óscar González	6 FW								0
-	Alberto Uria	6 FW								0
-	Élie Bayol		6 FW							0
-	Bob Veith			7th						0
-	Toulo de Graffenried								7th	0
-	Rodger Ward			8th						0
-	Robert Manzon		DNF			9	9	DNF	DNF	0
-	André Simon					DNF			9	0
-	Jimmy Reece			9						0
-	Cliff Griffith			10						0
-	Roy Salvadori						DNF	DNF	11	0
-	Gene Hartley			11						0
-	Bob Gerard						11			0
-	Fred Agabashian			12						0
-	Bob Christie			13						0
-	Al basement			14th						0
-	Eddie Johnson			15th						0
-	Billy Garrett			16						0
-	Duke Dinsmore			17th						0
-	Pat O'Connor			18th						0
-	Jimmy Bryan			19th						0
-	Ottorino Volonterio							NC		0
-	Maurice Trintignant		DNF		DNF	DNF	DNF		DNF	0
-	Umberto Maglioli						DNF	DNF	DNF FW	0
-	Bruce Halford						DNF	DSQ	DNF	0
-	José Froilán González	DNF					DNF			0
-	Piero Taruffi					DNF			DNF	0
-	Giorgio Scarlatti		DNQ					DNF		0
-	Carlos Menditéguy	DNF								0
-	Jim Rathmann			DNF						0
-	Johnnie Tolan			DNF						0
-	Tony Bettenhausen			DNF						0
-	Jimmy Daywalt			DNF						0
-	Jack Turner			DNF						0
-	Keith Andrews			DNF						0
-	Andy Linden			DNF						0
-	Al Herman			DNF						0
-	Ray Crawford			DNF						0
-	Johnny Boyd			DNF						0
-	Troy Ruttman			DNF						0
-	Johnny Thomson			DNF						0
-	Piero Scotti				DNF					0
-	Desmond Titterington						DNF			0
-	Tony Brooks						DNF			0
-	Archie Scott-Brown						DNF			0
-	Paul Emery						DNF			0
-	Jack Brabham						DNF			0
-	André Milhoux							DNF		0
-	Les Leston								DNF	0
-	Ed Elisian			DNF FW						0
-	Eddie Russo			DNF FW						0
-	Joakim Bonnier								DNF FW	0
-	Colin Chapman					DNS				0

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Web links

Commons : 1956 Automobile World Championship  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Official Formula 1 website Results Season 1956 (English)