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.

1956 Italian Grand Prix
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Autodromo Nazionale di Monza layout
Race details
Date	2 September 1956
Official name	XXVII Gran Premio d'Italia
Location	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza, Italy
Course	Permanent road course
Course length	10.000 km (6.214 miles)
Distance	50 laps, 500.023 km (310.700 miles)
Weather	Cloudy, warm, alternating light rain
Pole position
Driver	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari
Time	2:42:6
Fastest lap
Driver	Stirling Moss	Maserati
Time	2:45.5
Podium
First	Stirling Moss	Maserati
Second	Peter Collins Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari
Third	Ron Flockhart	Connaught-Alta
Lap leaders

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.