The 1956 French Grand Prix was held on July 1. It was the fifth race of the 1956 Formula One Season, and was held at the Reims-Gueux circuit. A race of attrition led to an exciting battle between the two surviving Lancia-Ferraris of Peter Collins and Eugenio Castellotti, which was thwarted 10 laps from the end when the team ordered the drivers to hold place with Collins in front, eventually winning by 0.3 seconds. Almost a minute and a half later came third place finisher Jean Behra in a Maserati, the only other car on the lead lap.
Background[]
This race was notable for the only appearance of the Bugatti 251. Powered by an oversquare Inline eight engine, mounted transversely behind the driver. The car was entrusted to Maurice Trintignant, but the lack of development and funding was painfully obvious, and he retired it after 18 laps.
Entry List[]
The full entry list for the 1956 French Grand Prix is outlined below:
Practice Overview[]
Qualifying[]
Report[]
Qualifying Results[]
The full qualifying results for the 1956 French Grand Prix are outlined below:
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 |  Juan Manuel Fangio
|
 Lancia-Ferrari
|
2:23.3 | — |
| 2 | 12 | Eugenio Castellotti
|
Lancia-Ferrari
|
2:24.6 | +1.3s |
| 3 | 14 |  Peter Collins
|
Lancia-Ferrari
|
2:24.9 | +1.6s |
| 4 | 22 |  Harry Schell
|
Vanwall
|
2:26.1 | +2.8s |
| 5* | 26 | Colin Chapman
|
Vanwall
|
2:26.8 | +3.5s |
| 6 | 24 | Mike Hawthorn
|
Vanwall
|
2:27.0 | +3.7s |
| 7 | 4 |  Jean Behra
|
Maserati
|
2:27.8 | +4.5s |
| 8 | 2 | Stirling Moss
|
Maserati
|
2:29.9 | +6.6s |
| 9 | 16 |  Alfonso de Portago
|
Lancia-Ferrari
|
2:32.8 | +9.5s |
| 10 | 38 | Luigi Villoresi
|
Maserati
|
2:33.3 | +10.0s |
| 11 | 44 |  Olivier Gendebien
|
Lancia-Ferrari
|
2:34.5 | +11.2s |
| 12 | 36 | Louis Rosier
|
Maserati
|
2:34.5 | +11.2s |
| 13 | 8 | Piero Taruffi
|
Maserati
|
2:35.3 | +12.0s |
| 14 | 32 |  Hermano da Silva Ramos
|
Gordini
|
2:35.9 | +12.6s |
| 15 | 30 | Robert Manzon
|
Gordini
|
2:36.0 | +12.7s |
| 16 | 6 | Cesare Perdisa
|
Maserati
|
2:36.4 | +13.1s |
| 17 | 40 | Francisco Godia-Sales
|
Maserati
|
2:40.4 | +17.1s |
| 18 | 28 | Maurice Trintignant
|
Bugatti
|
2:41.9 | +18.6s |
| 19 | 34 | André Pilette
|
Gordini
|
2:46.8 | +23.5s |
| 20 | 42 | André Simon
|
Maserati
|
2:57.9 | +34.6s |
- * Colin Chapman qualified 5th as he crashed and injured and did not take the start of the race.
