1956 French Grand Prix
Going Into This Race
Pre-Race Report
Previous race
Collins won at Spa-Francorchamps, with Ferrari teammate Paul Frère — racing before his home crowd — finishing second for the first Formula One podium by a Belgian driver. Moss was third. Fangio retired without scoring for the first time since the 1953 Belgian Grand Prix, ending a streak of 21 consecutive points-scoring finishes.
Entrants
Alfonso de Portago makes his championship debut, joining Scuderia Ferrari.
Bugatti makes a one-off appearance at Reims with their Type 251 — a rear mid-engined design driven by Maurice Trintignant.
Colin Chapman, founder of Team Lotus, makes his only Formula One World Championship entry with Vanwall, but crashes into his team leader during practice and does not start.
Practice
Fangio takes his fourth consecutive pole position of the season, with teammates Castellotti and Collins making it an all-Ferrari front row.
Adapted by AI summarisation from “1956 French Grand Prix” on Wikipedia . This adapted text is licensed under CC-BY-SA-4.0 . Modifications: summarised and spoiler-trimmed.
Last 4 Races
Full season →| # | Date | Grand Prix | Pole | P1 | P2 | P3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 Jan | 🇦🇷 Argentine Grand Prix | Fangio | Behra | Hawthorn | |
| 2 | 13 May | 🇲🇨 Monaco Grand Prix | Castellotti | Moss | Collins | Behra |
| 3 | 30 May | 🇺🇸 Indianapolis 500 | Flaherty | Flaherty | Hanks | Freeland |
| 4 | 3 Jun | 🇧🇪 Belgian Grand Prix | Fangio | Collins | Frère | Moss |
Drivers' Championship
Full standings →| Pos | Driver | Team | Pts | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Collins | Ferrari | 11 | 1 |
| 2 | Stirling Moss | Maserati | 11 | 1 |
| 3 | Jean Behra | Maserati | 10 | 0 |
| 4 | Juan Fangio | Ferrari | 9 | 1 |
| 5 | Pat Flaherty | Watson | 8 | 1 |
| 6 | Sam Hanks | Kurtis Kraft | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | Paul Frère | Ferrari | 6 | 0 |
| 8 | Luigi Musso | Ferrari | 4 | 1 |
| 9 | Mike Hawthorn | BRM | 4 | 0 |
| 10 | Don Freeland | Phillips | 4 | 0 |
Constructors' Championship
Full standings →First race of the season — championship not yet started.