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#52 1956 Belgian Grand Prix

2021-04-20 01:00

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#1956, Fulvio Conti, Translated by Nicola Carriero, Simone Pietro Zazza,

#52 1956 Belgian Grand Prix

The Belgian Grand Prix, fourth round of the constructors' world championship which will be held on Sunday 3 June 1956 on the very fast circuit of Spa-

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The Belgian Grand Prix, fourth round of the constructors' world championship, which will be held on Sunday 3 June 1956 on the very fast circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, finds a very sensible balance of forces between Maserati and Ferrari, with the addition of the renewed attack of the British cars Vanwall and B.R.M., whose best weapon seems to be the high power and speed, qualities that in Spa can have a big impact. The deployment presents Ferrari with five cars entrusted to Fangio, Castellotti, Collins, Frère and Pilette, while Maserati will count on Stirling Moss, Behra, Perdisa and Godia; one or two of the trident’s cars will be of the direct injection type, particularly suitable for the very quick tracks. Vanwall will deploy Schell and Trintignant, while B.R.M. will deploy Hawthorn and Brooks. It is announced to be a wide-open race, with an uncertain prediction. On Thursday, May 31, 1956, at Spa, the reigning World Champion, Jean Manuel Fangio, sweeps away any doubt on which is the favourite to win, and race at over 200 km/h average on the circuit. The Argentinian makes 14,120 meters laps in 4’09"08, at an average of 203.490 km/h, beating the record that Eugenio Castellotti did the year before in Lancia, in 4’18"1 at an average speed of 196.746 km/h. By making a comparison, Castellotti drives at an average speed of 189.671 km/h, Jean Behra at a speed of 193.571 km/h and Cesare Perdisa at 183.609 km/h. In this first day of practice, only six out of the fourteen registered for the Sunday Grand Prix go on track, because B.R.M. will fail to join, whose cars, in the practice at the beginning of the week at Silverstone, suffered again with problems of sealing of the valves, which already manifested before, at the beginning of the Monaco Grand Prix. Friday, June 1st 1956, at Spa, only the Vanwall remain to challenge the race pace of Ferrari and Maserati. Anyway, the race loses nothing of its interest either because it is the Vanwall the most feared British car, and also because, now more than ever, the reasons of rivalry between the two Italian teams and their respective drivers are strong. To the main technical theme, formed by the fight Maserati-Ferrari (each one winner of one of the two races held so far, except for the Indy 500), is added the strictly competitive rivalry between Fangio and Moss, of which especially the English driver makes no mystery. Moss is young, he is in excellent shape, he has an indisputable class and he knows well to be the most likely successor to the World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio. Obviously, the possibilities of a driver are related to the efficiency of mechanicals means, and these in turn can respond more or less well depending on the race tracks where they are used. 

 

There have not been European Formula 1 races on circuits as fast as the one of Spa, until now, where average speed over 190 km/h are achieved on the lap. How will the eight-cylinder Ferrari and the six-cylinder Maserati behave on Sunday? Apart from the speed that can be developed by both, what influence does such a sustained race pace on the endurance of the engines? Maserati seems to be able to run with one or two cars with injection engine. This model, discarded in Monte-Carlo because of the less energetic recovery compared to carburetors one, during the tests carried out at the Monza ring, had provided excellent results. By analogy, it should also fit at Spa: it will be seen during the tests. Vanwall too have an injection engine, and it is also particularly fearsome on fast tracks. They demonstrated this at Silverstone, where, however, the average speed is not as high as at Spa. By the way, in the unexpected victory of Vanwall in England, it was very important to have the driving of Stirling Moss, while Schell and Trintignant, the two Vanwall drivers, are more modest, even if the former, once in a while, has days where no one seems to frighten him. As of Ferrari, it is certain that the periods of relative calm after the Monaco Grand Prix allowed his technicians to properly prepare the cars. All in all, the Belgian Grand Prix will be a thrilling race. Saturday 2 June, at the end of the last day of official training for the Belgian Gran Prix, on the fast circuit of Spa, located in a wonderful fir forest at the edge of the spa, the drivers of the teams definitely test their strengths in view of the important comparison in the race. The balance of the time recorded in the three days of training close in favour of Ferrari, or more exactly in favour of Fangio, who, even without reaching the formidable speed of 203 km/h reached on Thursday, every time makes better times than the others. In conclusion, the favourites are the Maranello cars, especially because also Castellotti and the revelation Collins make great rides during this final round of training, and also because, on the other hand the Maserati, even if they do not disappoint, appear however less fast on the long straights where mechanical means can develop all their power and speed. It also noted that there is a lot of uncertainty in the Maserati team on the opportunity to put on track the car with direct injection engine, driven by Moss, whose driving for the Grand Prix had not yet been designated. However, the tests have always had a relative value, even if the technicians give it so much importance.

