The two drivers, including an F1 champion, to crash into the Monaco harbour share an eerie fate.
Since 1950, the Monaco Grand Prix has been held 71 times as part of the F1 world championship, with this weekend’s race set to be the 72nd blast around the Principality. In that time, the Monaco harbour has become one of the most iconic backgrounds to any motor race, let alone F1 grand prix. Only two drivers in grand prix history have ended up in the harbour after crashing – one of them being F1 champion Alberto Ascari. Ascari collided with the harbour in 1955 after leading in his Lancia at the Monaco GP but tragically died just days later in another racing incident at Monza. The only other driver to crash into the Monaco harbour was Lotus racer Paul Hawkins in the 1965 race, who also met a fatal end in a different racing accident. Hawkins died on May 26th, 1969, exactly 14 years after Ascari’s passing.
