The new 1.5-litre formula caught many British teams unprepared but suited Ferrari, which had already developed a mid-engined car in the same displacement class for Formula Two competition. That car, also called the 156, provided the technical foundation for the F1 version. Ferrari's chief designer Carlo Chiti developed the power unit and overall architecture, and the resulting car entered the 1961 season as the field's dominant force.
The 1961 version acquired the affectionate nickname "sharknose" because of twin nostril-shaped air intakes at the front of the bodywork. The same intake styling appeared on five of Ferrari's SP-series sports-prototype cars in 1961 and 1962, giving a family identity to Chiti's designs of that period.
Ferrari began the season with a 65-degree V6 Dino engine, then introduced a revised unit with the V-angle widened to 120 degrees. The 120-degree configuration produces a power pulse every 120 degrees of crankshaft rotation, giving smoother power delivery. The revised engine measured 73.0 mm bore and 58.8 mm stroke for a displacement of 1,476.60 cc and was claimed to produce 188 horsepower at 9,500 rpm. A four-valve-per-cylinder version with a projected 197 horsepower at 10,000 rpm was planned for 1962 but never reached production.
Ferrari's advantage over the British opposition was substantial in 1961. The team's drivers — Phil Hill, Wolfgang von Trips, Richie Ginther, Giancarlo Baghetti, and others — dominated the season. Hill and von Trips were the primary contenders for the Drivers' Championship, with the title fight running close until the Italian Grand Prix.
On 10 September 1961 at Monza, the championship was decided in tragic circumstances. On the second lap, von Trips made contact with Jim Clark's Lotus, sending the Ferrari airborne into a barrier. Von Trips was fatally thrown from the car. Fifteen spectators also died in the accident. Hill, who had not been involved in the incident, went on to win the race and clinch the World Championship, though the circumstances made the occasion deeply somber. Ferrari secured the Constructors' title to complete the season.
The Ferrari 156 continued into 1962 and 1963, though it became progressively less dominant as rival teams developed competitive machinery. At the 1962 British Grand Prix, Phil Hill raced a version of the 156 fitted with a six-speed transmission mounted in front of the engine. In August 1962 at the German Grand Prix, Lorenzo Bandini tested a non-sharknose variant with revised front and rear suspension and a smaller radiator — this was a forerunner of the 156 Aero used in 1963.
The 1963 156 Aero abandoned the distinctive nostril intake in favour of a more conventional arrangement. Its 120-degree V6 now used Bosch direct fuel injection instead of carburettors, raising output to 197 horsepower. The final victory for the 156 in any form came at the 1964 Austrian Grand Prix, won by Lorenzo Bandini, before the car was superseded by the Ferrari 158.
Among the drivers who competed in the Ferrari 156 were Phil Hill, Wolfgang von Trips, Richie Ginther, Giancarlo Baghetti, Lorenzo Bandini, John Surtees, Willy Mairesse, Olivier Gendebien, Ricardo Rodriguez, Ludovico Scarfiotti, and Pedro Rodriguez.
Ferrari's factory policy in the early 1960s led to the destruction of all original 156 race cars. At least two replicas have since been constructed: one was built for the film La Passione, in which the sharknose plays a central role, and another was built by a private enthusiast. A further replica is exhibited at the Galleria Ferrari museum.
The Ferrari 156 F1 holds a dual legacy: it was the car that won Ferrari its first Constructors' Championship and delivered Phil Hill the only World Drivers' Championship won by an American for over four decades, yet it is also inseparably linked to the death of Wolfgang von Trips and fifteen spectators at Monza. Its sharknose bodywork became one of the most iconic silhouettes in motorsport history, admired widely enough that Ferrari deliberately referenced the design on its 2011 Ferrari 150° Italia to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the championship season.