A Monaco tragedy, 50 years ago today

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The 1967 Monaco Grand Prix was not a happy event. The race saw Ferrari's Lorenzo Bandini crash while running in second place behind Brabham's Denny Hulme. Bandini (pictured above, racing against Honda's John Surtees earlier in the race) raced in 42 Grand Prix events between 1962 and 1967.

The Italian driver lost control of his car at the harbour chicane on lap 82 of the 100-lap race. The Ferrari's left rear wheel hit the guard rail and then a pole which turned the car over, trapping Bandini. The car then hit straw bails which ruptured the fuel tank and started a blaze. Bandini suffered third degree burns and sadly died from his injuries three days later. The funeral was held in Reggiolo on May 13.

As a result of the accident, straw bales were banned from future Formula 1 races. In Monaco, an extended guard-rail was put in place at the scene of the accident for 1968.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.