![\"Moss](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/gettyimages-2205610053-6.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBRM had failed to deliver. Connaught had won a non-championship race, but that was without Ferrari opposition and the team was in financial difficulties anyway. German squad Mercedes-Benz had rocked up for a year and a half to crush the Italians before withdrawing \u2013 and still Britain hadn\u2019t managed a breakthrough in Formula 1.<\/p>\n
Vanwall, founded by disgruntled former BRM backer and industrialist Tony Vandervell, was about to change that. It had built up experience with modified Ferraris and was entering the 1956 season with a new teardrop-shaped design by Frank Costin that would become a world-beater.<\/p>\n
It had a fuel-injected 2.5-litre engine producing over 270bhp, disc brakes at a time when Ferrari still used drums, and a chassis penned by Lotus founder and future\u00a0motorsport game-changer Colin Chapman.<\/p>\n
The work of Chapman and\u00a0Costin had also allowed the staff at Vanwall\u2019s base in Acton to focus on the mechanical side, with many improvements, including to the transmission, while Harry Weslake helped develop the tall, straight-four engine.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone wanted a British car to win a grand prix and a world championship \u2013 it was a collaborative effort that gathered momentum,\u201d says longtime British GP and Silverstone commentator Ian Titchmarsh.<\/p>\n
One area that was still lacking, however, was on the driver front. Following the withdrawal of Mercedes, Vandervell had approached 1955 championship runner-up Stirling Moss, still awaiting a topline British F1 car.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Moss dominated the race for Vanwall after Hawthorn\u2019s BRM retired<\/p>\n
Photo by: Stanley Sherman\/Daily Express\/Hulton Archive<\/p>\n
Following a Vanwall test at Oulton Park, Moss drove three British contenders on the same day at Silverstone \u2013 \u201cnot regarded as that amazing, though today it is,\u201d says Titchmarsh. Moss was quicker in the Vanwall than he was in the BRM or Connaught, but signed for Maserati, for which he could drive in F1 and sportscar events.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Moss did, however, keep the door open. \u201cI told Mr Vandervell I would certainly like to drive for him when other commitments allowed, if he would like me to,\u201d recalled Moss in Stirling Moss: My cars, my career, written with Doug Nye.<\/p>\n
Other top-liners were approached, including reigning world champion Juan Manuel Fangio, but nothing quite came off. Harry Schell and Maurice Trintignant were thus signed for 1956. While they were solid drivers \u2013 and Trintignant had won the 1955 Monaco GP after dramas for Mercedes and Lancia \u2013 Vanwall still lacked an established ace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Silverstone entry was heavily British but its quality was underlined by the presence of two Ferrari D50s, for Fangio and Peter Collins<\/p>\n
Nevertheless,\u00a0Vanwall had made a step forward and Vandervell \u2013 who even drove the car himself at the Goodwood shakedown! \u2013 decided to focus on world championship F1 events, with one important exception: the British Racing Drivers\u2019 Club International Trophy at Silverstone on 5 May, \u201cone of the highlights of the British racing season\u201d according to Motor Sport magazine.<\/p>\n
Vanwall skipped January\u2019s season-opening Argentinian GP, won by Ferrari, and so the new car\u2019s first outing was the non-championship Silverstone event. Extra starting money was on offer if Vanwall could field a top-line British driver. Maserati had decided not to enter the race, so Moss \u2013 who was initially entered in his own 250F \u2013 was available. His nomination for Vanwall was confirmed three days before the race\u2026<\/p>\n
The Silverstone entry was heavily British but its quality was underlined by the presence of two Ferrari D50s, for Fangio and Peter Collins, who was just one month away from his first world championship grand prix victory at Spa. And, though the Maserati factory was absent, there were several 250Fs, including one driven by future world champion Jack Brabham and the Gilby Engineering car for Roy Salvadori.<\/p>\n
![\"Fangio](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/gettyimages-71493886.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Fangio briefly leads at the start but Hawthorn (9) is about to pounce<\/p>\n
Photo by: Daily Express\/Hulton Archive<\/p>\n
Connaught was also out in force, while BRM \u2013 after much back and forth with the organisers \u2013 managed to muster a new P25 for Mike Hawthorn, at that time a two-time world championship GP winner with Ferrari. The result was an estimated crowd of 100,000.<\/p>\n
Following considerable testing, Schell shocked the establishment with a 1m42s lap in practice, under the old lap record and quicker than anyone else. And soon, Moss matched him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who thought\u00a0Schell\u2019s meteoric lap to have been mistimed or a flash in the pan unrepeatable in the race were sobered by Moss equalling this time on two occasions on the Friday,\u201d reported Motor Sport. The green Vanwalls therefore lined up first and second, joined on the front row of the 4-3-4 grid by Fangio and Hawthorn (who\u2019d been clouted in the face by his own bonnet in testing), followed by Collins and Salvadori on the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese basically stable\u00a0understeering cars had to be driven between very precise limits and were never as forgiving in their handling characteristics as the essentially oversteering Maserati 250Fs,\u201d Moss wrote of the Vanwall in Stirling Moss: My cars, my career.<\/p>\n
Despite the D50 being heavier than the Vanwall, Fangio made a strong getaway before Hawthorn steamed by exiting Copse to lead for BRM. Poleman Moss briefly slipped to fifth, behind Schell and Collins, but overtook the #2 Ferrari on the second lap before closing on his team-mate.<\/p>\n
After \u201cvigorously waving a fist to emphasise his desire to get by!\u201d, according to\u00a0Autosport, Moss slotted into third on lap four of 60. Two laps later he matched Hawthorn\u2019s new lap record as the Vanwall overtook Fangio for second.<\/p>\n
