Monaco Grand Prix: Has an F1 car ever gone into the water?

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Monaco Grand Prix

Has an F1 car ever gone into the water at the Monaco Grand Prix?

Two drivers have but it hasn't happened for decades

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Sunday 7 June 2026 13:29

The Monaco Grand Prix is a unique Formula 1 circuit where drivers are right up close to apartments, shops, casinos... and even the water as they meander through the tight and twisty streets.

But with the race that runs through Monte Carlo, and spends over 20 seconds with the cars right up against the harbour, the question of course is has an F1 car ever ended up in the water?

Amazingly, it has happened twice. Even more amazingly, both drivers survived with no serious injuries.

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The Monaco Grand Prix has been running since 1929, but it took until the formation of the F1 world championship in 1950 before the first driver took a trip into the harbour.

Alberto Ascari was first driver to go into Monaco harbour

They didn't come too much bigger at the time, when two-time world champion Alberto Ascari crashed entering the chicane (a quick left-right in those days) following the exit of the tunnel in 1955, with his Lancia somersaulting into the harbour.

Ascari was leading for just mere seconds after the retirement of Stirling Moss, yet couldn't take advantage with 20 laps to go of the 100 lap race (yes, 100!)

Although the Italian's car wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, the very open nature of the cockpits in the 1950s allowed the Italian to escape to safety. Climbing out of the car quickly in case you drove into the sea was about the only positive safety aspect of F1 in that era.

Assisted by frogmen on standby (no, trained scuba divers not some mythical creatures) he was able to swim to safety before being put on a stretcher and transferred to hospital as a precaution.

Despite this near death experience, having only missed an iron bollard by mere centimetres, Ascari was killed just four days later aged 36 after testing a Ferrari sports car at Monza.

Paul Hawkins was the last a decade after

The exact same accident occurred 10 years later when Australian driver Paul Hawkins, driving in just his second ever (and penultimate) F1 race, also misjudged the chicane coming out of the tunnel on lap 79, eerily just one lap earlier than Ascari did a decade earlier.

Like Ascari, Hawkins was able to swim to safety with his Lotus later being lifted from the Mediterranean. Amazingly he was still given a classification of 10th place, although sadly in the 1960s points were only awarded up to sixth place.

Sadly, Hawkins was killed four years later while competing in the RAC Tourist Trophy race at Oulton Park.

Are there scuba divers at the F1 grand prix?

There are scuba divers at the Monaco Grand Prix, but their role has changed a lot from the early years of the race on the F1 calendar when they were on standby to assist drivers potentially falling into the water.

These days the scuba divers are on hand to assist spectators who watch the race from boats and other points of viewing around the harbour, as head of the Monaco fire brigade Lieutenant-Colonel Maxime explained.

He told the Daily Star: "Several years ago there were indeed divers who were on the water because at the entrance to the Portier (corner just before the tunnel), there was a risk that a car would end up in the water.

"There is no longer this risk, so there are no divers dedicated to the race. On the other hand, we have divers on the water to ensure the safety of all the people on board the ships and yachts in the port of Monaco.

"But it has nothing to do with the race, except that they are spectators of the race. But it’s not for the drivers at all."

Unlike the 1950s and 1960, the yachts now pack like sardines into the harbour for the Monaco Grand Prix, attracting celebrities and folks with more than enough spare cash to buy a small island to party throughout the weekend.

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F1 Monaco Grand Prix