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Too many imponderable factors may be present during the race, linked in part to the car with its innumerable unknowns and in part to the driver’s disposition and to the driver’s day. Five hundred kilometres at a predicted average of about 194-195 km/h suggest problems of tightness, that is resistance of the mechanical vehicle, absolutely decisive. The Maserati team produces the most mechanical interest at Spa and altogether they bring along six cars. One of these has the radiator extended farther forward inside a long tapering nose, and after the air have passed through the cooling element it is deflected upwards and out of the bonnet just in front of the engine, so that no hot air goes into the engine compartment. On this car, which is one of the Monaco team, the header tank for the cooling water has been moved to a position on the bulkhead. Another earlier team car has been completely rebuilt and fitted with an entirely new body, this having a similar system of ducted radiator cooling, much more neatly carried out, but with the header tank still part of the radiator. The cockpit sides of this car were very high, at shoulder level, and the wrap-round screen is somewhat similar to the Vanwall. This car has a long tapering nose, well-shaped and no doubt providing much better initial penetration than the normal 250/F1 Maserati. Into this rebuilt car, a fuel-injection engine is fitted, but this unit is also modified. Instead of the injectors squirting fuel into the ports as previously tried out, they are now screwed into the head just below the exhaust ports and inject directly into the cylinders, the same system of chain-driven fuel-injection pump and vertical sliding barrel throttles being retained. The other four cars are normal 250/F1 models, the one being driven by Behra having the new type of cylinder head with 10 mm sparking plugs as used by Moss at Monaco. The sixth car is a brand new one, quite standard in all mechanical respects, having been completed for the Spanish driver, Francisco Godia, but having a new type of front wishbone which is made from 1-section steel instead of the more usual circular section material. Villoresi borrows the car normally driven by Piotti. Out of these six cars cared for by the factory, three have the throttle pedal on the right of the brake pedal and three have the normal Maserati arrangement of the throttle on the left of the brake pedal. 

 

The right-hand-throttle cars are for the team leader, Stirling Moss, who cannot drive with any other type of pedal arrangement, and while he has two cars to choose from, the third is for Perdisa, who does not mind where the pedals are. This arrangement is to allow Moss to take over Perdisa’s car, should his own break down during the race. It is not possible for him to take Behra’s car, as the Frenchman prefers the throttle on the left of the brake pedal, although he can drive with the other arrangement if pressed. In addition to these six cars being looked after by the factory, there are the private ones of Rosier and Gould, and all except Villoresi is using the normal twin-pipe exhaust system, which is thought to give more power at the top end over the single large-diameter pipe. Ferrari, on the other hand, is quite satisfied with his V8 Lancia cars, as used at Monaco, and bring along five models, all with the full-width Syracuse type of bodywork and bunched megaphone mufflers on each side. Four of these are for the factory team and the fifth are painted yellow and are on loan to the Equipe National Belge for the occasion of this race, though it is looked after by the factory mechanics. Outwardly, there is no change in the mechanical details, all have the normal Ferrari-modified de Dion rear end and the engines are still using double-choke downdraught Solex carburetors, but are said to have an increase in power since their last appearance. The only other team present is the Vanwall and they have their original two 1956 cars running as previously, while there is the lone Syracuse model Connaught of Scotti, now repainted green and entered by the Connaught factory. No Gordinis are running as the French team still does not see eye-to-eye with the Belgians, and anyway it is busy preparing sports cars for forthcoming events, knowing that his eight-cylinder models would be very outclassed on the high-speed Spa-Francorchamps circuit. This race is one of the more straightforward Grande Epreuve, unhampered by sideshows or other races, and each year three practice sessions are provided, the first two in the evenings of Thursday and Friday and the third on Saturday afternoon. The first session takes place on 31 May 1956 and see the Ferrari team out with two cars and Fangio, Castellotti and Collins as drivers, for Musso is absent following his accident the previous week at Nurburgring. 

