What Happened On This Day May 22 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, May 22 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1955

On this day, May 22, Alberto Ascari crashed his Lancia into the harbour at the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix while battling for the race win. Early race leader Juan Manuel Fangio retired with a bent axle, allowing his Mercedes teammate Stirling Moss to take the lead. However, Moss’s engine blew on lap 81, and Ascari, poised to inherit the lead, became distracted, skidded at the chicane, and plunged through sandbags into the Mediterranean. Remarkably, he emerged with only a broken nose and swam to safety, leaving Maurice Trintignant in the Ferrari to claim the win. Tragically, just four days later, Ascari died testing a Ferrari sports car at Monza. Reflecting on the Monaco crash, Ascari had wondered if his luck was running out. Eugenio Castellotti finished second for the Lancia team and Maserati drivers Jean Behra and Cesare Perdisa came in third.

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  List of Fatal Accidents in F1

1955 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	44	Maurice  Trintignant	Ferrari	100	2:58:09.700	8
2	30	Eugenio Castellotti	Lancia	100	+20.300s	6
3	34	Jean Behra	Maserati		SHC	2
3	34	Cesare Perdisa	Maserati	99	+1 lap	2
4	42	Nino Farina	Ferrari	99	+1 lap	3
5	28	Luigi  Villoresi	Lancia	99	+1 lap	2
6	32	Louis  Chiron	Lancia	95	+5 laps	0
7	10	Jacques  Pollet	Gordini	91	+9 laps	0
NC	40	Cesare Perdisa	Maserati		SHC	0
NC	40	Jean Behra	Maserati	86	DNF	0
8	48	Piero  Taruffi	Ferrari		SHC	0
8	48	Paul Frere	Ferrari	86	+14 laps	0
9	6	Stirling Moss	Mercedes-Benz	81	+19 laps	0
NC	26	Alberto Ascari	Lancia	80	DNF	0
NC	46	Harry Schell	Ferrari	68	DNF	0
NC	36	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	64	DNF	0
NC	12	Elie Bayol	Gordini	63	DNF	0
NC	2	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes-Benz	49	DNF	1
NC	8	Robert  Manzon	Gordini	38	DNF	0
NC	4	Andre  Simon	Mercedes-Benz	24	DNF	0
NC	18	Mike Hawthorn	Vanwall	22	DNF	0
NC	14	Louis  Rosier	Maserati	8	DNF	0
NC	38	Luigi Musso	Maserati	7	DNF	0

1961

Wolfgang von Trips won a rather uneventful 1961 Dutch Grand Prix for Ferrari on May 22. The race was notable as one of only two F1 races in which all cars that started finished without a pit stop. The closest call came on the last lap when Richie Ginther narrowly avoided a crash after the throttle on his Ferrari stuck wide open.

The other race without pit stops was the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix – which was red-flagged after two full laps due to bad weather. Although it’s debatable that was a race.

1961 Dutch Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	3	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	75	2:01:52.100	9
2	1	Phil Hill	Ferrari	75	+0.900s	6
3	15	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	75	+13.100s	4
4	14	Stirling Moss	Lotus Climax	75	+22.200s	3
5	2	Richie Ginther	Ferrari	75	+22.300s	2
6	10	Jack Brabham	Cooper Climax	75	+80.100s	1
7	12	John Surtees	Cooper Climax	75	+86.700s	0
8	4	Graham Hill	BRM Climax	75	+89.800s	0
9	5	Tony Brooks	BRM Climax	74	+1 lap	0
10	7	Dan Gurney	Porsche	74	+1 lap	0
11	6	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	73	+2 laps	0
12	11	Bruce McLaren	Cooper Climax	73	+2 laps	0
13	16	Trevor  Taylor	Lotus Climax	73	+2 laps	0
14	8	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	72	+3 laps	0
15	9	Hans  Herrmann	Porsche	72	+3 laps	0

1966

Jackie Stewart secured his second Grand Prix win, winning by 40 seconds on the streets of the principality at the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix. John Surtees led early but retired with a differential failure on lap 15, handing the lead to Stewart. Jim Clark provided the race’s excitement, charging from the back of the field to fifth before retiring on lap 60 with suspension failure. Ferrari’s Italian driver Lorenzo Bandini took second while Stewart’s team-mate, fellow Briton Graham Hill, finished a lap down in third position in his BRM.

