1956 German Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1956 German Grand Prix after a punishing Nürburgring contest that left just a handful of cars running. His Ferrari‘s pace and his own precision carried him clear of Moss and Behra, strengthening his championship position before the Monza finale.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari
Pole time	9:51.200
Fastest lap	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari
Fastest-lap time	9:41.600 on lap 14
First	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari
Second	Stirling Moss	Maserati
Third	Jean Behra	Maserati

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
Before the race; date unconfirmed	Timed practice 1	Start time unconfirmed
Before the race; date unconfirmed	Timed practice 2	Start time unconfirmed
Before the race; date unconfirmed	Timed practice 3	Start time unconfirmed
5 August 1956	Race	Start time unconfirmed

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Peter Collins arrived at round 7 leading the 1956 F1 World Championship on 22 points, with Juan Manuel Fangio on 21.

Race entries

No British-built Grand Prix cars entered, leaving Ferrari, Maserati and Gordini to lead the field. Musso returned after injury. Late changes put Maglioli in Perdisa’s works Maserati following a support-race accident, while André Milhoux replaced the injured Pilette in a repaired Gordini.

Timed practice and qualifying

Rain or damp roads affected all three practice periods. Ferrari discovered a broken rear chassis section on de Portago’s car and reinforced the relevant mountings across the team. Maserati raised its cars to avoid grounding in the circuit’s dips. Fangio and Collins were closely matched at the front, with Castellotti completing a Ferrari sweep of the fastest three times. Pilette crashed and injured his knee, prompting the later substitution. The contemporary account groups the three periods together rather than identifying each development by session.

Qualifying Classification

Three timed-practice periods established the grid, all affected by damp conditions. Their individual dates and start times are not confirmed in the consulted account; the combined narrative preserves the verified developments without assigning them to invented sessions.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	1	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	9:51.200
2	5	Peter Collins	Ferrari	9:51.5
3	4	Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari	9:54.4
4	7	Stirling Moss	Maserati	10:03.4
5	4	Luigi Musso	Ferrari	10:20.3
6	8	Cesare Perdisa	Maserati	10:21.0
7	8	Umberto Maglioli	Maserati	10:26.7
8	6	Jean Behra	Maserati	10:31.6
9	16	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	10:32.4
10	5	Alfonso de Portago	Ferrari	10:37.1
11	21	Bruce Halford	Maserati	11:04.1
12	12	Harry Schell	Maserati	11:16.5
13	19	Horace Gould	Maserati	11:32.2
14	15	Louis Rosier	Maserati	11:39.0
15	10	Robert Manzon	Gordini	11:55.8
16	20	Paco Godia	Maserati	11:57.6
17	14	Giorgio Scarlatti	Ferrari	13:05.2
18	11	André Pilette	Gordini	13:31.0
19	18	Luigi Piotti	Maserati	13:50.1
20	22	Ottorino Volonterio	Maserati	14:17.1
21	17	Luigi Villoresi	Maserati	No time
22	11	André Milhoux	Gordini	No time

What happened in the 1956 German Grand Prix?

Fangio and Collins moved ahead of Moss, while the demanding circuit quickly began eliminating cars. Collins’s challenge ended when a damaged fuel line filled the cockpit with fumes and left him nearly unconscious. After recovering, he took over de Portago’s car and resumed the pursuit.

Collins later crashed the replacement Ferrari without injury. Other retirements and driver changes further reduced the field, and Halford was disqualified after receiving outside assistance. Fangio continued to lower the lap record, while Moss had to nurse transmission trouble towards the finish.

Fangio won ahead of Moss and Behra, with Godia fourth and Rosier fifth. Victory and fastest lap moved Fangio to 30 points, ahead of Collins and Behra on 22. Only one of Ferrari‘s five starting cars finished, underlining how thoroughly reliability had shaped the result.

After the race, Juan Manuel Fangio headed the drivers’ standings with 30 points, followed by Peter Collins on 22.

1956 German Grand Prix race results

The 1956 German Grand Prix was held on 5 August 1956.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	1	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	22	3:38:43.7	9
2	7	Stirling Moss	Maserati	22	+46.4	6
3	6	Jean Behra	Maserati	22	+7:38.3	4
4	20	Paco Godia	Maserati	20	+2 Laps	3
5	15	Louis Rosier	Maserati	19	+3 Laps	2
DSQ	21	Bruce Halford	Maserati	20	Push start	0
NC	22	Ottorino Volonterio	Maserati	16	+6 Laps	0
Ret	11	André Milhoux	Gordini	15	Engine	0
Ret	5	Alfonso de Portago / Peter Collins	Ferrari	14	Accident	0
Ret	17	Luigi Villoresi	Maserati	13	Engine	0
Ret	12	Harry Schell	Maserati	13	Overheating	0
Ret	4	Luigi Musso / Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari	11	Accident	0
Ret	2	Peter Collins	Ferrari	8	Fuel Leak	0
Ret	3	Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari	5	Electrical	0
Ret	8	Umberto Maglioli	Maserati	3	Steering	0
Ret	19	Horace Gould	Maserati	3	Oil Pressure	0
Ret	16	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	2	Suspension	0
Ret	10	Robert Manzon	Gordini	0	Suspension	0
Ret	14	Giorgio Scarlatti	Ferrari	0	Engine	0
DNS	8	Cesare Perdisa	Maserati		Practice Accident	0
DNS	11	André Pilette	Gordini		Practice Accident	0
DNS	18	Luigi Piotti	Maserati		Villoresi Drove Car	0

Includes 1 point for fastest lap

1956 German Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	1	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	14	9:41.600

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. One championship point was awarded for fastest lap, divided equally when shared.