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Maserati has three cars out, one the prototype ducted-radiator model, and all with carburetor engines, the three works drivers, Moss, Behra and Perdisa, changing cars frequently. Since, last year the corner at Malmedy has been completely resurfaced and the edges cleaned up so that a fast entry into the Masta straight is possible, while each year the long curve at Stavelot settles a bit more and becomes smoother and smoother. With these two improvements it seemed likely that faster laps than last year would be recorded, but at first Maserati is circulating a lot below the 4'20"6 recorded during last year’s race by Fangio with the Mercedes-Benz. Although this counted as the lap record, Castellotti had done 4'18"1 in practice last year with the original D50 Lancia. The first demonstration of the possibilities of this year’s cars is given when Fangio goes out and within a few laps goes below last year’s record and then surpasses the best ever with a lap in 4'17"4. Castellotti goes out in the other Lancia/Ferrari but keeps having to stop for minor adjustments, and finally stopped altogether when a circlip came out of a half-shaft and let all the steel balls in the driving splines come out. As Fangio is monopolising the other car, Collins does not get a drive. Apart from those two works teams, the only other car out is Gould’s Maserati, although the Connaught is there but without a driver. As the evening wore on all traces of wind dropped, the road is perfectly dry and the air become cold and very slightly damp, not enough to perceive but absolutely right for carburation on non-supercharged engine. Moss has been going round in just over 4min 20sec and then he starts livening things up by recording 4'17"6, which makes Fangio look up from the pit counter where he is sitting, and then, when the loudspeaker announces that Moss has done 4'14"7, everyone stands up and take note. This is a speed of 199.575 kph, and as the Continent counts in hundreds, the nearness to 200kph is electrifying. This figure of a lap speed of 200kph is something dreamed of by all Continentals and means very much the same as 100 mph in Great Britain, except that it is a lot faster. As it is becoming a recognised thing during Grand Prix practice, the moment anyone beats his time, Fangio goes out again and sets a new high, but, now that Moss has knocked nearly 3 sec off Fangio’s best, a murmur runs around the pits that the old boy met his match. Moss comes into his pit and Fangio has come out, and as he disappeared up the hill towards the Burnenville Forest, the tension around the starting area and pits could be felt. 

 

