Review of 1956 season
After the invincible Silver Arrows left Formula-1, the Italian teams Ferrari and Maserati regained their leading positions, and it was the drivers of these teams who became the main contenders for the championship title in 1956, however the technical superiority was still on the side of the Scuderia, and in the end it was the Maranello team which celebrated the victory at the end of the season, once again returning to the top of the racing Olympus. The main success factors of Scuderia were, of course, the magnificent Lancia D50 cars that the team bought from the Turin company last season, as well as the arrival of the Argentine world champion Juan-Manuel Fangio to the team.
Despite his age, the Argentine was still the strongest driver in the peloton and showed phenomenal speed, having managed to win 6 pole positions in 7 Grands Prix, however, for the world champion himself, this season was one of the most difficult in his career, because unlike the almost trouble-free Mercedeses, the Lancia-Ferraris were not as reliable and let the Argentine down in almost every race in the first half of the championship. By the middle of the season, after two consecutive missed victories in Belgium and France, the Argentine's patience had completely come to an end, and he set a condition for the team: either he was provided with an individual mechanic who would service only his car, or he left the Scuderia. Luckily for both parties, an agreement was reached on the matter and the next two races in the Great Britain and Germany were held without a hitch for the Argentine, with two wins effectively securing his fourth championship title.
However, the demarche of the world champion still did not pass by the keen gaze of the Commendatore, who himself was going through a difficult period associated with the death of his 24-year-old son Dino, and as a result, at the end of the season, the paths of the Argentinean and Scuderia nevertheless diverged, and Fangio returned to Maserati again.
Meanwhile, the main discovery of this season was, of course, the Argentine's teammate Peter Collins, who, having finally got a truly competitive car at his disposal, managed to fully reveal his talent and became Fangio's main rival in the fight for the title.
Already in the second Grand Prix of the season in Monaco, Peter was able to win his first podium, and three weeks later in Belgium, the Englishman celebrated his first victory, followed immediately by a second one in France. At the same time, unlike Fangio, Peter did not have any reliability problems, and by the middle of the season, the Englishman confidently led the championship, ahead of the Argentine by 6 points. However, in the next two races, Fangio still managed to turn the tide in his favor, and by the last stage in Italy, Collins' chances for the title looked almost illusory. Nonetheless, in Monza, events clearly unfolded not in favor of the world champion, and the Argentinean was once again forced to retire due to another breakdown, but Collins did not take advantage of the Argentinean's failure and showed a stunning example of true nobility, giving up his car to Fangio and actually abandoning his claim to the title.
As Peter himself later explained, at that time he was simply not ready to shoulder the burden of the championship title, and besides, he quite reasonably believed that Fangio deserved it much more.
As for the young Italian drivers of the Scuderia, despite high expectations, this season has not been very successful for them. Eugenio Castellotti was constantly plagued by technical problems, and during the whole season he managed to get on the podium only once, in France, where, after a great fight with Collins, he lost to the Englishman at the finish by just a fraction of a second.
Musso began the season with a rather unexpected victory in Argentina, which he shared with Fangio, but after the second stage, Luigi had a serious accident at the Nürburgring in the sports car race, being out of action for two months. Returning to the World Championship in the last two stages, Musso had a brilliant race in his home track in Monza, but he was unlucky again, and four laps before the finish, he had an accident, having lost a sure victory.
Meanwhile, the Scuderia's main rival this year was the Maserati team, which, after a rather unsuccessful last season, managed to get a taste of victories again, but these successes were only possible thanks to the amazing skills of the new team leader, Stirling Moss.
Without any exaggeration, one can even say that Stirling was the only driver in the peloton that Fangio really feared, while on some tracks even the world champion could not oppose anything to the speed of the Englishman.
However, despite the constant development of Modena cars, they were still far from perfect and let the Englishman down more than once, which is why Stirling missed a certain victory in his homeland, after which he finally lost all chances to intervene in the fight for the title. Nevertheless, having managed to win two brilliant victories in Monaco and Italy, Moss in the end of the championship took the title of vice-champion, which he got for the second year in a row.
