After a disappointing season with the BT55, the team reverted to a more conventional design in 1987. Long time Brabham designer Gordon Murray had moved to McLaren leaving the BT56 as the first Brabham car not designed by Murray since the Ralph Bellamy designed Brabham BT37 that raced in the and seasons. The BT56 was not a very competitive car; although it was quicker than some others (Patrese ran as high as second before retiring at the San Marino Grand Prix that year) it was nowhere near as competitive as the Williams, McLaren, Ferrari or Lotus cars that year. It was also a very unreliable car; of the 16 races, Patrese finished 6 races, and de Cesaris only finished one race- which was his third place at the Belgian Grand Prix that year; although he had a bad reputation for crashing, most of his retirements were due to mechanical failures, but some suspected that this was down to his questionable temperament and his harsh treatment of the car. Patrese also managed a third place in Mexico, although earlier in the season he had been unlucky to lose second place at the San Marino Grand Prix with alternator failure.