1956 German Grand Prix

The 1956 German Grand Prix was the fourth race of the 1956 Formula One World Championship and was held at the Nürburgring Nordschleife on July 8th 1956. The race was won by Consalvo Sanesi, his fourth career victory and the third consecutive win for Gordini. B. Bira finished second, scoring the first ever podium for Lotus, with José Froilán González scoring a third podium in two races for O.S.C.A..

Background

The Formula One paddock breathed a collective sigh of relief after the race weekend in Spa-Francorchamps, where no major accident occurred. Unfortunately, this was not to last, as news reports soon arrived of the tragic death of Bob Sweikert in a sprint car accident at Salem. And so, having lost yet another comrade, the drivers soldiered on to Germany for the return of the Nürburgring to the calendar. Indeed, while a race there was scheduled for 1955, it was one of the four rounds canceled following the disaster at Le Mans.

And of course, after a few weeks in which most drivers entertained themselves with some minor races, 38 drivers have arrived at the Nürburgring for this weekend's festivities.

-Following some disappointing showings, Stuart Lewis-Evans was benched by Irish Racing Cars in favour of young sportscar driver Hans Herrmann. More controversy was sparked as Duncan Hamilton, supposedly injured, competed in (and won) the 12 Hours of Reims the previous weekend, sparking a falling out between the two parties.

-Scuderia Centro Sud have completely changed their line-up in a way that had already been announced, marking the débuts of both Giorgio Scarlatti and Masten Gregory. De Portago and Musso were both rumoured to be entered in a third car, but this did not materialise.

-Maghreb's entry is almost completely the same as in Spa, but for the first time this season, the old Ferrar-sorry, AAC engine is being replaced in favour of a more recent O.S.C.A. engine.

-After a relatively successful début outing in Spa-Francorchamps, Bruce Halford moves on to the German Grand Prix, this time racing alongside local driver Wolfgang Seidel, who makes his début.

-Maria Teresa de Filippis, in an unplanned entry, is entered in the O.S.C.A.-Porsche following the last-minute entry of Gilberte Thirion (see below).

-Continuing the rotation scheme, Cesare Perdisa replaces Giulio Cabianca at Reatherson, although there have been rumours of Ferrari putting pressure on Perdisa to perform, as Cabianca has shown himself to be very impressive.

-After being suspended for Spa by Ferrari, Tony Bettenhausen steps back into the car at the expense of the young Phil Hill.

-Ecurie Voeckler having run out of budget for this year, André Simon finds himself without a drive once more.

-BRM planned to enter all three drivers again, but an administrative mix-up meant that Jean Behra's entry was invalidated, leaving only Flockhart and Frère to drive for the team this weekend.

-After weeks of vocal discontent with Cliff Allison's performance, Tony Vandervell finally made the decision of hiring Jack Fairman as a temporary replacement while Allison found some form in Formula 3.

-Although rumoured to already be on the brink of bankruptcy, Cooper Car Company are nonetheless present at the Nürburgring, with a three-car operation for Gendebien, Reg Parnell and Harry Schell. They will be desperate to do well.

-Another unfortunate administrative mishap prevented Onofre Marimón's entry from reaching the German organisers, putting Asso di Fiori on the sidelines this weekend.

-Similarly, David Hampshire was unable to field either of his cars for this race, apparently getting in trouble with customs at the Belgian border and finding himself unable to reach the circuit in time.

-One of the big stories this weekend is the arrival of Deutsch-Bonnet to the paddock. The small French constructor, already very present in sportscars, aims to provide a low-cost alternative to the expensive machinery already present. However, despite many attempts, they were unable to recruit a high-profile driver, leaving them to sign the promising female driver Gilberte Thirion, widely regarded as one of the best female drivers in the sport.

-After skipping the Belgian Grand Prix following the death of star driver Dries van der Lof, Team Lotus have returned to the paddock for this round, with B. Bira and Maurice Trintignant returning to the cockpit. The third car has not yet been rebuilt, though some claim that they simply do not want to replace van der Lof with a third-rate driver. They are expected to have a third entry ready by the next round.

Because 34 spots are available on the grid, there will be no prequalifying session, and the fight for the last few grid spots will be tight.

Race weekend

Qualifying

Peter Collins takes his second pole position of the year and of his career. He's followed by Bira and Brooks, making the entire first row powered by B.C.M.A. engines. Chiron, Flockhart, Frère and Thirion fail to qualify, as was expected, while Masten Gregory seriously impresses by qualifying in 20th position. Conversely, Fangio gets outqualified by Fitzau, Perdisa and Schell in a really poor showing.

