What Happened On This Day May 26 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, May 26 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1955

Four days after surviving a plunge into the harbour during the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix, Alberto Ascari tragically died while testing a Ferrari at Monza. The day after his escape in Monte Carlo, Ascari confided in a friend: “I never want my children to become too fond of me because one day I might not come back and they will suffer less if I don’t come back.” At Monza, he tested in the morning and took a Ferrari out for additional laps during lunch. Onlookers noted he didn’t wear a helmet, and his tie was fluttering in the wind. He crashed on his second lap. Over a million people lined the streets of Milan for his funeral. Juan Manuel Fangio lamented, “I have lost my greatest opponent.” His friend Gianni Lancia was so distraught that he handed his team, including spares, drivers, and monocoques, to Ferrari.

1958

Stirling Moss, driving a Vanwall, won the 1958 Dutch Grand Prix with the top six cars either from or featuring drivers from Britain. Moss dominated the race, lapping everyone except the BRM drivers Harry Schell and Jean Behra, who finished second and third.

1958 Dutch Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	75	2:04:49.200	9
2	15	Harry Schell	BRM	75	+47.900s	6
3	14	Jean Behra	BRM	75	+102.300s	4
4	7	Roy Salvadori	Cooper Climax	74	+1 lap	3
5	5	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	74	+1 lap	2
6	17	Cliff Allison	Lotus Climax	73	+2 laps	0
7	6	Luigi Musso	Ferrari	73	+2 laps	0
8	8	Jack Brabham	Cooper Climax	73	+2 laps	0
9	9	Maurice  Trintignant	Cooper Climax	72	+3 laps	0
10	11	Jo Bonnier	Maserati	71	+4 laps	0
11	18	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	69	+6 laps	0
NC	10	Giorgio  Scarlatti	Maserati	51	DNF	0
NC	3	Stuart  Lewis-Evans	Vanwall	45	DNF	0
NC	16	Graham Hill	Lotus Climax	41	DNF	0
NC	4	Peter Collins	Ferrari	32	DNF	0
NC	12	Masten Gregory	Maserati	16	DNF	0
NC	2	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	13	DNF	0

1963

Graham Hill won at the 1963 Monaco Grand Prix for BRM, ahead of teammate Richie Ginther. Hill, who had been driving with the engine burning his left foot throughout, seized his chance when long-time leader Jim Clark retired from the lead with a broken gearbox on lap 78. Bruce McLaren completed the podium.

1963 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	6	Graham Hill	BRM	100	2:41:49.700	9
2	5	Richie Ginther	BRM	100	+4.600s	6
3	7	Bruce McLaren	Cooper Climax	100	+12.800s	4
4	21	John Surtees	Ferrari	100	+14.100s	3
5	8	Tony Maggs	Cooper Climax	98	+2 laps	2
6	10	Trevor  Taylor	Lotus Climax	98	+2 laps	1
7	11	Jo Bonnier	Cooper Climax	94	+6 laps	0
8	9	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	78	DNF	0
9	3	Jack Brabham	Lotus Climax	77	DNF	0
NC	14	Innes Ireland	Lotus BRM	40	DNF	0
NC	20	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	37	DNF	0
NC	17	Maurice  Trintignant	Lola Climax	34	DNF	0
NC	4	Dan Gurney	Brabham Climax	25	DNF	0
NC	12	Jim  Hall	Lotus BRM	20	DNF	0
NC	25	Jo Siffert	Lotus BRM	3	DNF	0

1968

In another Monaco Grand Prix with few finishers, only five of the 16 starters completed the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix; Graham Hill secured his fourth victory at the circuit in a Lotus. By the 20th lap, only five cars remained, and at one point, the race became a one-on-one duel between Hill and the BRM of Richard Attwood. Attwood who claimed second and Lucien Bianchi third in a Cooper would be these two drivers’ only Championship podium finishes.

1968 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	9	Graham Hill	Lotus Ford	80	2:00:32.300	9
2	15	Richard Attwood	BRM	80	+2.200s	6
3	7	Lucien Bianchi	Cooper BRM	76	+4 laps	4
4	6	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Cooper BRM	76	+4 laps	3
5	12	Denny Hulme	McLaren Ford	73	+7 laps	2
NC	8	John Surtees	Honda	16	DNF	0
NC	4	Pedro Rodriguez	BRM	16	DNF	0
NC	16	Piers  Courage	BRM	12	DNF	0
NC	1	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	11	DNF	0
NC	17	Jo Siffert	Lotus Ford	11	DNF	0
NC	19	Dan Gurney	Eagle Weslake	9	DNF	0
NC	3	Jochen Rindt	Brabham Repco	8	DNF	0
NC	2	Jack Brabham	Brabham Repco	7	DNF	0
NC	11	Johnny  Servoz-Gavin	Matra Ford	3	DNF	0
NC	10	Jackie Oliver	Lotus Ford	0	DNF	0
NC	14	Bruce McLaren	McLaren Ford	0	DNF	0

1969

In an eerie coincidence, Paul Hawkins, the only other man to have survived a plunge into the water at the Monaco Grand Prix, was killed on this day, May 25, 1969. His Lola crashed and burned at Island Bend during the RAC Tourist Trophy at Oulton Park. Hawkins’ Monaco incident occurred in 1965.