He had the whole circuit to himself, as has Moss, conditions are perfect and a short while later he can be heard approaching the hairpin prior to starting his first flying lap. Watches clicked everywhere, and as the blare of the eight megaphone mufflers on the Lancia engine die away into the woods once more everyone is tense, waiting to see if he could do it. In less than 4 minutes he can be heard coming up the return leg of the circuit towards the Club House bend before the La Source hairpin, round the hairpin came the squat Lancia/Ferrari, down the hill towards the pits, and wham he is past and down into the Eau Rouge corner. Impossible, everyone cries, 4'10"4, he must have found a short cut. But it is true, the official announcement came over the loudspeakers, and meanwhile the World Champion is on another even faster lap. Once more the blast from the side-mounted megaphone mufflers sweep the pit counters, blowing up the dust and nearly shattering eardrums, and in double-quick time announcer Jean Leroy demands the official lap time, for his watch, like many others, says 4 minutes and less than 10 seconds. The timekeeper gives the official time and it is a fantastic 4'09"8, with a speed of 203.490 kph. This is 10.8 seconds faster than last year’s official record, and although the circuit was a bit faster, no driver was prepared to allow more than 4- or 5-seconds benefit. There is no doubt that Fangio and the Lancia/Ferrari are right on top of their form, while Moss and the Maserati are not hanging about, especially bearing in mind that the car that he has used is a hack one. Needless to say, practice for the day finished at that point, even though Moss goes out again on another of the works cars, but it is not as fast as his first one. During the night, the rest of the entries arrive and the Friday practice sees everyone ready to start long before the official time of 6:00 p.m., but, unlike the day before, the weather is now terrible and rain fell incessantly. Moss is soon out on the new sleek fuel-injection Maserati, Behra and Perdisa are driving the normal works Maseratis, and Hawthorn is out in one of the spare Modena cars. As the B.R.M.s are making another non-appearance, he had contracted to drive for Maserati for this race, but, unfortunately, he had also offered his services to Ferrari and, before one team had given a reply the other, he had accepted so that there were some harsh things being said by the Ferrari team-manager. Fangio, Castellotti and Collins were all out in the rain, and now that Hawthorn was not taking the fourth car, Paul Frère accepted the offer.

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The one being loaned to the Equipe National Belge is being driven by Pilette, as Gendebien had turned down the offer since he was still too inexperienced to tackle Formula 1 racing yet, especially on a circuit like Francorchamps. Naturally, times are a lot slower than the previous evening, but nevertheless it is the same drivers who set the pace, and times around 4'40"0 are becoming regular. Castellotti is putting in a lot of practice and wound up with 4'39"9, then Fangio did 4'39"0, and once more Moss stirs things up with 4'37"7. Not to be outdone, Fangio goes out once more and do 4'36"3, a time that is faster than many people can achieve in dry conditions. Frère puts in some tentative laps getting the feel of the Lancia/Ferrari, which he has not driven before and finally achieves a creditable 4'55"9, this being his first Formula 1 drive since the Belgian race last year. The two Vanwalls are not very happy, suffering front incorrect mixture and misfiring in the higher rpm range, while Godia and Scotti are groping their way around an unfamiliar circuit. Behra and Hawthorn could not approach the speeds of the top three, the Frenchman being a bit put out by this, while the Englishman does not mind, as his car does not fit him very well and he could not try hard. Collins does not get under 5 minutes and do a surprisingly small amount of practice, while Perdisa is hopeless on such a fast circuit, showing no improvement over last year. The continuous rain makes things very drab and as darkness draws on, it becomes cold and thoroughly miserable, so that everyone is ready to go home long before the official closing time of 8:00 p.m. The last practice period is held from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday 2nd June 1956 before race day and once again the track is clear and dry, though there is a strong wind blowing up the Masta straight, so that no one could approach the times set up by Fangio on Thursday. The Vanwalls are now going well, but suffering from surge in the oil tank, having to run with the minimum of oil, and the injection Maserati is going well but proving to be very thirsty. Castellotti is really trying and get below 4'20"0 and then does 4'17"1, but Fangio improves this with 4'14"8, and puts in a number of laps around this figure, trying hard and taking his front wheels over the grass verges, while his rear ones are sliding outwards under power. Schell is beginning to show the pace of the Vanwall, knocking seconds off each lap, while Trintignant is following him closely. Frère is obviously enjoying the Lancia/Ferrari now the track is dry, and Behra begin to make a big effort. Meanwhile, Perdisa is still touring around, no faster than Rosier, Villoresi is taking things quietly and Scotti is happily putting in lap after lap in his Connaught. 

