Formula 1

About the season

After Ascari's death left Lancia in financial trouble, the team handed its entire racing operation - six race-ready D50 cars plus spare chassis - over to Ferrari free of charge, and the cars continued racing as "Lancia-Ferraris." At the season-deciding Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Fangio's steering broke, and teammate Luigi Musso refused to hand over his own car to secure the title for him. Instead, young Briton Peter Collins, who still had a mathematical shot at the title himself, sportingly gave up his car to Fangio during a routine pit stop, sacrificing his own championship chances. Driving Collins's car, Fangio finished second behind Stirling Moss; Collins's act of sportsmanship remains remembered as one of the most selfless gestures in Formula One history. Juan Fangio won the 1956 Drivers' Championship with 30 points (Ferrari), 3 points ahead of the runner-up. Across 8 completed races this season, there were 96 retirements. 4 different drivers won a race this season. Juan Fangio took the most race wins, 3 in total. Fangio won the season-opening race, the Argentine Grand Prix. Freeland made the biggest gain of the season at the Indianapolis 500, from grid position 26 to finishing 3 (up 23 places). The most dominant win of the season came at the Belgian Grand Prix, with a margin of 111.3 seconds. The closest finish of the season came at the French Grand Prix, with a gap of just 0.300 seconds. The British Grand Prix saw the most retirements of the season, with 17 drivers failing to finish. The season's biggest upset win came from Moss at the Italian Grand Prix, starting from grid position 6. Moss won the Italian Grand Prix, the final race of the season.