What Happened On This Day May 27 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, May 27 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1942

Piers Courage, born in Colchester on May 27, 1942, was the heir to the Courage brewing empire and educated at Eton. While his inheritance funded his early motor racing days, he soon proved talented enough to earn a drive for Lotus. After a series of teams and several good results, he was tragically killed at the 1970 Dutch Grand Prix on 21 Jun 1970.

1942

Robin Widdows, born on May 27, 1942, in Uxbridge, England, participated in his only Grand Prix at the 1968 British Grand Prix. His first love was bobsleigh, representing Great Britain in the two and four-man bob at the 1964 and 1968 Winter Olympics. He also held the record for the fastest time on the famous Cresta Run in 1965.

1951

Juan Manuel Fangio delivered a brilliant drive in appallingly wet conditions to win the 1951 Swiss Grand Prix, cementing his reputation. Autosport wrote, “His fearless passage through the circuit’s innumerable fast bends gained him the sincere admiration of all, elevating him still higher in the ranks of Grand Prix drivers.” Fangio had been haunted by running over a black cat during a reconnaissance drive the night before the race. “I had resisted the temptation to let myself be dragged down by superstition,” he said. Italian driver Piero Taruffi, who drove for Ferrari, finished second and fellow Italian driver, Nino Farina rounded out the podium in third, in the second Alfa Romeo car.

1951 Swiss Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	24	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	42	2:07:53.640	9
2	44	Piero  Taruffi	Ferrari	42	+55.240s	6
3	22	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	42	+79.310s	4
4	28	Consalvo  Sanesi	Alfa Romeo	41	+1 lap	3
5	26	Toulo de Graffenried	Alfa Romeo	40	+2 laps	2
6	20	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	40	+2 laps	0
7	30	Louis  Chiron	Maserati	40	+2 laps	0
8	14	Stirling Moss	HWM Alta	40	+2 laps	0
9	8	Louis  Rosier	Talbot-Lago	39	+3 laps	0
10	4	Philippe  Etancelin	Talbot-Lago	39	+3 laps	0
11	38	Rudi  Fischer	Ferrari	39	+3 laps	0
12	32	Harry Schell	Maserati	38	+4 laps	0
NC	16	Peter  Whitehead	Ferrari	36	DNF	0
13	2	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago	35	+7 laps	0
14	40	Guy  Mairesse	Talbot-Lago	31	+11 laps	0
NC	10	Henri Louveau	Talbot-Lago	30	DNF	0
NC	12	George  Abecassis	HWM Alta	23	DNF	0
NC	6	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago	14	DNF	0
NC	18	Luigi  Villoresi	Ferrari	12	DNF	0
NC	42	Jose Froilan Gonzalez	Talbot-Lago	10	DNF	0
NC	52	Peter Hirt	Veritas	0	DNF	0

1979

Jody Scheckter led the 1979 Monaco Grand Prix from start to finish, narrowly beating Clay Regazzoni by less than a car length, with Carlos Reutemann trailing by less than eight seconds in third. John Watson was the only other car to complete the full distance.

1979 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	11	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	76	1:55:22.480	9
2	28	Clay Regazzoni	Williams Ford	76	+0.440s	6
3	2	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus Ford	76	+8.570s	4
4	7	John Watson	McLaren Ford	76	+41.310s	3
5	25	Patrick Depailler	Ligier Ford	74	DNF	2
6	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows Ford	69	+7 laps	1
7	6	Nelson Piquet	Brabham Alfa Romeo	68	DNF	0
8	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	68	+8 laps	0
NC	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Ford	55	DNF	0
NC	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	54	DNF	0
NC	27	Alan  Jones	Williams Ford	43	DNF	0
NC	4	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell Ford	34	DNF	0
NC	9	Hans-Joachim Stuck	ATS Ford	30	DNF	0
NC	5	Niki Lauda	Brabham Alfa Romeo	21	DNF	0
NC	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell Ford	21	DNF	0
NC	1	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	21	DNF	0
NC	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi Ford	17	DNF	0
NC	16	Rene Arnoux	Renault	8	DNF	0
NC	20	James Hunt	Wolf Ford	4	DNF	0
NC	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows Ford	4	DNF	0

1990

Ayrton Senna, starting from pole, was one of the few drivers to avoid a mass first-lap pile-up at the 1990 Monaco Grand Prix, caused when Gerhard Berger collided with Alain Prost. On the restart, Senna again dominated, building up enough of a lead to nurse his ailing engine home. Derek Warwick appeared set for his team’s first championship points of the season until he took his foot off the clutch to ease his cramp and stalled his Lotus.

French driver Jean Alesi finished second in a Tyrrell, with Senna’s McLaren teammate Berger in third.