1966 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	12	Jackie Stewart	BRM	100	2:33:10.500	9
2	16	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	100	+40.200s	6
3	11	Graham Hill	BRM	99	+1 lap	4
4	19	Bob Bondurant	BRM	95	+5 laps	3
NC	9	Richie Ginther	Cooper Maserati	80	DNF	0
NC	21	Guy  Ligier	Cooper Maserati	75	+25 laps	0
NC	18	Jo Bonnier	Cooper Maserati	73	+27 laps	0
NC	4	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	60	DNF	0
NC	10	Jochen Rindt	Cooper Maserati	56	DNF	0
NC	14	Jo Siffert	Brabham BRM	35	DNF	0
NC	6	Mike Spence	Lotus BRM	34	DNF	0
NC	7	Jack Brabham	Brabham Repco	17	DNF	0
NC	17	John Surtees	Ferrari	16	DNF	0
NC	8	Denny Hulme	Brabham Climax	15	DNF	0
NC	2	Bruce McLaren	McLaren Ford	9	DNF	0
NC	15	Bob Anderson	Brabham Climax	3	DNF	0

1977

Jody Scheckter won the 1977 Monaco Grand Prix for Wolf, finishing ahead of the Ferraris of Niki Lauda and Carlos Reutemann. Starting from second on the grid, Scheckter overtook John Watson in the Brabham at the first corner and maintained his lead throughout the race. It was Wolf’s second Grand Prix victory of the season, and Scheckter went on to win another race, securing second place in the championship. The Wolf team never won again after 1977.

1977 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf Ford	76	1:57:52.770	9
2	11	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	76	+0.889s	6
3	12	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	76	+32.800s	4
4	2	Jochen Mass	McLaren Ford	76	+34.600s	3
5	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	76	+35.550s	2
6	17	Alan  Jones	Shadow Ford	76	+36.610s	1
7	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Matra	76	+64.440s	0
8	19	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees Ford	76	+68.640s	0
9	16	Riccardo Patrese	Shadow Ford	75	+1 lap	0
10	22	Jacky Ickx	Ensign Ford	75	+1 lap	0
11	34	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Penske Ford	74	+2 laps	0
12	24	Rupert Keegan	Hesketh Ford	73	+3 laps	0
NC	6	Gunnar Nilsson	Lotus Ford	51	DNF	0
NC	7	John Watson	Brabham Alfa Romeo	48	DNF	0
NC	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell Ford	46	DNF	0
NC	18	Hans Binder	Surtees Ford	41	DNF	0
NC	28	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi Ford	37	DNF	0
NC	1	James Hunt	McLaren Ford	25	DNF	0
NC	8	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Brabham Alfa Romeo	19	DNF	0
NC	3	Ronnie Peterson	Tyrrell Ford	10	DNF	0

1983

Renault driver Alain Prost won the inaugural race on the revised and shortened Spa Francorchamps circuit. Controversy erupted at the start when an aborted getaway required drivers to complete a single lap and return to the grid for refuelling, which was against regulations. Once the confusion was resolved, Andrea de Cesaris led initially, followed by Prost and Patrick Tambay. De Cesaris lost his position during mid-race pit stops and was ultimately sidelined by an engine failure, allowing Prost to take the lead and win by over 20 seconds. Tambay finished second in a Ferrari, with Eddie Cheever third in the other Renault. The race saw the debut of local driver and future race winner Thierry Boutsen.

1983 Belgian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	15	Alain Prost	Renault	40	1:27:11.502	9
2	27	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari	40	+23.182s	6
3	16	Eddie  Cheever	Renault	40	+39.869s	4
4	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham BMW	40	+42.295s	3
5	1	Keke Rosberg	Williams Ford	40	+58.480s	2
6	2	Jacques Laffite	Williams Ford	40	+93.107s	1
7	35	Derek Warwick	Toleman Hart	40	+118.539s	0
8	36	Bruno Giacomelli	Toleman Hart	40	+158.273s	0
9	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus Renault	39	+1 lap	0
10	34	Johnny Cecotto	Theodore Ford	39	+1 lap	0
11	29	Marc Surer	Arrows Ford	39	+1 lap	0
12	4	Danny Sullivan	Tyrrell Ford	39	+1 lap	0
13	26	Raul Boesel	Ligier Ford	39	+1 lap	0
14	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell Ford	38	+2 laps	0
NC	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren Ford	33	DNF	0
NC	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus Ford	30	DNF	0
NC	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	25	DNF	0
NC	33	Roberto Guerrero	Theodore Ford	23	DNF	0
NC	28	Rene Arnoux	Ferrari	22	DNF	0
NC	31	Corrado Fabi	Osella Ford	19	DNF	0
NC	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS BMW	18	DNF	0
NC	7	John Watson	McLaren Ford	8	DNF	0
NC	25	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Ligier Ford	8	DNF	0
NC	30	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows Ford	4	DNF	0
NC	23	Mauro Baldi	Alfa Romeo	3	DNF	0

2003

Michael Schumacher decided not to pursue building a large ranch complex with a helicopter pad in Wolfhalden, Switzerland, after facing significant delays in obtaining planning permission. Schumacher had envisioned moving to the quiet village in eastern Switzerland but ultimately chose to remain in western Switzerland. “The whole environment absolutely matched our ideal,” he said. “But the legal process would have taken too long. For that reason, we have decided to halt the project and will stay where we are.”