1974

Ronnie Peterson, driving a Lotus John Player Special, won the 1974 Monaco Grand Prix, with only nine of the 25 cars finishing after a first-lap pile-up that eliminated five cars and sent another three limping back to the pits. Jody Scheckter finished second for the Tyrrell team and Shadow driver Jean-Pierre Jarier came in third. This was the 6th win of a Monaco Grand Prix by Lotus, breaking the previous record set by BRM at the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix.

1974 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus Ford	78	1:58:03.700	9
2	3	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell Ford	78	+28.800s	6
3	17	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow Ford	78	+48.900s	4
4	11	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	78	+63.100s	3
5	5	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren Ford	77	+1 lap	2
6	28	John Watson	Brabham Ford	77	+1 lap	1
7	26	Graham Hill	Lola Ford	76	+2 laps	0
8	27	Guy Edwards	Lola Ford	76	+2 laps	0
9	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell Ford	75	+3 laps	0
NC	15	Henri Pescarolo	BRM	62	DNF	0
NC	2	Jacky Ickx	Lotus Ford	34	DNF	0
NC	12	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	32	DNF	0
NC	24	James Hunt	Hesketh Ford	28	DNF	0
NC	33	Mike Hailwood	McLaren Ford	11	DNF	0
NC	7	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham Ford	5	DNF	0
NC	37	Francois  Migault	BRM	5	DNF	0
NC	22	Vern Schuppan	Ensign Ford	4	DNF	0
NC	9	Hans-Joachim Stuck	March Ford	3	DNF	0
NC	10	Vittorio Brambilla	March Ford	1	DNF	0
NC	14	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	1	DNF	0
NC	23	Tim  Schenken	Trojan Ford	0	DNF	0
NC	18	Carlos Pace	Surtees Ford	0	DNF	0
NC	16	Brian  Redman	Shadow Ford	0	DNF	0
NC	20	Arturo Merzario	Iso Marlboro Ford	0	DNF	0
NC	6	Denny Hulme	McLaren Ford	0	DNF	0

1974

On May 25, 1974, Swiss driver Silvio Moser died from injuries sustained in an accident the previous month while driving his Lola-BMW in the 1000 km sports car race at Monza. He crashed, suffered severe head and internal injuries, and never regained consciousness. He managed two top-six finishes in his 12 F1 starts between 1967 and 1971. At the time of his crash, he was a week away from a return to F1.

2002

David Coulthard won a thrilling 2002 Monaco Grand Prix, fending off the Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya and the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher for his second victory there in three years. “It’s not pleasant when you look in the mirrors and you have got those guys behind you but I’d rather have them behind me than in front,” he said. “It was quite entertaining to watch Juan,” said Schumacher. “He was clipping a few barriers, locking up and getting sideways. I was thinking he was about to lose control but in the end he didn’t and kept his concentration well.”

Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari with his brother, Ralf Schumacher, third in the other Williams. This race was the last during the 2002 season in which a team other than Ferrari would win as Ferrari would subsequently win all 10 of the remaining rounds in the 2002 season after this. Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished in sixth becoming the last point ever scored by the Arrows team before the team folded later that year.

2002 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	3	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	78	1:45:39.055	10
2	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	78	+1.050s	6
3	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	78	+77.450s	4
4	14	Jarno Trulli	Renault	77	+1 lap	3
5	9	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan Honda	77	+1 lap	2
6	20	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Arrows Cosworth	77	+1 lap	1
7	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	77	+1 lap	0
8	7	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber Petronas	76	+2 laps	0
9	16	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar Cosworth	76	+2 laps	0
10	17	Pedro de la Rosa	Jaguar Cosworth	76	+2 laps	0
11	23	Mark Webber	Minardi Asiatech	76	+2 laps	0
12	21	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows Cosworth	76	+2 laps	0
NC	24	Mika Salo	Toyota	69	DNF	0
NC	8	Felipe Massa	Sauber Petronas	63	DNF	0
NC	12	Olivier Panis	BAR Honda	51	DNF	0
NC	15	Jenson Button	Renault	51	DNF	0
NC	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	46	DNF	0
NC	11	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	44	DNF	0
NC	4	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	41	DNF	0
NC	22	Alex Yoong	Minardi Asiatech	29	DNF	0
NC	10	Takuma Sato	Jordan Honda	22	DNF	0
NC	25	Allan McNish	Toyota	15	DNF	0

2013

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg repeated F1 History by securing the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix from pole, mirroring the feat his father, Keke Rosberg, achieved in the 1983 race—exactly 30 years earlier. Rosberg led the race from start to finish, maintaining control throughout the tight and challenging Monte Carlo circuit. He crossed the line ahead of Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel in second and Mark Webber in third. Further down the field, Kimi Raikkonen delivered an impressive last-minute charge, passing multiple cars in the final two laps to secure the last points position.