 

Poor Godia blows up his nice new car before he has really become accustomed to the circuit, and Schell brings him back to the pits on the tail of his Vanwall. Gould is more worried about bursting his car on such a fast circuit than making a good time, and Pilette is rather slow with the Lancia/Ferrari. Collins is still doing very little practice, though Fangio and Castellotti are going round and round, both giving all they have got. Towards the end of the afternoon, Fangio is the fastest with 4'14"4, then comes Moss with 4'14"8, the strong wind holding them back down the straight, and Castellotti is third fastest with 4'16"0. Behra keeps trying and gradually carves his time down until he equals Castellotti’s time, and then Collins goes out and in a very few laps upset both of them by making third fastest of the day with 4'15"3, and considering how little practice he has been doing, this is a most remarkable time. Schell wound himself up and up until he gets in a 4'19"0 and the Vanwall is going so well that it is estimated that Moss could have got it around in 4'12"0. Fangio, Moss, Collins, Castellotti and Behra are the only ones to break 4'20"0, the rest of the field being some way back. On Sunday 3rd June 1956, the rain returns and the cars are lined up on the grid in a very damp atmosphere. Maserati decide not to use their fuel-injection engine as the consumption is too high and nowadays there is no time for a refuelling stop. Consequently, the sleek new Maserati is fitted with a normal carburetor engine for Moss to use, and in view of the bad feeling that he has caused between the two Italian teams Hawthorn decide not to drive at all. All 15 starters get away as the flag fell, though Fangio is slow off the mark and by the Eau Rouge bridge, Moss is leading, followed by Collins, while Castellotti and Behra carve up Fangio as they take the left-hand bend. Away over the hill goes Moss, with the rest in hot pursuit and as the tail-enders take the left-hand bend at the top of the Burnenville Forest, there is a slight shuffle during which Scotti goes sideways, and Godia, in an attempt of avoiding him, presses the wrong pedal and shoots off the road. Having broken his own car in practice, he is using the spare factory car, the long-nose prototype, and it has the pedals the opposite way round to his car, hence the error. 

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Scotti is in trouble with his brake mechanism and stops at the end of the lap for adjustments, and meanwhile Moss is forging along with the three Lancia/Ferraris in hot pursuit. At the end of the second lap, Moss is 4 seconds ahead of the Maranello trio, who is in a tight bunch in the order Castellotti/Fangio/Collins. There already is a long gap and then come Schell, Trintignant, Behra and Frère in close company, while back behind, Gould leads Perdisa, Pilette, Rosier and Villoresi; Scotti is still at the pits. On lap three, when Fangio gets past Castellotti, Moss is 6.5 seconds ahead, but this does not worry the number one Ferrari man and he carves this down to 3.5 seconds the next lap and on the fifth time round he is in the lead. Now there is nothing that Moss could do and, lap after lap, the gap widens, and the other two Ferrari team men drop back and settle down to consistent running. Trintignant takes the lead of his foursome, the two Vanwalls going well, but then he suffers a loss of power and goes to the pit, leaving Behra well ahead in fifth place, with Schell and Frère very close to each other for sixth place. This little fight between the French-American in the British car and the Belgian in the Italian car becomes quite heated and they go past the pits side by side. Eventually, Frère gets the lead, and becoming more and more used to the car, he begins to pull away from the Vanwall. The rain stops and the track begins to dry out, so that speeds increase and it is Collins the first to break the existing lap record, covering his ninth lap in 4'19"9, and the race seems to be settling down. Fangio still leads, with Moss 6.5 seconds behind, then comes Collins at 15.5 seconds, having passed Castellotti, who is now 10 seconds farther back. After these, there is a long gap before Behra, Frère and Schell arrive, the rest being lapped by now. As they go over the Eau Rouge bridge, after the 10th lap, Fangio is 8 sec in the lead, but then the whole race changes its character in a flash. As Moss goes up the climbing sweep after the pits, his revs go up and there is no drive to the rear wheels. At the time he is doing about 80 mph and he free-wheels up the steep hill with what appears to be sheared transmission, but then the car starts to weave and, as he goes over the hump at the top the left rear wheel, complete with hub and brake drum, comes off and stops across the road. Fortunately, he is coasting as it happens, for the brakes vanish as well together with the brake drum, and he is lucky to slide to a standstill on the right-hand grass verge. 