1956 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1956 German Grand Prix.

1956 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Juan Manuel Fangio	Argentine	Ferrari	30
2	Peter Collins	British	Ferrari	22
3	Jean Behra	French	Maserati	22
4	Stirling Moss	British	Maserati	19
5	Pat Flaherty	American	Watson	8
6	Eugenio Castellotti	Italian	Ferrari	7.5
7	Sam Hanks	American	Kurtis Kraft	6
8	Paul Frère	Belgian	Ferrari	6
9	Luigi Musso	Italian	Ferrari	4
10	Mike Hawthorn	British	Maserati / BRM / Vanwall	4
11	Don Freeland	American	Phillips	4
12	Alfonso de Portago	Spanish	Ferrari	3
13	Cesare Perdisa	Italian	Maserati	3
14	Paco Godia	Spanish	Maserati	3
15	Harry Schell	American	Vanwall / Maserati	3
16	Johnnie Parsons	American	Kurtis Kraft	3
17	Jack Fairman	British	Connaught	3
18	Louis Rosier	French	Maserati	2
19	Luigi Villoresi	Italian	Maserati	2
20	Horace Gould	British	Maserati	2
21	Hermano da Silva Ramos	Brazilian	Gordini / Maserati	2
22	Olivier Gendebien	Belgian	Ferrari	2
23	Dick Rathmann	American	Kurtis Kraft	2
24	Gerino Gerini	Italian	Maserati	1.5
25	Chico Landi	Brazilian	Maserati	1.5
26	Paul Russo	American	Kurtis Kraft	1
—	André Pilette	Belgian	Gordini / Ferrari	0
—	Óscar González	Uruguayan	Maserati	0
—	Alberto Uria	Uruguayan	Maserati	0
—	Élie Bayol	French	Gordini	0
—	Bob Sweikert	American	Kuzma	0
—	Bob Veith	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Rodger Ward	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Robert Manzon	French	Gordini	0
—	Jimmy Reece	American	Lesovsky	0
—	Cliff Griffith	American	Stevens	0
—	Gene Hartley	American	Kuzma	0
—	Bob Gerard	British	Cooper	0
—	Fred Agabashian	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Bob Christie	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Al Keller	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Eddie Johnson	American	Kuzma	0
—	Billy Garrett	American	Kuzma	0
—	Duke Dinsmore	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Pat O'Connor	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Jimmy Bryan	American	Kuzma	0
—	Bruce Halford	British	Maserati	0
—	Ottorino Volonterio	Swiss	Maserati	0
—	André Milhoux	Belgian	Gordini	0
—	Luigi Piotti	Italian	Maserati	0
—	Maurice Trintignant	French	Vanwall / Bugatti	0
—	Carlos Menditeguy	Argentine	Maserati	0
—	José Froilán González	Argentine	Maserati / Vanwall	0
—	André Simon	French	Maserati	0
—	Piero Scotti	Italian	Connaught	0
—	Desmond Titterington	British	Connaught	0
—	Umberto Maglioli	Italian	Maserati	0
—	Roy Salvadori	British	Maserati	0
—	Tony Brooks	British	BRM	0
—	Louis Chiron	Monegasque	Maserati	0
—	Giorgio Scarlatti	Italian	Ferrari	0
—	Jim Rathmann	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Colin Chapman	British	Vanwall	0
—	Johnnie Tolan	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Tony Bettenhausen	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Ed Elisian	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Eddie Russo	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Jimmy Daywalt	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Archie Scott Brown	British	Connaught	0
—	Jack Turner	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Paul Emery	British	Emeryson	0
—	Keith Andrews	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Jack Brabham	Australian	Maserati	0
—	Andy Linden	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Ron Flockhart	British	BRM	0
—	Al Herman	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Ray Crawford	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Johnny Boyd	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Troy Ruttman	American	Kurtis Kraft	0
—	Johnny Thomson	American	Kuzma	0

There was no constructors’ championship in this season; the manufacturers’ competition began in 1958.

Drivers counted their best 5 results. The first five places earned 8–6–4–3–2 points, with one further point for fastest lap, shared equally when necessary. Points from shared drives were divided between the eligible drivers; individual allocations are shown in driver order.

1956 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1956 Argentine Grand Prix	Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires	22 January
2	1956 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	13 May
3	1956 Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana	30 May
4	1956 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	3 June
5	1956 French Grand Prix	Reims-Gueux, Reims	1 July
6	1956 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	14 July
7	1956 German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	5 August
8	1956 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	2 September