1990 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	27	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Honda	78	1:52:46.982	9
2	4	Jean Alesi	Tyrrell Ford	78	+1.087s	6
3	28	Gerhard Berger	McLaren Honda	78	+2.073s	4
4	5	Thierry Boutsen	Williams Renault	77	+1 lap	3
5	10	Alex Caffi	Arrows Ford	76	+2 laps	2
6	29	Eric Bernard	Lola Lamborghini	76	+2 laps	1
7	35	Gregor Foitek	Onyx Ford	72	DNF	0
NC	11	Derek Warwick	Lotus Lamborghini	66	DNF	0
NC	2	Nigel Mansell	Ferrari	63	DNF	0
NC	24	Paolo Barilla	Minardi Ford	52	DNF	0
NC	36	Jyrki Jarvilehto	Onyx Ford	52	DNF	0
NC	26	Philippe Alliot	Ligier Ford	47	DNF	0
NC	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams Renault	41	DNF	0
NC	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Dallara Ford	38	DNF	0
NC	3	Satoru Nakajima	Tyrrell Ford	36	DNF	0
NC	1	Alain Prost	Ferrari	30	DNF	0
NC	19	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton Ford	20	DNF	0
NC	7	David Brabham	Brabham Judd	16	DNF	0
NC	16	Ivan Capelli	Leyton House Judd	13	DNF	0
NC	25	Nicola Larini	Ligier Ford	12	DNF	0
NC	30	Aguri Suzuki	Lola Lamborghini	11	DNF	0
NC	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Ford	7	DNF	0
NC	12	Martin Donnelly	Lotus Lamborghini	6	DNF	0
NC	8	Stefano Modena	Brabham Judd	3	DNF	0

2001

Michael Schumacher‘s victory at the 2001 Monaco Grand Prix was tainted by a pit-lane dispute involving McLaren boss Ron Dennis, who denied claims that he had threatened Enrique Bernoldi’s career after accusing him of holding up David Coulthard. Bernoldi had held off Coulthard for 35 laps after Coulthard started at the back of the grid due to stalling during the formation lap. Bernoldi recounted, “Ron and Norbert [Haug] came up to me after the race in the pit-lane. They were very aggressive. They told me ‘if you continue to drive in that sort of way again, you are not going to be in F1 for very long’. I was very scared, they were very aggressive.” Dennis countered that Arrows had instructed their driver to block Coulthard to ensure more television exposure, saying, “It was quite a while after the race when I talked to him and I was cool, calm and collected and I was not angry. I just told him that in my opinion it was unsporting behavior.”

Schumacher’s Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello finished second with Jaguar‘s Eddie Irvine third.

2001 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	78	1:47:22.561	10
2	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	78	+0.431s	6
3	18	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar Cosworth	78	+30.698s	4
4	10	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	78	+32.454s	3
5	4	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	77	+1 lap	2
6	22	Jean Alesi	Prost Acer	77	+1 lap	1
7	8	Jenson Button	Benetton Renault	77	+1 lap	0
8	14	Jos Verstappen	Arrows Asiatech	77	+1 lap	0
9	15	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows Asiatech	76	+2 laps	0
10	17	Kimi Räikkönen	Sauber Petronas	73	+5 laps	0
NC	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	57	DNF	0
NC	20	Tarso Marques	Minardi European	56	DNF	0
NC	21	Fernando Alonso	Minardi European	54	DNF	0
NC	11	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan Honda	49	DNF	0
NC	7	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton Renault	43	DNF	0
NC	12	Jarno Trulli	Jordan Honda	30	DNF	0
NC	23	Luciano Burti	Prost Acer	24	DNF	0
NC	19	Pedro de la Rosa	Jaguar Cosworth	18	DNF	0
NC	3	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	15	DNF	0
NC	9	Olivier Panis	BAR Honda	13	DNF	0
NC	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	2	DNF	0
NC	16	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber Petronas	0	DNF	0

2006

One of the lowest points in Michael Schumacher‘s career came during the qualifying session at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix. He was found guilty of deliberately obstructing other drivers in the final moments. Richard Williams of the Guardian reported, “The stewards’ ruling confirmed the belief of most observers than he had feigned a loss of control, halting his Ferrari on the track and stalling its engine in order to impede the efforts of rivals who were making a last effort to displace him from pole position,” Schumacher’s defence was unconvincing: “I have to admit that certain things must have looked a bit curious from the outside but there were reasons for that and I don’t really want to elaborate on it. It’s not really anyone else’s business even.”

2007

Lewis Hamilton remained joint leader of the Drivers’ Championship after finishing second for the fourth time in his debut season at the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix, behind his McLaren teammate and double world champion Fernando Alonso. “It’s my first season in Formula One and here I am finishing second, so I can’t complain,” Hamilton said. It marked McLaren’s 150th F1 win and their 14th at Monaco. Brazilian Felipe Massa finished third in a Ferrari.