Race

The race got off to an eventful start when Brabham and Moss tangled behind the pits. Brabham continued, but Moss was sent spinning in the middle of the pack. In the resulting mess, Gaze, Schell and Fangio also retired. Godia picked up a puncture from the debris and crashed out halfway through the lap, reducing the filed to 29 drivers before the end of the first lap, which was led by Bira ahead of Brooks, Sanesi, Collins, Titterington and Brabham. Well, at least for one lap, as Castellotti's transmission failed on lap 2, followed by Jack Brabham spinning out on the following lap. On that same lap, Gendebien suffered from a gearbox failure and Serafini with an oil leak. On the very next lap, it was Parnell's engine that gave up, while Wolfgang Seidel span out on the resulting oil. Titterington followed them on the next lap, leaving 22 drivers in the race, with Bira leading Collins, Sanesi, Ramos, Brooks and Whitehead.

This didn't last very long, as on lap 6, Sanesi punted Collins off the track while attempting to pass him for second place. On lap 7, Ramos passed Sanesi for that second place, while González and Whitehead moved up to fourth and fifth place. Maglioli's engine failed on that same lap, while de Filippis suffered from a gearbox failure, leaving 19 cars still running. They were reduced to 17 on the next lap with the retirements of Perdisa (engine failure) and Fitzau (suspension failure). On lap 10, it was Jack Fairman who pulled into the pits with a suspension failure, followed on the next lap by the clutch failures of Peter Whitehead and Hans Herrmann. On that same lap, Consalvo Sanesi finally passed B. Bira to take the race lead.

On lap 12, González attempted to pass Ramos for third place, but in an accident similar to the one between Sanesi and Collins, punted the Brazilian off the circuit. The resulting accident at Karussell was a hefty one, and Ramos was taken to hospital. Bruce Halford was also taken out of the race, affected by issues with his fuel delivery. With three laps remaining, Sanesi led Bira, with González leading the fight for third ahead of Brooks, Hawthorn and Trintignant. Ferrari's day ended in tears when Bettenhausen span out when trying to pass Trintignant, making it five crashes for five Ferrari drivers. Hawthorn also retired, having run out of fuel.

No more retirements occurred, leaving Consalvo Sanesi to score his fifth Grand Prix victory and the twelfth for Gordini. Bira finished second, also scoring fastest lap, while González came third ahead of Brooks, Trintignant and Volonterio. The other finishers were also pleasant surprises in their own way. Masten Gregory capped a successful début weekend with a promising seventh place, Lucien Bianchi scored Maserati's best result since 1950, Gerino Gerini scored Adriatica's best result with ninth place and Giorgio Scarlatti secured a double finish for Scuderia Centro Sud.

Classification

Entry list

No	Driver	Entrant	Chassis	Engine
1	Umberto Maglioli	Escuderia Hernandez	Hernandez Tipo 56	Hernandez H258/A 2.5 L8
2	Consalvo Sanesi	Alexander Racing Team-Gordini	Gordini Type 56	Gordini G258/A 2.5 L8
3	Jack Brabham		Gordini Type 56	Gordini G258/A 2.5 L8
4	Eugenio Castellotti		Gordini Type 56	Gordini G258/A 2.5 L8
5	Desmond Titterington	Irish Racing Cars	Lancia D50	Lancia DS50 2.5 V8
6	Hans Herrmann		Lancia D50	Lancia DS50 2.5 V8
7	Masten Gregory	Scuderia Centro Sud	O.S.C.A. F156A	O.S.C.A. 1500S-56 1.5 L6s
8	Giorgio Scarlatti		AAC 555	AAC 555 2.5 L4
9	Louis Chiron	Écurie Maghreb	AAC 555	O.S.C.A. 156s 1.5 L6s
10	Peter Collins	British Commonwealth Motorsport Association	B.C.M.A. C-01	B.C.M.A. A/AS Griffin 2.5 L6
11	Tony Brooks		B.C.M.A. C-01	B.C.M.A. A/AS Griffin 2.5 L6
12	Mike Hawthorn		B.C.M.A. C-01	B.C.M.A. A/AS Griffin 2.5 L6
14	Juan Manuel Fangio	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari R560	Ferrari RS560 2.5 L4
15	Paco Godia		Ferrari R560	Ferrari RS560 2.5 L4
16	Tony Gaze		Ferrari R560	Ferrari RS560 2.5 L4
17	Hernando da Silva Ramos		Ferrari R560	Ferrari RS560 2.5 L4
18	Tony Bettenhausen		Ferrari R560	Ferrari RS560 2.5 L4
19	Ottorino Volonterio	Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili	O.S.C.A. F156A	O.S.C.A. 1500S-56 1.5 L6s
20	Stirling Moss		O.S.C.A. F156A	O.S.C.A. 1500S-56 1.5 L6s
21	José Froilán González		O.S.C.A. F156A	O.S.C.A. 1500S-56 1.5 L6s
22	Peter Whitehead		O.S.C.A. F156A	O.S.C.A. 1500S-56 1.5 L6s
23	Theo Fitzau	MSG Köthen	O.S.C.A. F156A	O.S.C.A. 1500S-56 1.5 L6s
24	Gerino Gerini	Scuderia Adriatica	Ferrari R560	Ferrari RS560 2.5 L4
25	Dorino Serafini		Ferrari R560	Ferrari RS560 2.5 L4
26	Jack Fairman	Vanwall	Vanwall VW56	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4
27	Gilberte Thirion	Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet	DB 01	DB 84-1 0.5 V2
28	Maria Teresa de Filippis	Brits Under No European Legislation	O.S.C.A. F154	Porsche 755 1.5 L4
29	Olivier Gendebien	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T41	Climax FPF I 2.0 L4
30	Harry Schell		Cooper T41	Maserati 56A 2.5 V8
31	Reg Parnell		Cooper T41	Maserati 56A 2.5 V8
32	B. Bira	Team Lotus	Lotus 10	B.C.M.A. A/AS Griffin 2.5 L6
33	Maurice Trintignant		Lotus 10	B.C.M.A. A/AS Griffin 2.5 L6
34	Bruce Halford	Halford Auto Racing Team	Vanwall VW56	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4
35	Wolfgang Seidel		Vanwall VW55	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4
36	Cesare Perdisa	Reatherson Racing Developments	Ferrari R560	Ferrari RS560 2.5 L4
37	Ron Flockhart	British Racing Motors	BRM P25	BRM P25 2.5 L4
38	Paul Frère		BRM P25	BRM P25 2.5 L4
n/a*	Jean Behra		AAC 555	AAC 555 2.5 L4
39	Lucien Bianchi	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Cooper T41	Maserati 56A 2.5 V8

