1956 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1956 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 3 June 1956 at Spa-Francorchamps. It was race 4 of 8 in the 1956 World Championship of Drivers.

1956 Belgian Grand Prix
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Spa-Francorchamps layout
Race details
Date	June 3, 1956
Official name	XVIII Grote Prijs Van Belgie
Location	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	14.120 km (8.774 miles)
Distance	36 laps, 508.320 km (315.855 miles)
Weather	Wet and overcast, later drying
Pole position
Driver	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari
Time	4:09.8
Fastest lap
Driver	Stirling Moss	Maserati
Time	4:14.7
Podium
First	Peter Collins	Ferrari
Second	Paul Frère	Ferrari
Third	Cesare Perdisa Stirling Moss	Maserati
Lap leaders

After the first day of practice on Thursday, Fangio was on pole with a time almost 5 sec faster than second place Moss. These times would not be touched with wet conditions on Friday and windy conditions on Saturday.

It was raining when the race began and Fangio made a poor start and settled in fifth with Moss well in the lead. But by lap 3 Fangio would be in second having passed Behra, Collins, and then Castellotti. By the fifth lap he was in the lead and had opened up an 8-second lead on Moss by lap 10 with Collins third on a drying track. Collins took second when Moss lost a back wheel on the climb after the Eau Rouge bridge. He was able to safely stop and sprint back to the pits and take over Perdisa's car. He resumed in sixth but a lap down to the leaders. Collins took the lead for good when Fangio lost his transmission on lap 24. A tight battle for second between Behra and Frere ended when Behra's engine began to misfire. This allowed Moss to move to third as he had passed Schell earlier. Moss ended the race on a furious pace but the two leaders were too far ahead to make up the gap.

This was the first Formule One podium for a Belgian driver.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	2	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	4:09.8	—
2	30	Stirling Moss	Maserati	4:14.7	+4.9
3	8	Peter Collins	Ferrari	4:15.3	+5.5
4	32	Jean Behra	Maserati	4:16.7	+6.9
5	4	Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari	4:16.7	+6.9
6	10	Harry Schell	Vanwall	4:19.0	+9.2
7	12	Maurice Trintignant	Vanwall	4:22.8	+13.0
8	6	Paul Frère	Ferrari	4:23.8	+14.0
9	34	Cesare Perdisa	Maserati	4:35.7	+25.9
10	24	Louis Rosier	Maserati	4:35.9	+26.1
11	22	Luigi Villoresi	Maserati	4:37.7	+27.9
12	28	Piero Scotti	Connaught-Alta	4:41.9	+32.1
13	38	Mike Hawthorn	Maserati	4:48.9	+39.1
14	36	Paco Godia	Maserati	4:49.8	+40.0
15	26	Horace Gould	Maserati	4:50.4	+40.6
16	20	André Pilette	Ferrari	4:51.9	+42.1
Source:

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	8	Peter Collins	Ferrari	36	2:40:00.3	3	8
2	6	Paul Frère	Ferrari	36	+1:51.3	8	6
3	34	Cesare Perdisa Stirling Moss	Maserati	36	+3:16.6	9	2 3
4	10	Harry Schell	Vanwall	35	+1 Lap	6	3
5	22	Luigi Villoresi	Maserati	34	+2 Laps	11	2
6	20	André Pilette	Ferrari	33	+3 Laps	15
7	32	Jean Behra	Maserati	33	+3 Laps	4
8	24	Louis Rosier	Maserati	33	+3 Laps	10
Ret	2	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	23	Transmission	1
Ret	12	Maurice Trintignant	Vanwall	11	Fuel system	7
Ret	30	Stirling Moss	Maserati	10	Wheel	2
Ret	4	Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari	10	Transmission	5
Ret	28	Piero Scotti	Connaught-Alta	10	Engine	12
Ret	26	Horace Gould	Maserati	2	Gearbox	14
Ret	36	Paco Godia	Maserati	0	Accident	13
DNS	38	Mike Hawthorn	Maserati	0
Source:

Notes

• ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Shared drive

• Car #34: Perdisa (13 laps) and Moss (23 laps).

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
8	1	Peter Collins	11
1	2	Stirling Moss	11
2	3	Jean Behra	10
2	4	Juan Manuel Fangio	9
1	5	Pat Flaherty	8
Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.