The race alternated between Silverstone and Aintree, while Stirling Moss made his final British GP appearance.
The British Grand Prix returned to Silverstone in 1956 and Stirling Moss put his Maserati on pole. Moss also gained the fastest race lap but was forced to retire late in the race. Victory went to Juan-Manuel Fangio in a Ferrari. In second was the Ferrari shared by Alfonso de Portago and Peter Collins (de Portago also shared a car with Eugenio Castellotti). Jean Behra completed the podium driving another Maserati.
Aintree hosted the race for the second time in 1957 and the British Vanwall team scored a patriotic victory. The winning car was also driven by two British drivers, neither fully fit. Moss was recovering from a sinus infection while Tony Brooks was still in pain from a crash at Le Mans. Behind them came four Ferrari’s, driven by Luigi Musso, Mike Hawthorn and Maurice Trintignant (Collins drove three laps in Trintignant’s car).
At Silverstone in 1958 Collins led every lap to win ahead of his Ferrari team-mate Hawthorn. The Ferrari team had just suffered the loss of Luigi Musso in an accident at Rheims. Roy Salvadori finished an impressive third in his rear-engined Cooper-climax. Two weeks after his victory Collins was killed at the Nurburgring during the German Grand Prix.
By the time of the 1959 race, at Aintree, Hawthorn was also gone. He had retired after winning the 1958 World Championship, only to die in a road accident a short time later. The race itself was won by Jack Brabham in a Cooper, on his way to the World Championship. Ferrari were not present, being unable to travel due to a strike in Italy. Stirling Moss and Bruce McLaren joined Brabham on the podium.
It was back to Silverstone for 1960 but the result was the same. Brabham won in a Cooper, followed home by motorcycle ace John Surtees, competing in a Grand Prix for only the second time. Surtees was driving a Lotus-Climax, as was third-placed Innes Ireland.
For the next two years the Grand Prix stayed at Aintree. In 1961 Ferrari trounced the opposition, finishing 1-2-3. Count Wolfgang von Trips was the winner, followed by Phil Hill and Richie Ginther. Unknown to anyone at the time it was also Stirling Moss’s final British Grand Prix as he suffered a career–ending accident at Goodwood the following year.
Jim Clark, although still relatively new to Formula 1, demonstrated his considerable ability in 1962. The Scotsman claimed pole position, fastest lap and the race win driving for Lotus. Surtees was his nearest challenger, followed by McLaren.