2005

The 2005 Monaco Grand Prix showcased that overtaking on its narrow streets is possible even in modern F1 cars. McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen dominated from the start, but behind him, title rival Fernando Alonso faced pressure from the Williams drivers of Nick Heidfeld (P2) and Mark Webber (P3). Both managed to pass Alonso at the harbour chicane as his Michelin tyres degraded. Michael Schumacher also executed a daring move on the final lap, overtaking his teammate Rubens Barrichello and then challenging his brother Ralf as they crossed the finish line.

2005 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	9	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	78	1:45:15.556	10
2	8	Nick Heidfeld	Williams BMW	78	+13.877s	8
3	7	Mark Webber	Williams BMW	78	+18.484s	6
4	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	78	+36.487s	5
5	10	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren Mercedes	78	+36.647s	4
6	17	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	78	+37.177s	3
7	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	78	+37.223s	2
8	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	78	+37.570s	1
9	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber Petronas	77	+1 lap	0
10	16	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	77	+1 lap	0
11	11	Jacques Villeneuve	Sauber Petronas	77	+1 lap	0
12	6	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	77	+1 lap	0
13	18	Tiago Monteiro	Jordan Toyota	75	+3 laps	0
14	21	Christijan Albers	Minardi Cosworth	73	+5 laps	0
NC	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	RBR Cosworth	59	DNF	0
NC	20	Patrick Friesacher	Minardi Cosworth	29	DNF	0
NC	14	David Coulthard	RBR Cosworth	23	DNF	0
NC	19	Narain Karthikeyan	Jordan Toyota	18	DNF	0

2011

The 2011 Spanish Grand Prix was won by championship leader and Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel after starting from second on the grid. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton secured second place, while his teammate Jenson Button completed the podium in third. Sergio Perez scored his first Formula One points with ninth place, after he was disqualified from seventh place at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix.

2011 Spanish Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	66	1:39:03.301	25
2	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	66	+0.630s	18
3	4	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	66	+35.697s	15
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault	66	+47.966s	12
5	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	65	+1 lap	10
6	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	65	+1 lap	8
7	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	65	+1 lap	6
8	9	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	65	+1 lap	4
9	17	Sergio Perez	Sauber Ferrari	65	+1 lap	2
10	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari	65	+1 lap	1
11	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	65	+1 lap	0
12	15	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	65	+1 lap	0
13	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	65	+1 lap	0
14	18	Sebastien Buemi	STR Ferrari	65	+1 lap	0
15	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Cosworth	65	+1 lap	0
16	19	Jaime Alguersuari	STR Ferrari	64	+2 laps	0
17	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams Cosworth	64	+2 laps	0
18	21	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Renault	64	+2 laps	0
19	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Cosworth	63	+3 laps	0
20	25	Jerome d’Ambrosio	Virgin Cosworth	62	+4 laps	0
21	22	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT Cosworth	61	+5 laps	0
NC	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	58	DNF	0
NC	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Renault	48	DNF	0
NC	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT Cosworth	28	DNF	0

2022

Max Verstappen claimed victory at the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix, leading a Red Bull one-two ahead of teammate Sergio Perez. George Russell secured the final podium position for Mercedes.

Pole-sitter and championship leader Charles Leclerc was forced to retire due to engine issues while leading the race. His Ferrari teammate, Carlos Sainz, recovered from 11th place—following a spin—to finish fourth. Lewis Hamilton also staged an impressive comeback, climbing from 19th after an early puncture to finish fifth.

With Verstappen’s win, Red Bull overtook Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship, while the Drivers’ Championship lead shifted from a 19-point advantage for Leclerc to a six-point lead for Verstappen.

2022 Spanish Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing RBPT	66	1:37:20.475	25
2	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing RBPT	66	+13.072s	19
3	63	George Russell	Mercedes	66	+32.927s	15
4	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	66	+45.208s	12
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	66	+54.534s	10
6	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	66	+59.976s	8
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	66	+75.397s	6
8	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	66	+83.235s	4
9	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine Renault	65	+1 lap	2
10	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri RBPT	65	+1 lap	1
11	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	65	+1 lap	0
12	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren Mercedes	65	+1 lap	0
13	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri RBPT	65	+1 lap	0
14	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas Ferrari	65	+1 lap	0
15	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	65	+1 lap	0
16	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Mercedes	64	+2 laps	0
17	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	64	+2 laps	0
18	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	64	+2 laps	0
NC	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	28	DNF	0
NC	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	27	DNF	0
Note – Perez scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. Albon received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.

F1 Driver Birthdays 22 May

Birthday	F1 Driver
22 May 1915	Joe Barzda (d. 1993)
22 May 1929	Sergio Mantovani (d. 2001)
22 May 1970	Pedro Diniz

Birthday	F1 Mentions
22 May 1945	Piero Ferrari The second son of Enzo Ferrari. Piero has held the role of vice-Chairman and a 10% owner of Ferrari Automobili.

F1 Driver Deaths 22 May

Death	F1 Driver
22 May	None