1956 Italian Grand Prix

  1956 Italian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 8 of 8 in the 1956 Formula One season
Autodromo Nazionale Monza layout
Date	2 September 1956
Official name	XXVII Gran Premio d'Italia
Location	Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy
Course	Permanent road course
Course length	10.000 km (6.214 mi)
Distance	50 laps, 500.023 km (310.700 mi)
Weather	Warm, 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

The 1956 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 2 September 1956 at Monza. It was the eighth and final round of the 1956 World Drivers' Championship.

Coming into the race, Juan Manuel Fangio had an eight-point lead over Ferrari team-mate 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, 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 Luigi Musso.

Classification

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	26	4
4	38	Paco Godia	Maserati	49	+1 Lap	18	3
5	6	Jack Fairman	Connaught-Alta	47	+3 Laps	16	2
6	40	Luigi Piotti	Maserati	47	+3 Laps	15
7	14	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	46	+4 Laps	19
8	22	Juan Manuel Fangio Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari	46	+4 Laps	1
9	12	André Simon	Gordini	45	+5 Laps	25
10	42	Gerino Gerini	Maserati	42	+8 Laps	17
11	44	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	41	+9 Laps	14
Ret	28	Luigi Musso	Ferrari	47	Steering	3
Ret	46	Umberto Maglioli Jean Behra	Maserati	42	Steering	13
Ret	18	Harry Schell	Vanwall	32	Transmission	10
Ret	32	Jean Behra	Maserati	23	Magneto	5
Ret	48	Bruce Halford	Maserati	16	Engine	22
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	23
Ret	30	Alfonso de Portago	Ferrari	6	Tyre	9
Ret	2	Les Leston	Connaught-Alta	6	Suspension	20
Ret	8	Hermano da Silva Ramos	Gordini	3	Engine	21
DNS	50	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari		Practice Accident
Source:

Notes

• 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).

• Debut for Jo Bonnier, Les Leston and Wolfgang von Trips

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

• 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.

References

Previous race: 1956 German Grand Prix	FIA Formula One World Championship 1956 season	Next race: 1957 Argentine Grand Prix
Previous race: 1955 Italian Grand Prix	Italian Grand Prix	Next race: 1957 Italian Grand Prix
Previous race: 1955 Monaco Grand Prix	European Grand Prix (Designated European Grand Prix)	Next race: 1957 British Grand Prix