Fangio was partnered at Mercedes Benz with Stirling Moss, and the 'Silver Arrows' dominated the season, beaten only by Ferrari, at Monaco.

The year was overshadowed by tragedy at Le Mans when the Mercedes sports car of Pierre Levegh somersaulted into the crowd killing more than 80 spectators. In the aftermath of this disaster the French, German, Swiss and Spanish Grands Prix were cancelled and racing was banned in Switzerland.

Twice-World Champion Alberto Ascari was killed testing a sports car at Monza which blunted the challenge of Lancia. In financial difficulty, they effectively withdrew after the death of their star driver and the cars were eventually handed over to Ferrari who raced them towards of the year, before using them as the basis of their 1956 machines.

At the end of the season, Mercedes Benz withdrew from all racing.