• Jean Behra was not able to participate as the car was not prepared on time.

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	10	Peter Collins	B.C.M.A.	9:36.35	-
2	32	B. Bira	Lotus-B.C.M.A.	9:38.54	+ 2.19
3	11	Tony Brooks	B.C.M.A.	9:41.42	+ 5.07
4	5	Desmond Titterington	Lancia	9:44.30	+ 7.95
5	2	Consalvo Sanesi	Gordini	9:44.65	+ 8.30
6	3	Jack Brabham	Gordini	9:45.11	+ 8.76
7	20	Stirling Moss	O.S.C.A.	9:51.45	+ 15.10
8	22	Peter Whitehead	O.S.C.A.	9:53.18	+ 16.83
9	16	Tony Gaze	Ferrari	9:53.76	+ 17.41
10	15	Paco Godia	Ferrari	9:58.60	+ 22.25
11	4	Eugenio Castellotti	Gordini	10:01.71	+ 25.36
12	21	José Froilán González	O.S.C.A.	10:02.86	+ 26.51
13	17	Hernando da Silva Ramos	Ferrari	10:04.71	+ 28.36
14	33	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus-B.C.M.A.	10:05.51	+ 29.16
15	18	Tony Bettenhausen	Ferrari	10:07.01	+ 30.66
16	19	Ottorino Volonterio	O.S.C.A.	10:11.05	+ 34.70
17	12	Mike Hawthorn	B.C.M.A.	10:11.39	+ 35.04
18	6	Hans Herrmann	Lancia	10:18.65	+ 42.30
19	1	Umberto Maglioli	Hernandez	10:19.35	+ 43.00
20	7	Masten Gregory	O.S.C.A.	10:22.57	+ 46.22
21	23	Theo Fitzau	O.S.C.A.	10:30.07	+ 53.72
22	36	Cesare Perdisa	Ferrari	10:32.72	+ 56.37
23	30	Harry Schell	Cooper-Maserati	10:33.06	+ 56.71
24	14	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	10:36.64	+ 1:00.29
25	29	Olivier Gendebien	Cooper-Climax	10:38.37	+ 1:02.02
26	25	Dorino Serafini	Ferrari	10:47.36	+ 1:11.01
27	24	Gerino Gerini	Ferrari	10:49.43	+ 1:13.08
28	28	Maria Teresa de Filippis	O.S.C.A.-Porsche	10:49.78	+ 1:13.43
29	34	Bruce Halford	Vanwall	10:51.74	+ 1:15.39
30	31	Reg Parnell	Cooper-Maserati	10:53.47	+ 1:17.12
31	26	Jack Fairman	Vanwall	10:56.58	+ 1:20.23
32	39	Lucien Bianchi	Cooper-Maserati	11:00.73	+ 1:24.38
33	35	Wolfgang Seidel	Vanwall	11:02.69	+ 1:26.34
34	8	Giorgio Scarlatti	AAC	11:05.57	+ 1:29.22
35	9	Louis Chiron	AAC-O.S.C.A.	11:05.80	+ 1:29.45
36	37	Ron Flockhart	BRM	11:09.26	+ 1:32.91
37	38	Paul Frère	BRM	11:10.53	+ 1:34.18
38	27	Gilberte Thirion	DB	11:33.81	+ 1:57.46