Grid[]
| Pos | Pos | Pos | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | Driver | Driver | |||
| ______________ | |||||
| ______________ | 1 | ||||
| ______________ | 2 | Juan Manuel Fangio | |||
| 3 | Eugenio Castellotti | ||||
| Peter Collins | |||||
| ______________ | |||||
| ______________ | 4 | ||||
| 5 | Harry Schell | ||||
| ______________ | |||||
| ______________ | 6 | ||||
| ______________ | 7 | Mike Hawthorn | |||
| 8 | Jean Behra | ||||
| Stirling Moss | |||||
| ______________ | |||||
| ______________ | 9 | ||||
| 10 | Alfonso de Portago | ||||
| Luigi Villoresi | |||||
| ______________ | |||||
| ______________ | 11 | ||||
| ______________ | 12 | Olivier Gendebien | |||
| 13 | Louis Rosier | ||||
| Piero Taruffi | |||||
| ______________ | |||||
| ______________ | 14 | ||||
| 15 | Hermano da Silva Ramos | ||||
| Robert Manzon | |||||
| ______________ | |||||
| ______________ | 16 | ||||
| ______________ | 17 | Cesare Perdisa | |||
| 18 | Francisco Godia-Sales | ||||
| Maurice Trintignant | |||||
| ______________ | |||||
| ______________ | 19 | ||||
| 20 | André Pilette | ||||
| André Simon |
| ||||
Race[]
Report[]
Results[]
The full results for the 1956 French Grand Prix are outlined below:
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | Peter Collins
|
Lancia-Ferrari
|
61 | 2:34:23.4 | 3 | 8 |
| 2 | 12 | Eugenio Castellotti
|
Lancia-Ferrari
|
61 | + 0.3 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 4 | Jean Behra
|
Maserati
|
61 | + 1:29.8 | 7 | 4 |
| 4 | 10 | Juan Manuel Fangio
|
Lancia-Ferrari
|
61 | + 1:35.1 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | Cesare Perdisa
|
Maserati
|
39 | + 2 Laps | 16 | 1 |
| Stirling Moss
|
20 | 1 | |||||
| 6 | 36 | Louis Rosier
|
Maserati
|
58 | + 3 Laps | 12 | |
| 7 | 40 | Francisco Godia-Sales
|
Maserati
|
57 | + 4 Laps | 17 | |
| 8 | 32 | Hermano da Silva Ramos
|
Gordini
|
57 | + 4 Laps | 14 | |
| 9 | 30 | Robert Manzon
|
Gordini
|
56 | + 5 Laps | 15 | |
| 10 | 24 | Mike Hawthorn
|
Vanwall
|
10 | + 5 Laps | 16 | |
| Harry Schell
|
46 | ||||||
| 11 | 34 | André Pilette
|
Gordini
|
55 | + 6 Laps | 19 | |
| Ret | 42 | André Simon
|
Maserati
|
41 | Engine | 20 | |
| Ret | 8 | Piero Taruffi
|
Maserati
|
40 | Engine | 13 | |
| Ret | 44 | Olivier Gendebien
|
Lancia-Ferrari
|
38 | Clutch | 11 | |
| Ret | 38 | Luigi Villoresi
|
Maserati
|
23 | Brakes | 10 | |
| Ret | 16 | Alfonso de Portago
|
Lancia-Ferrari
|
20 | Gearbox | 9 | |
| Ret | 28 | Maurice Trintignant
|
Bugatti
|
18 | Throttle | 18 | |
| Ret | 2 | Stirling Moss
|
Maserati
|
12 | Gearbox | 8 | |
| Ret | 22 | Harry Schell
|
Vanwall
|
5 | Engine | 4 | |
| DNS | 26 | Colin Chapman
|
Vanwall
|
Practice accident | |||
Milestones[]
- Colin Chapman's first and only race entry, but did not start due to an accident in practice.
Standings[]
| V T E | French Grand Prix
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Circuits | Le Mans (1906, 1921, 1929) Dieppe (1907-1908, 1912) Amiens (1913) Lyon (1914, 1924) Strasbourg (1922) Tours (1923) Montlhéry (1925, 1927, 1931, 1933-1937) Reims-Gueux (1932, 1938-1939, 1948–1951, 1953–1954, 1956, 1958–1961, 1963, 1966) Lyon-Parilly (1947) Rouen-Les-Essarts (1952, 1957, 1962, 1964, 1968) Charade Circuit (1965, 1969–1970, 1972) Bugatti Circuit (1967) Circuit Paul Ricard (1971, 1973, 1975–1976, 1978, 1980, 1982–1983, 1985–1990, 2018–2019, 2021-2022) Dijon-Prenois (1974, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1984) Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours (1991–2008) |
 |
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