1956 Monaco Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Monaco
Grand Prix:Monaco
Official Name:XIV Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco
Date:13 May
Year:1956
Previous Round:1956 Argentine Grand Prix
Next Round:1956 Indianapolis 500#World Drivers' Championship
Location:Circuit de Monaco
Course:Street Circuit
Course Mi:1.954
Course Km:3.145
Distance Laps:100
Distance Mi:195.421
Distance Km:314.500
Weather:Warm, dry, sunny
Pole Driver:Juan Manuel Fangio
Pole Team:Ferrari
Pole Time:1:44.0
Pole Country:Argentina
Fast Driver:Juan Manuel Fangio
Fast Team:Ferrari
Fast Time:1:44.4
Fast Country:Argentina
First Driver:Stirling Moss
First Team:Maserati
First Country:United Kingdom
Second Driver:Peter Collins
Juan Manuel Fangio
Second Team:Ferrari
Second Country:United Kingdom
Third Driver:Jean Behra
Third Team:Maserati
Third Country:France

The 1956 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 1956 at Monaco. It was race 2 of 8 in the 1956 World Championship of Drivers.

The Owen's BRM made their first appearance but after qualifying both cars were withdrawn due to engine valve problems. The other two non-starters were the too-slow Scarlatti and Chiron due to his engine blowing up in practice.

Moss, starting from the middle of the front row, took the lead at Gasworks on the first lap and led every lap. Fangio was not having a good day. He hit the straw bales on lap 2, causing Schell and Musso to retire when trying to avoid him, and on lap 32 he hit the harbour wall, bending a rear wheel. He turned the car over to Castellotti after the pit stop to fix the wheel. On lap 54 while second, Collins came in the pit and turned his car over to Fangio. He resumed in third and passed Behra for second on lap 70, but he was 47 seconds behind Moss. On lap 86 Perdisa's brakes locked when being lapped by Moss, the resulting contact caused Moss's bonnet to lift allowing Fangio to close the gap by two seconds each lap but Moss won with a 6-second cushion.

Classification

Qualifying

!Pos!No!Driver!Constructor!Time!Gap
120 Juan Manuel FangioFerrari1:44.0
228 Stirling MossMaserati1:44.6+0.6
322 Eugenio CastellottiFerrari1:44.9+0.9
430 Jean BehraMaserati1:45.3+1.3
516 Harry SchellVanwall1:45.6+1.6
614 Maurice TrintignantVanwall1:45.6+1.6
732 Cesare PerdisaMaserati1:46.0+2.0
824 Luigi MussoFerrari1:46.8+2.8
926 Peter CollinsFerrari1:47.0+3.0
1010 Mike HawthornBRM1:49.3+5.3
114 Élie BayolGordini1:50.0+6.0
122 Robert ManzonGordini1:50.3+6.3
1312 Tony BrooksBRM1:50.4+6.4
146 Hermano da Silva RamosGordini1:50.6+6.6
158 Louis RosierMaserati1:51.6+7.6
1618 Horace GouldMaserati1:51.7+7.7
DNQ36 Giorgio ScarlattiFerrari2:09.1+25.1
WD34 Louis ChironMaserati
Source:[1]

Note: Both BRM cars (Mike Hawthorn and Tony Brooks) withdrew after qualifying due to engine issues.

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
128 Stirling MossMaserati1003:00:32.928
226 Peter Collins
Juan Manuel Fangio
Ferrari100+6.1 sec93
4
330 Jean BehraMaserati99+1 Lap44
420 Juan Manuel Fangio
Eugenio Castellotti
Ferrari94+6 Laps10
1.5
56 Hermano da Silva RamosGordini93+7 Laps142
64 Élie Bayol
André Pilette
Gordini88+12 Laps11
732 Cesare PerdisaMaserati86+14 Laps7
818 Horace GouldMaserati85+15 Laps16
Ret2 Robert ManzonGordini90Accident12
Ret8 Louis RosierMaserati72Engine15
Ret22 Eugenio CastellottiFerrari14Clutch3
Ret14 Maurice TrintignantVanwall13Overheating6
Ret16 Harry SchellVanwall2Accident5
Ret24 Luigi MussoFerrari2Accident8
DNQ36 Giorgio ScarlattiFerrari
WD10 Mike HawthornBRMEngine Valve10
WD12 Tony BrooksBRMEngine Valve13
WD34 Louis ChironMaseratiBlown Engine
Notes

Shared drives

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
110
2 Juan Manuel Fangio9
73 Stirling Moss8
14 Luigi Musso4
15 Mike Hawthorn4
Source: [2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1956 Monaco Grand Prix. gpracingstats.com. 15 July 2020.
  2. Web site: Monaco 1956 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 19 March 2019.