The 1.5-litre formula that came into force in 1961 caught most British constructors unprepared, as they had lobbied against the reduction. Ferrari, by contrast, had been running a mid-engined 156 in Formula Two and was better placed to adapt. The Sharknose took its name from the twin intake openings at the nose of the car, a styling that Carlo Chiti also applied to the five SP-series Ferrari sports-racing cars built in 1961 and 1962.
Ferrari began the 1961 season with a V6 Dino engine set at a 65-degree bank angle. During the season this was replaced with a new 120-degree V6, also designed by Carlo Chiti. The wider angle produced smoother power delivery, as a power pulse occurs every 120 degrees of crankshaft rotation. Bore and stroke were 73.0 mm by 58.8 mm, giving a displacement of 1,476.60 cc and a claimed output of 140 kW at 9500 rpm. A four-valve-per-cylinder version producing 147 kW at 10,000 rpm was planned for 1962 but never raced.
The 1961 season was one of Ferrari's most dominant. The 156 Sharknose was faster than everything else on the grid and won the championship convincingly. Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips were the main title contenders for Ferrari, with Richie Ginther, Willy Mairesse, Giancarlo Baghetti and others also driving the car during the year.
The season ended in tragedy at Monza on 10 September 1961. On the second lap of the Italian Grand Prix, a collision between Von Trips's 156 and Jim Clark's Lotus sent the Ferrari airborne. It struck a barrier and Von Trips was fatally thrown from the car. Fifteen spectators were also killed in the incident, making it one of the most devastating accidents in the sport's history. Hill, already a multiple race winner that season, secured the championship in the same race.
For the 1962 season Ferrari worked on an updated version of the 156. At the British Grand Prix, Hill raced a car with a six-speed gearbox mounted ahead of the engine. At the German Grand Prix, Lorenzo Bandini tested a non-sharknose variant with revised suspension and a smaller radiator, pointing toward the 156 Aero used from 1963.
The 1963 version dropped the distinctive sharknose bodywork in favour of a more conventional intake. That year the 120-degree V6 gained Bosch direct fuel injection in place of carburettors, raising output to 147 kW. The updated 156 remained competitive into 1964: Bandini won the Austrian Grand Prix that year in what proved to be the car's final championship victory before the new Ferrari 158 took over.
Ferrari's factory policy in the early 1960s led to all original 156 cars being scrapped. At least two replicas have since been constructed: one built for the film La Passione, in which the car features as a central subject, and another built privately. A replica of the 156 is also displayed in the Galleria Ferrari museum.
The Ferrari 156 Sharknose is among the most recognisable and visually distinctive Formula One cars ever built. Its twin-nostril nose has made it a lasting icon of early 1960s Grand Prix racing. It carried Ferrari through one of their most technically complete seasons, and the championship it won for Phil Hill was not repeated by an American driver until decades later.