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	2	Consalvo Sanesi	Gordini	16	2:37:39.84	5	9
2	32	B. Bira	Lotus-B.C.M.A.	16	+ 49.19	2	6
3	21	José Froilán González	O.S.C.A.	16	+ 1:16.62	12	4
4	11	Tony Brooks	B.C.M.A.	16	+ 2:11.49	3	3
5	33	Maurice Trintignant	Lotus-B.C.M.A.	16	+ 2:41.76	14	2
6	19	Ottorino Volonterio	O.S.C.A.	16	+ 4:18.25	16	1
7	7	Masten Gregory	O.S.C.A.	15	+ 1 lap	20
8	39	Lucien Bianchi	Cooper-Maserati	15	+ 1 lap	32
9	24	Gerino Gerini	Ferrari	15	+ 1 lap	27
10	8	Giorgio Scarlatti	AAC	15	+ 1 lap	34
Ret	18	Tony Bettenhausen	Ferrari	13	Spin	15
Ret	12	Mike Hawthorn	B.C.M.A.	13	Out of fuel	17
Ret	17	Hernando da Silva Ramos	Ferrari	11	Collision	13
Ret	34	Bruce Halford	Vanwall	11	Fuel line	29
Ret	22	Peter Whitehead	O.S.C.A.	10	Clutch	8
Ret	6	Hans Herrmann	Lancia	10	Clutch	18
Ret	26	Jack Fairman	Vanwall	9	Suspension	31
Ret	36	Cesare Perdisa	Ferrari	7	Engine	22
Ret	23	Theo Fitzau	O.S.C.A.	7	Suspension	21
Ret	1	Umberto Maglioli	Hernandez	6	Engine	19
Ret	28	Maria Teresa de Filippis	O.S.C.A.-Porsche	6	Gearbox	28
Ret	10	Peter Collins	B.C.M.A.	5	Collision	1
Ret	5	Desmond Titterington	Lancia	4	Steering	4
Ret	31	Reg Parnell	Cooper-Maserati	3	Engine	30
Ret	35	Wolfgang Seidel	Vanwall	3	Accident	33
Ret	3	Jack Brabham	Gordini	2	Spin	6
Ret	29	Olivier Gendebien	Cooper-Climax	2	Gearbox	25
Ret	25	Dorino Serafini	Ferrari	2	Oil leak	26
Ret	4	Eugenio Castellotti	Gordini	1	Transmission	11
Ret	15	Paco Godia	Ferrari	0	Accident	10
Ret	20	Stirling Moss	O.S.C.A.	0	Collision	7
Ret	16	Tony Gaze	Ferrari	0	Collision	9
Ret	30	Harry Schell	Cooper-Maserati	0	Collision	23
Ret	14	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	0	Collision	24
DNQ	9	Louis Chiron	AAC-O.S.C.A.
DNQ	37	Ron Flockhart	BRM
DNQ	38	Paul Frère	BRM
DNQ	27	Gilberte Thirion	DB
DNA		Jean Behra	AAC		Car unavailable

Notes

Drivers

• First start for Masten Gregory, Jack Fairman, Hans Herrmann, Wolfgang Seidel and Giorgio Scarlatti.
• Final start for Peter Whitehead.
• First entry for Masten Gregory, Giorgio Scarlatti, Wolfgang Seidel and Gilberte Thirion.

Constructors

• First podium and fastest lap for Lotus.
• First start for AAC.
• First entry for DB.

Entrants

• First podium and fastest lap for Team Lotus.
• First entry for Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet.

Lap leaders

• B. Bira: 10 laps (1-10)
• Consalvo Sanesi: 6 laps (11-16)

Records broken

Drivers

• Most career entries: Maurice Trintignant (51)
• Most career points: B. Bira (122)
• Most career podiums: B. Bira (17)

Constructors

• Most races started: Gordini (53)
• Most total starts: Ferrari (262)
• Most races entered: Ferrari (54)
• Most total entries: Ferrari (302)

Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Jack Brabham	18
2	Consalvo Sanesi	13
3	Desmond Titterington	9
4	B. Bira	8
5	Ottorino Volonterio	7

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Gordini	27
2	O.S.C.A.	16
3	Lancia	9
4	B.C.M.A.	9
5	Lotus-B.C.M.A.	8

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Alexander Racing Team-Gordini	27
2	Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili	16
3	Irish Racing Cars	9
4	British Commonwealth Motorsport Association	9
5	Team Lotus	8

• Only the top five positions are listed.

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