1956 Argentine Grand Prix

The 1956 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 22 January 1956 at Buenos Aires. It was race 1 of 8 in the 1956 World Championship of Drivers. 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 Maserati team. The grid in Argentina was composed entirely of Italian cars. Ferrari and Maserati showed up with five cars each. The other three cars were also Maseratis: two private entries and Hawthorn for the B.R.M. team.

1956 Argentine Grand Prix
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Race details
Date	22 January 1956
Official name	IV Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina
Location	Autódromo Municipal Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	3.912 km (2.431 miles)
Distance	98 laps, 383.376 km (238.219 miles)
Weather	Overcast but dry
Pole position
Driver	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari
Time	1:42.5
Fastest lap
Driver	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari
Time	1:45.3
Podium
First	Luigi Musso Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari
Second	Jean Behra	Maserati
Third	Mike Hawthorn	Maserati
Lap leaders

Ferrari dominated practice and occupied the first three grid positions, with Fangio's pole time 2.2 sec faster than second. 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 after 30 laps and re-entered without losing Musso's fifth place in the race.^[1] Meanwhile, Musso took over Fangio's ailing car but did not manage to finish in it even a single lap.^[2] Fangio quickly passed Behra but lost his position after spinning. On laps 40–43, disaster struck the leaders. While third, Castellotti's gearbox broke, Menditeguy left the lead with a broken driveshaft, and new leader Moss's engine began to smoke. Fangio, who had overtaken Behra, passed the ailing Moss on lap 67,^[1] and finished unchallenged after Behra spun late in the race. The race was not without controversy when the Maserati team manager lodged a protest that Fangio was push-started after the earlier spin. The protest was ultimately rejected by both the stewards and the FIA.

Entries

Team	No	Driver	Car	Engine	Tyre
Officine Alfieri Maserati	2	Stirling Moss	Maserati 250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	P
	4	Jean Behra
	6	Carlos Menditeguy
	8	Luigi Piotti
	10	Chico Landi Gerino Gerini
	12	José Froilán González
Owen Racing Organisation	14	Mike Hawthorn
Alberto Uría	16	Alberto Uría	Maserati A6GCM
		Óscar González
Scuderia Ferrari	30	Juan Manuel Fangio	Lancia D50	Ferrari DS50 2.5 V8	E
	32	Eugenio Castellotti
	34	Luigi Musso
	36	Peter Collins	Ferrari 555	Ferrari 555 2.5 L4	P
	38	Olivier Gendebien
Source:[3]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	30	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	1:42.5	—
2	32	Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari	1:44.7	+2.2
3	34	Luigi Musso	Ferrari	1:44.7	+2.2
4	4	Jean Behra	Maserati	1:45.1	+2.6
5	12	José Froilán González	Maserati	1:45.2	+2.7
6	6	Carlos Menditeguy	Maserati	1:45.6	+3.1
7	2	Stirling Moss	Maserati	1:45.9	+3.4
8	14	Mike Hawthorn	Maserati	1:47.4	+4.9
9	36	Peter Collins	Ferrari	1:47.7	+5.2
10	38	Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari	1:50.4	+7.9
11	10	Chico Landi Gerino Gerini	Maserati	1:52.1	+9.6
12	8	Luigi Piotti	Maserati	1:57.9	+15.4
13	16	Alberto Uría	Maserati
Source:[4]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	34	Luigi Musso Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	98	3:00:03.7	3	4 51
2	4	Jean Behra	Maserati	98	+24.4	4	6
3	14	Mike Hawthorn	Maserati	96	+2 laps	8	4
4	10	Chico Landi Gerino Gerini	Maserati	92	+6 laps	11	1.5 1.5
5	38	Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari	91	+7 laps	10	2
6	16	Alberto Uría Óscar González	Maserati	88	+10 laps	13
Ret	2	Stirling Moss	Maserati	81	Engine	7
Ret	36	Peter Collins	Ferrari	58	Accident	9
Ret	8	Luigi Piotti	Maserati	57	Accident	12
Ret	6	Carlos Menditeguy	Maserati	42	Halfshaft	6
Ret	32	Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari	40	Gearbox	2
Ret	12	José Froilán González	Maserati	24	Engine	5
Ret	30	Juan Manuel Fangio Luigi Musso	Ferrari	22	Fuel pump	1
Source:[5]

Notes

• ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Shared drives

• Car #34: Luigi Musso (30 laps) and Juan Manuel Fangio (68 laps). They shared the 8 points for first place.
• Car #10: Chico Landi (46 laps) and Gerino Gerini (46 laps). They shared the 3 points for fourth place.
• Car #16: Alberto Uría (44 laps) and Oscar Gonzalez (44 laps).
• Car #30: Juan Manuel Fangio (22 laps) and Luigi Musso (0 laps).

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Jean Behra	6
2	Juan Manuel Fangio	5
3	Luigi Musso	4
4	Mike Hawthorn	4
5	Olivier Gendebien	2
Source:[6]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.