# 1956 Italian Grand Prix

The 1956 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 2 September 1956 at Monza. It was the eighth and final race of the 1956 World Championship of Drivers. Coming into the race, Juan Manuel Fangio had an eight-point lead over Ferrari teammate Peter Collins and Jean Behra, driving for Maserati.
Fangio retired with a broken steering arm, while Behra also had to pull out. Luigi Musso, also driving for Ferrari, was told to hand his car over to Fangio to ensure the Argentine's third consecutive title but he refused. Brit Collins, with the opportunity for his first world championship, sportingly handed his car over to Fangio during a routine pit-stop. Fangio finished second, behind Stirling Moss, giving himself and Collins a share of the points for second place and ensuring his fourth title.
The race saw the World Championship debuts of Jo Bonnier (the first Swede to do so), Les Leston, and Wolfgang von Trips, and the final World Championship appearances for Hermano da Silva Ramos, Toulo de Graffenried, Robert Manzon, Piero Taruffi, and Luigi Villoresi. Ron Flockhart scored his first World Championship points and podium finish, and it was the first World Championship race led by Musso. With Collins having a share of second place, this was the first World Championship Grand Prix in which British drivers finished one-two-three.

## Classification
### Qualifying

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
| 1 | 22 | Juan Manuel Fangio | Ferrari | 2:42.6 | — |
| 2 | 24 | Eugenio Castellotti | Ferrari | 2:43.4 | +0.8 |
| 3 | 28 | Luigi Musso | Ferrari | 2:43.7 | +1.1 |
| 4 | 16 | Piero Taruffi | Vanwall | 2:45.4 | +2.8 |
| 5 | 32 | Jean Behra | Maserati | 2:45.6 | +3.0 |
| 6 | 36 | Stirling Moss | Maserati | 2:45.9 | +3.3 |
| 7 | 26 | Peter Collins | Ferrari | 2:46.0 | +3.4 |
| 8 | 34 | Luigi Villoresi | Maserati | 2:47.7 | +5.1 |
| 9 | 30 | Alfonso de Portago | Ferrari | 2:47.8 | +5.2 |
| 10 | 18 | Harry Schell | Vanwall | 2:50.1 | +7.5 |
| 11 | 20 | Maurice Trintignant | Vanwall | 2:51.6 | +9.0 |
| 12 | 46 | Umberto Maglioli | Maserati | 2:52.7 | +10.1 |
| 13 | 44 | Roy Salvadori | Maserati | 2:54.6 | +12.0 |
| 14 | 40 | Luigi Piotti | Maserati | 2:58.6 | +16.0 |
| 15 | 6 | Jack Fairman | Connaught-Alta | 2:59.2 | +16.6 |
| 16 | 42 | Gerino Gerini | Maserati | 3:02.6 | +20.0 |
| 17 | 38 | Paco Godia | Maserati | 3:02.9 | +20.3 |
| 18 | 14 | Toulo de Graffenried | Maserati | 3:03.3 | +20.7 |
| 19 | 2 | Les Leston | Connaught-Alta | 3:04.3 | +21.7 |
| 20 | 8 | Hermano da Silva Ramos | Gordini | 3:04.8 | +22.2 |
| 21 | 48 | Bruce Halford | Maserati | 3:05.0 | +22.4 |
| 22 | 10 | Robert Manzon | Gordini | 3:06.6 | +24.0 |
| 23 | 4 | Ron Flockhart | Connaught-Alta | 3:08.1 | +25.5 |
| 24 | 12 | André Simon | Gordini | 3:13.3 | +30.7 |
| DNS | 50 | Wolfgang von Trips | Ferrari | | |
| Source: ||||||

### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 36 | Stirling Moss | Maserati | 50 | 2:23:41.3 | 6 | 9 |
| 2 | 26 | Peter Collins Juan Manuel Fangio | Ferrari | 50 | +5.7 secs | 7 | 3 3 |
| 3 | 4 | Ron Flockhart | Connaught-Alta | 49 | +1 Lap | 23 | 4 |
| 4 | 38 | Paco Godia | Maserati | 49 | +1 Lap | 17 | 3 |
| 5 | 6 | Jack Fairman | Connaught-Alta | 47 | +3 Laps | 15 | 2 |
| 6 | 40 | Luigi Piotti | Maserati | 47 | +3 Laps | 14 | |
| 7 | 14 | Toulo de Graffenried | Maserati | 46 | +4 Laps | 18 | |
| 8 | 22 | Juan Manuel Fangio Eugenio Castellotti | Ferrari | 46 | +4 Laps | 1 | |
| 9 | 12 | André Simon | Gordini | 45 | +5 Laps | 24 | |
| 10 | 42 | Gerino Gerini | Maserati | 42 | +8 Laps | 16 | |
| 11 | 44 | Roy Salvadori | Maserati | 41 | +9 Laps | 13 | |
| Ret | 28 | Luigi Musso | Ferrari | 47 | Steering | 3 | |
| Ret | 46 | Umberto Maglioli Jean Behra | Maserati | 42 | Steering | 12 | |
| Ret | 18 | Harry Schell | Vanwall | 32 | Transmission | 10 | |
| Ret | 32 | Jean Behra | Maserati | 23 | Magneto | 5 | |
| Ret | 48 | Bruce Halford | Maserati | 16 | Engine | 21 | |
| Ret | 20 | Maurice Trintignant | Vanwall | 13 | Transmission | 11 | |
| Ret | 16 | Piero Taruffi | Vanwall | 12 | Oil Leak | 4 | |
| Ret | 24 | Eugenio Castellotti | Ferrari | 9 | Tyre | 2 | |
| Ret | 34 | Luigi Villoresi Jo Bonnier | Maserati | 7 | Engine | 8 | |
| Ret | 10 | Robert Manzon | Gordini | 7 | Chassis | 22 | |
| Ret | 30 | Alfonso de Portago | Ferrari | 6 | Tyre | 9 | |
| Ret | 2 | Les Leston | Connaught-Alta | 6 | Suspension | 19 | |
| Ret | 8 | Hermano da Silva Ramos | Gordini | 3 | Engine | 20 | |
| DNS | 50 | Wolfgang von Trips | Ferrari | | Practice Accident | | |
| Source: ||||||||

#### Notes

* ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

## Shared drives and championship permutations

* Shared Drives:
** Car #26: Peter Collins (35 laps) and Juan Manuel Fangio (15 laps). They shared the 6 points for second place.
** Car #22: Juan Manuel Fangio (30 laps) and Eugenio Castellotti (16 laps).
** Car #46: Umberto Maglioli (31 laps) and Jean Behra (11 laps).
** Car #34: Luigi Villoresi (4 laps) and Jo Bonnier (3 laps).
* Two drivers were fighting for the championship going into the race: Fangio on 30 points and Collins on 22 points
** Fangio would finish ahead of Collins in the Championship if:
*** Collins doesn't win the race or
*** Collins wins the race without fast lap and Fangio finished at least 3rd with fastest lap or
*** Fangio finished at least 2nd
** Collins would finish ahead of Fangio in the Championship if:
*** Collins wins the race with fastest lap and Fangio finished 3rd or lower or
*** Collins wins the race without fastest lap and Fangio finished 3rd or lower without fastest lap as well

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

| | Pos | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | Juan Manuel Fangio | 30 (33) |
| 2 | 2 | Stirling Moss | 27 (28) |
| 1 | 3 | Peter Collins | 25 |
| 1 | 4 | Jean Behra | 22 |
| | 5 | Pat Flaherty | 8 |
| Source: ||||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included. Only the best 5 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.