As for the second number of the Modena team, Jean Behra, the Frenchman surprised this season. In previous years, Behra's weakest point was his vehemence, due to which he often made mistakes and flew off the track, but this year, having rid himself of the burden of leadership in the team, the Frenchman drove surprisingly steadily and ended up having his best season, winning five podiums in seven races!
Moreover, without experiencing any reliability problems, the Frenchman at the very beginning of the championship even managed to lead the overall standings and became a real contender for the title, the chances of which he lost only in the penultimate race of the season in Germany. At the same time, Moss, who was clearly faster than his teammate in the vast majority of races, managed to get ahead of Behra only in the last race of the season in Italy, while the Frenchman still took a rather high 4th place in the overall standings.
Against the background of the victories of the two Italian teams, the success of the British stables looked much more modest, however, they also managed to present a few surprises this season, especially the team of Tony Vandervell. Designed by Colin Chapman and Frank Costin, the Vanwall cars had excellent aerodynamics, thanks to which they managed to develop fantastic speeds on the high-speed tracks in Reims and Monza, and even outperform Ferraris and Maseratis, however, due to poor reliability, the British cars did not manage to realize their full potential, and in the end of the championship the British team had to be content with only one 4th place in Belgium, which was brought to it by Harry Schell.
The American has generally shown himself to be a true leader of the British team this season, having managed not only to make an indelible impression with his performances in France and Italy, but also to finally earn his first points in Formula-1, to which he had been going for a long seven years!
Meanwhile, for BRM this season has developed extremely unsuccessfully. Having failed to prepare their new cars in time for the start of the championship, in Argentina the British team again used a Maserati car, and Hawthorn, thanks to numerous retirements of rivals, even managed to finish 3rd on it. However, already in the second Grand Prix in Monaco, in which the debut of the new BRM P25 took place, the team was waiting for a complete fiasco. As it turned out, the BRM engines lacked low-rev traction, and as a result, the team was forced to leave the competition already in qualifying.
The second appearance of British cars took place at the home event at Silverstone, and here they managed to make a real sensation, when, after a great start, both team drivers managed to lead the Grand Prix.
However, during the race, various problems began to arise on the British cars, which first forced the drivers to give up their positions, and then retire, while Brooks due to a jammed throttle got into a serious accident at all, which almost cost him his life.
After such a failure, Alfred Owen finally withdrew his team from the championship, deciding to focus on modifying the cars, however, the team drivers Hawthorn and Brooks were already fed up with the problems of the team and left it at the end of the championship, moving to Ferrari and Vanwall, respectively.
As for the third British team, Connaught, although they did not manage to make such a bright impression as Vanwall in France and Italy or BRM in the Great Britain, it was they who managed to perform most successfully and score points in both races held, while Ron Flockhart in Monza even managed to get on the podium, which was the first one for himself and for the entire British team.
But for whom this year has become truly fatal, it is for the French teams. The new Gordini T32 cars, although they were a little faster than their T16 predecessors, still did not justify the hopes placed on them and could not withstand either the Italian or British bolids, and, as a result, the French team drivers spent most of the Grand Prix in the back of the field.
At the same time, da Silva Ramos somehow managed to win points in Monaco, but even this success could not prevent the inevitable and became just the swan song of Amadeus Gordini's team, which left Formula-1 forever in the end of the season.
As for the second French team, Bugatti, all its grandiose plans were crossed out by one single unsuccessful performance at their home track in Reims.
Having presented their innovative mid-engined car with great fanfare, the Molsem team found already in qualifying that its handling was no good, and even Maurice Trintignant's talent was not enough to make it go fast. In the race itself, the jammed throttle drew a thick line under the unsuccessful debut of the French team, and this Grand Prix ended up being the only one for Bugatti in its short history in Formula-1.
It should also not be forgotten that in addition to the factory teams, many private drivers also took part in the 1956 championship, and among them it is worth highlighting Carlos Menditeguy and Roy Salvadori, who managed to show off magnificent performances on their home tracks. Analyzing the course of these Grand Prix, we can say with confidence that both of them were one of the main contenders for victories, however, unfortunately, due to technical problems, neither of them managed to succeed.
Alternative driver standings
Alternative team standings
