# 1956 Argentine Grand Prix

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.

## Entries

| Team | No | Driver | Car | Engine | Tyre |
| Officine Alfieri Maserati | 2 | Stirling Moss | Maserati 250F | Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 | P |
| Officine Alfieri Maserati | 4 | Jean Behra | Maserati 250F | Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 | P |
| Officine Alfieri Maserati | 6 | Carlos Menditeguy | Maserati 250F | Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 | P |
| Officine Alfieri Maserati | 8 | Luigi Piotti | Maserati 250F | Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 | P |
| Officine Alfieri Maserati | 10 | Chico Landi Gerino Gerini | Maserati 250F | Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 | P |
| Officine Alfieri Maserati | 12 | José Froilán González | Maserati 250F | Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 | P |
| Owen Racing Organisation | 14 | Mike Hawthorn | Maserati 250F | Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 | P |
| Alberto Uría | 16 | Alberto Uría | Maserati A6GCM | Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 | P |
| Alberto Uría | 16 | Óscar González | Maserati A6GCM | Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 | P |
| Scuderia Ferrari | 30 | Juan Manuel Fangio | Lancia D50 | Ferrari DS50 2.5 V8 | E |
| Scuderia Ferrari | 32 | Eugenio Castellotti | Lancia D50 | Ferrari DS50 2.5 V8 | E |
| Scuderia Ferrari | 34 | Luigi Musso | Lancia D50 | Ferrari DS50 2.5 V8 | E |
| Scuderia Ferrari | 36 | Peter Collins | Ferrari 555 | Ferrari 555 2.5 L4 | P |
| Scuderia Ferrari | 38 | Olivier Gendebien | Ferrari 555 | Ferrari 555 2.5 L4 | P |
| Source: ||||||

## Classification
### Qualifying

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
| 1 | 30 | Juan Manuel Fangio | Ferrari | 1:42.5 | — |
| 2 | 32 | Eugenio Castellotti | Ferrari | 1:44.7 | +2.2 |
| 3 | 34 | Luigi Musso | Ferrari | 1:44.7 | +2.2 |
| 4 | 4 | Jean Behra | Maserati | 1:45.1 | +2.6 |
| 5 | 12 | José Froilán González | Maserati | 1:45.2 | +2.7 |
| 6 | 6 | Carlos Menditeguy | Maserati | 1:45.6 | +3.1 |
| 7 | 2 | Stirling Moss | Maserati | 1:45.9 | +3.4 |
| 8 | 14 | Mike Hawthorn | Maserati | 1:47.4 | +4.9 |
| 9 | 36 | Peter Collins | Ferrari | 1:47.7 | +5.2 |
| 10 | 38 | Olivier Gendebien | Ferrari | 1:50.4 | +7.9 |
| 11 | 10 | Chico Landi Gerino Gerini | Maserati | 1:52.1 | +9.6 |
| 12 | 8 | Luigi Piotti | Maserati | 1:57.9 | +15.4 |
| 13 | 16 | Alberto Uría | Maserati | | |
| Source: ||||||

### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 34 | Luigi Musso Juan Manuel Fangio | Ferrari | 98 | 3:00:03.7 | 3 | 4 5 |
| 2 | 4 | Jean Behra | Maserati | 98 | +24.4 | 4 | 6 |
| 3 | 14 | Mike Hawthorn | Maserati | 96 | +2 laps | 8 | 4 |
| 4 | 10 | Chico Landi Gerino Gerini | Maserati | 92 | +6 laps | 11 | 1.5 1.5 |
| 5 | 38 | Olivier Gendebien | Ferrari | 91 | +7 laps | 10 | 2 |
| 6 | 16 | Alberto Uría Óscar González | Maserati | 88 | +10 laps | 13 | |
| Ret | 2 | Stirling Moss | Maserati | 81 | Engine | 7 | |
| Ret | 36 | Peter Collins | Ferrari | 58 | Accident | 9 | |
| Ret | 8 | Luigi Piotti | Maserati | 57 | Accident | 12 | |
| Ret | 6 | Carlos Menditeguy | Maserati | 42 | Halfshaft | 6 | |
| Ret | 32 | Eugenio Castellotti | Ferrari | 40 | Gearbox | 2 | |
| Ret | 12 | José Froilán González | Maserati | 24 | Engine | 5 | |
| Ret | 30 | Juan Manuel Fangio Luigi Musso | Ferrari | 22 | Fuel pump | 1 | |
| Source: ||||||||

#### Notes

* ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

## Shared drives

* Car #34: Luigi Musso (30 laps) and Juan Manuel Fangio (68 laps). They shared the 8 points for first place.
* Car #10: Chico Landi (46 laps) and Gerino Gerini (46 laps). They shared the 3 points for fourth place.
* Car #16: Alberto Uría (44 laps) and Oscar Gonzalez (44 laps).
* Car #30: Juan Manuel Fangio (22 laps) and Luigi Musso (0 laps).

## Championship standings after the race
### Drivers' Championship standings

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Jean Behra | 6 |
| 2 | Juan Manuel Fangio | 5 |
| 3 | Luigi Musso | 4 |
| 4 | Mike Hawthorn | 4 |
| 5 | Olivier Gendebien | 2 |
| Source: |||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included.