1956 Italian Grand Prix

1956 Italian Grand Prix
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Autodromo Nazionale di Monza layout
Race details
Date	2 September 1956
Official name	XXVII Gran Premio d'Italia
Location	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza, Italy
Course	Permanent road course
Course length	10.000 km (6.214 miles)
Distance	50 laps, 500.023 km (310.700 miles)
Weather	Cloudy, warm, alternating light rain
Pole position
Driver	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari
Time	2:42:6
Fastest lap
Driver	Stirling Moss	Maserati
Time	2:45.5
Podium
First	Stirling Moss	Maserati
Second	Peter Collins Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari
Third	Ron Flockhart	Connaught-Alta
Lap leaders

The 1956 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 2 September 1956 at Monza. It was the eighth and final race of the 1956 World Championship of Drivers. Coming into the race, Juan Manuel Fangio had an eight-point lead over Ferrari teammate Peter Collins and Jean Behra, driving for Maserati.

Fangio retired with a broken steering arm, while Behra also had to pull out. Luigi Musso, also driving for Ferrari, was told to hand his car over to Fangio to ensure the Argentine's third consecutive title but he refused. Brit Collins, with the opportunity for his first world championship, sportingly handed his car over to Fangio during a routine pit-stop. Fangio finished second, behind Stirling Moss, giving himself and Collins a share of the points for second place and ensuring his fourth title.

The race saw the World Championship debuts of Jo Bonnier (the first Swede to do so), Les Leston, and Wolfgang von Trips, and the final World Championship appearances for Hermano da Silva Ramos, Toulo de Graffenried, Robert Manzon, Piero Taruffi, and Luigi Villoresi. Ron Flockhart scored his first World Championship points and podium finish, and it was the first World Championship race led by Musso. With Collins having a share of second place, this was the first World Championship Grand Prix in which British drivers finished one-two-three.^[1]