 

Almost at the same instant, Castellotti draws into the pits and retires with a broken transmission, so that all this panic leaves Collins in second place, with Behra third. Without waiting to look at the damaged Maserati (actually the left-hand hub shaft has sheared between the bearings in the end of the de Dion tube) Moss sprints back to the pits, while a mechanic rushes off to the Source hairpin to flag Perdisa into the pits. Perdisa has been lapped by Fangio and is so far back that Moss has plenty of time to regain the pit, where he takes over the third Maserati team car and sets off in sixth place. Not knowing of the drama that is going on behind him, Fangio is still pressing on and sets the lap record to 4'17"4 and two laps later reduces it by another tenth of a second. Fangio is leading Collins by 30 seconds and Behra by 2'20"0, while Moss is a whole lap and 40 seconds behind the leader. He is now lapping at exactly the same speed as Fangio, so that, although he creeps up on Collins, he gets no nearer the leader. By this time, Gould has retired out on the circuit with a seized gearbox. Trintignant gives up at the pits with an untraceable loss of power and Scotti withdraw due to a lack of oil pressure in the preselector gearbox. Moss comes up on the tail of Collins, although still a whole lap to the rear, and Collins wisely eased up and let him go through, playing safe for second place. There are now two interesting duels going on, the first between Behra and Frère and the second between Schell and Moss. Frère is making a second a lap on Behra and closing relentlessly, while Moss is galloping up on Schell. The Vanwall is not handling well on the high-speed corners, especially those with bumpy surfaces, the steering being so high-geared that it is proving difficult to keep the car on line. However, what the Vanwall lacks in Grand Prix type circuit handling it makes up on speed, and Moss eventually goes by on the downhill swerves to Malmedy; he is visibly shaken when Schell overtakes him again down the Masta straight, so fast that it is impossible to get the Maserati into the Vanwall’s slipstream. However, the long curve at Stavelot is another matter, and Schell prudently eases off and waves Moss by before they reach the corner, for there was no point in baulking the Maserati round the swerves.  On lap 24, all eyes are on Frère, who is now only 2 seconds behind Behra, and no one is paying attention to Fangio, who seems all set to win, but on this lap he coasts to a stop just out of the Stavelot bend for the transmission has given up and, as Collins goes by, he realises he is now leading, and with the team leader stops at the opposite end of the circuit to the pits, there is no hope of his car being taken away from him, as at Monaco.

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With a feeling of relief, he waves to Fangio each time he passes, knowing now that, provided that he does not make any mistakes, the race is his, for Moss is too far back to be a danger. Just as all this is happening, Frère gets past Behra at Burnenville, much to the delight of the large Belgian crowd. Frère is driving the Lancia/Ferrari in impeccable style, but at the same time Behra is running into trouble and his engine is losing its tune, whereas the other works Maserati is singing along, Moss now being fourth, but almost a lap behind Collins; in fact, as Moss reaches the top of the hill towards Burnenville, Collins is rounding the Source hairpin. Schell is still holding fifth place, followed by Villoresi, Pilette, not at all at home in the yellow Lancia/Ferrari, and Rosier contentedly bringing up the rear. On lap 30, with conditions improving all the time, Moss puts in a new lap record in 4'14"7 and this is interesting for Perdisa cannot improve upon 4'35"0 with this same car; also, it is 200 rpm down on the sleek-bodied one that Moss has driven earlier in the race. As he does this fast lap, Behra comes slowly down the hill to the pits and enquires how many more laps to do, as he goes by, for his engine is failing rapidly. Two laps later, he stops for some time before the finishing line, but then goes on again for one more slow circuit. The two Lancia/Ferraris of Collins and Frère now have complete command of the race, for, no matter how hard he tries, Moss has no hope of catching up, but like all top-line drivers, he continues to press hard all the time. These three are alone on the same lap, and finally Collins crosses the line and gets a safe and deserved win in this race of surprises, followed by Frère, who naturally receives a warm ovation, and Moss, for whom the crowd cheers loudly, being appreciative of one who tries hard. 