![\"Ferrari\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/gettyimages-2042475532-3.jpg\")
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Ferrari\u2019s D50, which would win the championship, was well beaten in the race<\/p>\n
Photo by: Evening Standard\/Hulton Archive<\/p>\n
BRM and Vanwall were now running 1-2, while Collins soon overcame Schell to put the Ferraris into third and fourth.<\/p>\n
Hawthorn maintained a small lead over Moss until lap 14, when the magneto drive sheared on the BRM and Hawthorn retired. Moss now took command and the hard-driven Ferraris could make no impression. \u201cMoss\u2019s progress around the course was exciting in itself; smooth, terribly fast, the Vanwall\u2019s cornering a wonderful sight,\u201d wrote Cyril Posthumus in Autosport\u2019s race report.<\/p>\n
Vanwall anxiety was increased when Schell stopped to change plugs, then retired with a broken pipe in the fuel injection. Only a third of the race had been run and Moss\u2019s fears about Vanwall unreliability looked to be coming true.<\/p>\n
After 186 miles and nearly 1h45m, Moss took VW2\/56 across the line to win by a full lap from Scott Brown, sending \u201cthe huge crowd hysterical with excitement\u201d, according to Autosport<\/p>\n
But it was the Ferrari challenge that wilted.\u00a0Fangio was nearly a minute behind Moss when his D50\u2019s clutch failed. Collins came in and handed his car to the team leader in a stop quick enough for the great Argentinian to resume still in second, but the clutch soon failed on that machine, too. Autosport\u2019s John Bolster believed engine developments had produced enough power to \u201coverload the Lancia multi-plate clutch\u201d but also argued \u2013 correctly \u2013 that this could be easily overcome.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That left Moss with a lead of more than two minutes over a battle for second between Archie Scott Brown\u2019s works Connaught and the Maserati of Salvadori. That fight only ended in the closing stages when Salvadori went off at Stowe, overturning the 250F and getting trapped underneath but escaping serious injury.<\/p>\n
After 186 miles and nearly 1h45m, Moss took VW2\/56 across the line to win by a full lap from Scott Brown, sending \u201cthe huge crowd hysterical with excitement\u201d, according to Autosport.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Hawthorn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/gettyimages-2229352390-7.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Hawthorn set the early race pace in BRM\u2019s new P25<\/p>\n
Photo by: LAT<\/p>\n
\u201cI was watching it on TV \u2013 not the comprehensive coverage you get today and\u00a0there\u2019d be gaps where they\u2019d go off to a horse race or something! \u2013 and I remember seeing the end of the race and Stirling taking the flag,\u201d recalls Titchmarsh. \u201cI was a Moss fan so that\u2019s what stuck in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Interestingly, Titchmarsh feels Tony Brooks\u2019s win for Connaught in the non-championship Syracuse GP in October 1955 was potentially more important, though the small firm was unable to build on that success.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat has to be remembered is Brooks\u2019s win at Syracuse, which was almost a bigger thing, but it didn\u2019t get as much coverage. If you go through the newspapers at the time it was all Stirling Moss.\u201d<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Vanwall had matched Hawthorn\u2019s fastest lap 14 times \u2013 the limitations of timing only taken to a whole second! \u2013 and the mark would remain unbeaten at July\u2019s British GP. Vanwall\u2019s meticulous records showed that Moss even had a sizeable 12 gallons of fuel left at the end of the race.<\/p>\n
Bolster opined that the\u00a0Vanwall \u201cis about the most effective piece of road racing equipment that has yet been built\u201d and praised its high level of engineering.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt now remains for a green car to win a major Grand Prix, an event which, to judge from the results of the Daily Express International Trophy, will not be long in coming,\u201d reckoned Autosport. But the wait would go on a little longer.<\/p>\n
![\"Salvadori\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/gettyimages-2167408727-5.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Salvadori\u2019s was the quickest 250F; he crashed out at Stowe, overturning his car but escaping serious injury<\/p>\n
Photo by: Michael Tee\/LAT<\/p>\n
The championship campaign did not go so well for\u00a0Vanwall. Reliability problems were persistent \u2013 championship rounds were longer then, with the British GP lasting three hours and covering just under 300 miles. Trintignant failed to get a finish, and the best Schell could manage was a fourth place in the Belgian GP.<\/p>\n
The American did give the D50s a fright at the French GP, but the Ferrari\u2019s on-track teamwork to deal with the\u00a0Vanwall infuriated Vandervell. Legendary motorsport journalist Denis Jenkinson responded by suggesting the outcome might have been different had Moss been behind the wheel, something the Silverstone result had already shown\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cThe International Trophy win underlined the need for Vandervell to sign up Stirling Moss permanently,\u201d agrees Titchmarsh. \u201cHe was by some margin Britain\u2019s top driver, even though Hawthorn and Collins were very good and Brooks was coming along.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vandervell had long since got the message. Moss, Brooks and rising star Stuart Lewis-Evans would form part of an expanded Vanwall attack for 1957. By that season\u2019s end, the Italian stranglehold on F1 would be broken.<\/p>\n
This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the June 2026 issue and subscribe today<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tony Vandervell (centre) signed Moss (right) and Brooks (left) for 1957 \u2013 and won the British GP<\/p>\n Photo by: LAT<\/p>\n We want to hear from you!<\/p>\n Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future.<\/p>\n![\"Tony](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/gettyimages-2229635858-8.jpg\")
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