1956 Formula One season

1956 Formula One season
The 1956 Formula One season was the tenth season of FIA's Formula One motor racing. It featured the seventh World Championship of Drivers, and numerous non-championship races. The championship series commenced on 22 January 1956 and ended on 2 September after eight races. Juan Manuel Fangio won his third consecutive title, the fourth of his career. Until the season, this was the last season during which no British constructor won any championship race.
Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers competed in the 1956 FIA World Championship.
The above list does not include competitors in the 1956 Indianapolis 500.
Calendar
Calendar changes
The French Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix returned to the calendar after being cancelled in 1955 due to the 1955 Le Mans disaster at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
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.
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 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Dutch Grand Prix was supposed to have been held on June 17 but was cancelled due to the Suez Crisis.
The Spanish Grand Prix was supposed to return to the calendar after being cancelled in 1955 due to the 1955 Le Mans disaster at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was supposed to have been held on October 28 but was cancelled due to the Suez Crisis.
Season summary
Fangio joined Ferrari after Mercedes-Benz, with whom he had won the 1954 and 1955 titles, withdrew from the sport. Ferrari acquired the folded Lancia team's D50 cars and put together a strong team containing Fangio, Eugenio Castellotti, Luigi Musso and Peter Collins. Fangio won the opening race after commandeering Musso's car after his own broke down. Collins and Fangio's teammate at Mercedes, Stirling Moss – now driving for Maserati provided the biggest challenge to his title defence, each winning two races. In an open season, the British Connaughts, Vanwalls and BRMs also showed some signs of promise.
Going into the final race of the season, Fangio had an eight-point lead over Collins and the consistent Jean Behra, driving for Maserati. The only way he could lose the title would be to score no points, with Collins winning and setting the fastest lap. (Because a driver could only count their best five scores, Behra could not win the title.) Fangio retired, and with Musso unwilling to share his car with Fangio, Collins had a great chance of winning his first title. In a remarkable act of sportsmanship, Collins instead chose to hand his car over to Fangio to allow the Argentine to finish second in the race and win his third title in a row.
Results and standings
Grands Prix
World Championship of Drivers standings
Championship points were awarded at each race on an 8–6–4–3–2 basis to the first five finishers, with an additional point awarded to the driver setting the fastest lap of the race. Points for shared drives were divided equally between the drivers, regardless of who had driven more laps. Only the best five-round results were counted.
Italics indicate the fastest lap (One point awarded – point shared equally between drivers sharing fastest lap)
Bold indicates pole position
† Position shared between more drivers of the same car
Only the best five results counted towards the championship. Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
Non-championship races
The following non-championship races for Formula One cars were also held in 1956:
Notes
References
External links
1956 World Championship race results and images at f1-facts.com
1956 World Championship images at The Cahier Archive
Formula One seasons