 

The remainder are flagged in and Behra crawls over the line with his engine making horrid clanking noises and is about to fall into little pieces. The indomitable Moss continues his comeback vigorously and wins on lap 30 the fastest lap of the day, as well as official circuit record, at 199.575 km/h on average speed, finishing third, but it is the year’s revelation, Peter Collins, to win the Belgian Gran Prix, completing with his Ferrari the thirty-six laps expected with an average of 190.614 km/h. The 25-year-old British driver, during the tests, had already demonstrated his extraordinary skills on this circuit where, if the car has its importance, it is above all the great drivers who manage to emerge. On the podium with him, Paul Frère and Stirling Moss, while Harry Schell and Luigi Villoresi collect the last points available with the fourth and the fifth place. The race offered many emotions and twists, determined by the failure of almost all the most awaited drivers’ cars. Overall, the appreciable superiority of the Ferrari over the Maserati emerged, none of which had the new injection engine, on whose endurance the technicians of the Modena company still have some doubts. Quite good was the race pace of the British Vanwall, who won the fourth place with Harry Schell. In the standings of the world championship, the title contenders are joined by Peter Collins, who has eleven points, tied with Stirling Moss, while Juan Manuel Fangio remains at nine points, preceded by Jean Behra with ten. After the race, Peter Collins comes down from his Ferrari fresh and smiling as after a peaceful walk, and comments:

 

"How easy it was. Of course, if Fangio and Moss had not had so much bad luck I would have come after them. But even a third place, behind champions like those, I would have been delighted".

 

At the same time, Juan Manuel Fangio appears sorry for the inconvenience that deprived him of the victory and eight valuable points for the world championship ranking. But, at the same time, he does not hide his satisfaction at having shown how false were the statements that saw him in decline, tired, worried about the rise of the new star Stirling Moss. After the sharp 203 km/h during practice, Fangio, with his behaviour in the race, has actually convinced everyone to still be the number one in the world. Back in the box, Fangio hears from the Ferrari mechanics who examined the car that the withdrawal was caused by the excessive overheating of the differential, probably due to a loss of oil. So, the Argentine driver goes along with Giambertone to explore the entire track, which at Spa is over fourteen kilometres long, in search of the oil spots that his car should have left. The patrol of the track betrays a lack of faith in his team, which becomes suspected of sabotage when Fangio and Giambertone find no trace of oil. Also because this is not the first strange inconvenience that occurred during the year on the car of the Argentine. 

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Giambertone reminds Fangio of what happened at the Mille Miglia in April, when a hole drilled by a Ferrari mechanic to cool the brakes, due to the rain that fell on much of the route, almost flooded the cockpit of his 290MM... A curious fact happens just after the conclusion of the Belgian Grand Prix. Immediately after his victorious arrival at the 1956 Belgian Grand Prix, Peter Collins jumps into his car and rushes to Paris. He is invited to dinner at Madame Mostaguen's house, considered the most beautiful in France, a first-class woman and the wife of a second-rate racer. The dinner is excellent: pâté, Chateaubriand, lobster, dessert, Krug 1949. It's still early when he bids farewell to Monsieur and Madame Mostaguen: he is tired, and the next day at 12:00 p.m., he has to catch a plane to Italy as he is expected in Maranello. At 8:00 a.m., he is awakened by a phone call: Madame Mostaguen urgently needs to talk to him about a very serious matter. Peter, impressed, says he is at her disposal. While getting ready to shave, the doorbell rings: it's Madame Mostaguen, who enters and slips into the bathroom. She comes out a few minutes later completely naked. In the evening, Peter arrives in Maranello, where he is welcomed with applause and whistles. He is about to tell about the Belgian Grand Prix when everyone tells him to forget about the races and report on what happened with Madame Mostaguen, who had called from Paris just before his arrival. At the next Grand Prix, Ferrari's sports director, Sculati, meets the lady and asks if it was really necessary to disclose her Parisian affair in Maranello:

 

"Of course it was, otherwise where would be the fun?"


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