1956 Argentine Grand Prix

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

IV GRAN PREMIO DE LA REPUBLICA ARGENTINA
Date 22 January 1956
Location Buenos Aires
Course 3.912km
Distance 98 laps, 383.376km
Weather Overcast but dry
Pole Position Juan Manuel Fangio, 1:42.5
Fastest Lap Juan Manuel Fangio, 1:45.3
Winner Musso / Fangio, 3:00:03.7
2nd Place Jean Behra
3rd Place Mike Hawthorn
[edit]

The 1956 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 22 January 1956 at Buenos Aires.

With the withdrawal of Mercedes from Formula One, Fangio and Moss would begin the season with new teams. Fangio would join Ferrari while Moss would lead the Masserati team. The grid at Argentina was completely composed of Italian cars. Ferrari and Maserati showed up with five cars each. The other three cars were Maseratis: two private entries and Hawthorn for the B.R.M. team.

Ferrari dominated practice and occupied the first three grid positions with Fangio’s pole time 2.2 sec faster than second. However, Maserati dominated the early race with Menditeguy and Moss leading the field. Fangio was a non factor with a faulty fuel pump. He took over Musso’s car on lap 29 and re-entered in fifth place. Fangio quickly passed Behra but lost his position after spinning. From laps 40-43 disaster struck the leaders. While third Castellotti’s gearbox broke, Menditguy left the lead with a broken driveshaft, and new leader Moss’ engine began to smoke. Fangio, who had gotten by Behra, passed the ailing Moss on lap 66 and finished unchallenged after Behra spun late. The race was not without controversy when the Maserati team manager lodged a protest that Fangio was push-started after the earlier spin. However, the protest was rejected by both the stewards and the F.I.A.

[edit] Classification

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 34 Flag of Italy Luigi Musso Ferrari 98 3:00:03.7 3 4
Shr 34 Flag of Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Ferrari 5
2 4 Flag of France Jean Behra Maserati 98 +24.4 secs 4 6
3 14 Flag of United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn Maserati 98 +2 Laps 8 4
4 10 Flag of Brazil Chico Landi Maserati 92 +6 Laps 11 1.5
Shr 10 Flag of Italy Gerino Gerini Maserati 1.5
5 38 Flag of Belgium Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 91 +7 Laps 10 2
6 16 Flag of Uruguay Alberto Uria Maserati 88 +10 Laps 13
Shr 16 Flag of Uruguay Oscar González Maserati
Ret 2 Flag of United Kingdom Stirling Moss Maserati 81 Engine 7
Ret 36 Flag of United Kingdom Peter Collins Ferrari 58 Accident 9
Ret 8 Flag of Italy Luigi Piotti Maserati 57 Accident 12
Ret 6 Flag of Argentina Carlos Menditéguy Maserati 42 Halfshaft 6
Ret 32 Flag of Italy Eugenio Castellotti Ferrari 40 Gearbox 2
Ret 12 Flag of Argentina José Froilán González Maserati 24 Engine 5
Ret 30 Flag of Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Ferrari 22 Fuel Pump 1

[edit] Notes

Previous race:
1955 Italian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World
Championship, 1956 season
Next race:
1956 Monaco Grand Prix

Previous race:
1955 Argentine Grand Prix
Argentine Grand Prix Next race:
1957 Argentine Grand Prix