2007 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Mercedes	78	1:40:29.329	10
2	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	78	+4.095s	8
3	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	78	+69.114s	6
4	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	77	+1 lap	5
5	10	Robert Kubica	Sauber BMW	77	+1 lap	4
6	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber BMW	77	+1 lap	3
7	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams Toyota	77	+1 lap	2
8	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	77	+1 lap	1
9	19	Scott Speed	STR Ferrari	77	+1 lap	0
10	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	77	+1 lap	0
11	7	Jenson Button	Honda	77	+1 lap	0
12	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams Toyota	77	+1 lap	0
13	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	76	DNF	0
14	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Renault	76	+2 laps	0
15	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	76	+2 laps	0
16	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	76	+2 laps	0
17	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri Honda	76	+2 laps	0
18	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri Honda	76	+2 laps	0
19	21	Christijan Albers	Spyker Ferrari	70	DNF	0
NC	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker Ferrari	53	DNF	0
NC	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Renault	17	DNF	0
NC	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	STR Ferrari	1	DNF	0

2012

Mark Webber claimed victory at the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix, making F1 history as the sixth different winner in the opening six races of the season—a record never seen before in Formula 1. The Red Bull driver controlled the race from the front, fending off pressure from Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, who finished second for his second podium of the year, and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who took third place (his 76th career podium) and the championship lead by three points over Sebastian Vettel and Webber.

Despite intense pressure in the closing laps, Webber held off Rosberg, Alonso, and Vettel, securing his second career Monaco Grand Prix victory, making him the only Australian to win multiple times at the circuit. This was his first win of the season and his first since the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix. The race was incredibly tight at the front, with the top four drivers separated by just 1.343 seconds at the finish, highlighting the competitiveness of the 2012 season.

2012 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault	78	1:46:06.557	25
2	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	78	+0.643s	18
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	78	+0.947s	15
4	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	78	+1.343s	12
5	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	78	+4.101s	10
6	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	78	+6.195s	8
7	11	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	78	+41.537s	6
8	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India Mercedes	78	+42.562s	4
9	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus Renault	78	+44.036s	2
10	19	Bruno Senna	Williams Renault	78	+44.516s	1
11	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber Ferrari	77	+1 lap	0
12	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR Ferrari	77	+1 lap	0
13	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham Renault	77	+1 lap	0
14	24	Timo Glock	Marussia Cosworth	77	+1 lap	0
15	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT Cosworth	76	+2 laps	0
16	3	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	70	DNF	0
NC	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR Ferrari	65	DNF	0
NC	25	Charles Pic	Marussia Cosworth	64	DNF	0
NC	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	63	DNF	0
NC	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham Renault	15	DNF	0
NC	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari	5	DNF	0
NC	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	0	DNF	0
NC	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT Cosworth	0	DNF	0
NC	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault	0	DNF	0

2018

Daniel Ricciardo secured victory at the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, delivering Red Bull its first win at the circuit since 2012. He held off Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who finished second, while Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton completed the podium in third.

The race was remarkably uneventful, it was the first Monaco Grand Prix since 2009 without a full Safety Car—though a brief Virtual Safety Car period did ensue. Despite Ricciardo’s win, the race was widely criticised, with Hamilton and Fernando Alonso both labeling it “one of the most boring races ever.” Drivers ran at a deliberately slow pace to preserve tyres and avoid a second pit stop, contributing to the lack of overtaking and minimal race incidents. Ricciardo’s triumph was also his last Formula 1 victory until the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.

2018 Monaco Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	78	1:42:54.807	25
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	78	+7.336s	18
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	78	+17.013s	15
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	78	+18.127s	12
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	78	+18.822s	10
6	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India Mercedes	78	+23.667s	8
7	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	78	+24.331s	6
8	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	78	+24.839s	4
9	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	78	+25.317s	2
10	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	78	+69.013s	1
11	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber Ferrari	78	+69.864s	0
12	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	78	+70.461s	0
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	78	+74.823s	0
14	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren Renault	77	+1 lap	0
15	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	77	+1 lap	0
16	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams Mercedes	77	+1 lap	0
17	18	Lance Stroll	Williams Mercedes	76	+2 laps	0
18	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber Ferrari	70	DNF	0
19	28	Brendon Hartley	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	70	DNF	0
NC	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Renault	52	DNF	0
Note – Hartley received a 5-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

F1 Driver Birthdays 27 May

Birthday	F1 Driver
27 May 1942	Piers Courage (d. 1970)
27 May 1942	Robin Widdows
27 May 1944	Emilio Zapico (d. 1996)
27 May 1961	Pierre-Henri Raphanel
27 May 2003	Franco Colapinto

F1 Driver Deaths 27 May

Death	F1 Driver
27 May 1989	Joaquin Palacio (b. 1901)