2013 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	78	2:17:52.056	25
2	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	78	+3.888s	18
3	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault	78	+6.314s	15
4	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	78	+13.894s	12
5	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	78	+21.477s	10
6	5	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	78	+23.103s	8
7	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	78	+26.734s	6
8	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR Ferrari	78	+27.223s	4
9	14	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	78	+27.608s	2
10	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus Renault	78	+36.582s	1
11	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber Ferrari	78	+42.572s	0
12	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Renault	78	+42.691s	0
13	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber Ferrari	78	+43.212s	0
14	23	Max Chilton	Marussia Cosworth	78	+49.885s	0
15	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Renault	78	+62.590s	0
16	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren Mercedes	72	DNF	0
NC	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	63	DNF	0
NC	19	Daniel Ricciardo	STR Ferrari	61	DNF	0
NC	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia Cosworth	58	DNF	0
NC	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault	44	DNF	0
NC	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	28	DNF	0
NC	20	Charles Pic	Caterham Renault	7	DNF	0

2019

The 2019 Monaco Grand Prix saw Mercedes‘ Lewis Hamilton secure pole position during Saturday’s qualifying session, his second pole of the season. The race started with Hamilton maintaining his lead, closely followed by teammate Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull‘s Max Verstappen. Local favourite Charles Leclerc, driving for Ferrari, faced a challenging weekend; a strategic error in qualifying left him starting 15th. In his attempt to climb the field during the race, Leclerc suffered a puncture after contact with Nico Hulkenberg, leading to significant car damage and eventual retirement on lap 18.

Leclerc’s incident triggered a pivotal moment during a safety car period. The leading cars pitted, and upon release, Verstappen was deemed to have been unsafely released into the path of Bottas, resulting in a five-second time penalty for the Dutch driver. Despite crossing the finish line in second place behind Hamilton, Verstappen’s penalty relegated him to fourth. This promoted Vettel to second and Bottas to third.

2019 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	78	1:43:28.437	25
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	78	+2.602s	18
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	78	+3.162s	15
4	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	78	+5.537s	12
5	10	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull Racing Honda	78	+9.946s	11
6	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren Renault	78	+53.454s	8
7	26	Daniil Kvyat	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	78	+54.574s	6
8	23	Alexander Albon	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	78	+55.200s	4
9	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	78	+60.894s	2
10	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	78	+61.034s	1
11	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Renault	78	+66.801s	0
12	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	77	+1 lap	0
13	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	77	+1 lap	0
14	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	77	+1 lap	0
15	63	George Russell	Williams Mercedes	77	+1 lap	0
16	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	77	+1 lap	0
17	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	77	+1 lap	0
18	88	Robert Kubica	Williams Mercedes	77	+1 lap	0
19	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	76	+2 laps	0
NC	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	16	DNF	0
Note – Gasly scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. Verstappen received a 5-second penalty for an unsafe pit-stop release. Grosjean received a 5-second penalty for crossing the pit exit line. Stroll and Magnussen each received 5-second penalties for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

2024

Charles Leclerc won the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix come the chequered flag, ending his self-proclaimed curse at his home race. The hard work was done in qualifying, with the Monegasque keeping his composure to finish the job on race day ahead of the McLaren of Oscar Piastri in second and his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz in third. For Leclerc, this was third-time lucky after his previous two poles at the circuit failed to become race victories. In Saturday afternoon qualifying, Charles Leclerc secured pole while the defending world champion Max Verstappen’s run of eight consecutive poles came to an end as he could only manage sixth place in qualifying.

Full Race Report

• 

  2024 Monaco Grand Prix: Full Weekend Report & Highlights

2024 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/Retired	PTS
1	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	78	2:23:15.554	25
2	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	78	+7.152s	18
3	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	78	+7.585s	15
4	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	78	+8.650s	12
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	78	+13.309s	10
6	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	78	+13.853s	8
7	44	Lewis Hamilton1	Mercedes	78	+14.908s	7
8	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	77	+1 lap	4
9	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	77	+1 lap	2
10	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	77	+1 lap	1
11	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	76	+2 laps	0
12	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB Honda RBPT	76	+2 laps	0
13	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	76	+2 laps	0
14	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	76	+2 laps	0
15	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams Mercedes	76	+2 laps	0
16	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	76	+2 laps	0
NC	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	0	DNF	0
NC	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	0	DNF	0
NC	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	0	DNF	0
NC	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	0	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 26 May

Birthday	F1 Driver
26 May 1906	Mauri Rose (d. 1981)
26 May 1938	Peter Westbury (d. 2015)
26 May 1944	Sam Posey

Birthday	F1 Mention
26 May 1917	Paul Metternich (d. 1992) President of the FIA between 1975 and 1985. He remains the only German to hold the role.
26 May 1955	Paul Stoddart Former owner of the Minardi Formula One racing team.

F1 Driver Deaths 26 May

Death	F1 Driver
26 May 1955	Alberto Ascari (b. 1918)
26 May 1969	Paul Hawkins (b. 1937)
26 May 1974	Silvio Moser (b. 1941)
26 May 2001	Vittorio Brambilla (b. 1937)