Michael May (born 18 August 1934) is a Swiss former racing driver and engineer whose influence on motorsport extends far beyond his appearances in Formula One. Equally famous for his innovative engineering ideas, May became one of the sport’s most inventive technical minds, introducing concepts that were often years ahead of their time.
Driver Bio
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Birthplace | Stuttgart, Germany |
| Born | 18 August 1934 |
| First Grand Prix | 1961 Monaco Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | 1961 French Grand Prix |
| Years Active | 1961 |
| Current/Last Team | Privateer: Scuderia Colonia Lotus |
After studying engineering, May combined his technical knowledge with his racing ambitions. In 1956, he and his brother Pierre entered the 1000 km Nürburgring in a modified Porsche 550 Spyder featuring one of the most revolutionary aerodynamic innovations of the era—an adjustable wing mounted high above the cockpit to generate downforce and improve braking and cornering performance. The design proved remarkably effective, with May lapping the Nürburgring around four seconds faster than the factory Porsche 550s during qualifying. Rival teams quickly took notice, and following a protest from Porsche racing director Huschke von Hanstein, officials ruled that the wing could not be used in the race, preventing May from starting with his pioneering design.
May made his Formula One World Championship debut in 1961 with Wolfgang Seidel‘s Scuderia Colonia, driving a Lotus 18. He qualified an impressive 13th for the Monaco Grand Prix but retired with an oil leak before the finish. At the French Grand Prix, he climbed from 22nd on the grid to finish 11th, demonstrating both speed and determination. He was also entered for the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, but a practice accident effectively brought his brief Formula One career to an end. In addition to his three World Championship entries, May also competed in several non-championship Formula One races before shifting his focus towards engineering.
Engineering
Although his racing career was relatively short, May’s greatest impact came as an engineer. During the 1960s, he contributed to the development of Porsche’s fuel injection systems, work that impressed Enzo Ferrari enough to recruit him in 1963. At Ferrari, May played a key role in refining the fuel injection system for the Ferrari 158 and successfully encouraged the team to adopt lightweight magnesium wheels, a significant performance advantage at the time.
Never afraid to challenge conventional thinking, May continued developing innovative automotive technology throughout the late 1960s. He created a turbocharger conversion kit for Ford V6 engines that boosted output from 108 horsepower to 188 horsepower. At a time when turbochargers were largely confined to diesel applications, May devised an ingenious exhaust routing system that cooled the gases sufficiently for reliable use on petrol engines, overcoming one of the technology’s biggest engineering obstacles.
His work also extended to improving engine efficiency through advanced combustion chamber design and high-compression technology. Among his best-known achievements was the redesign of the combustion chamber for Jaguar’s “Fireball” cylinder head, which became a key component of the high-efficiency Jaguar V12 HE engine. The project demonstrated May’s ability to combine increased performance with improved fuel economy, cementing his reputation as one of motorsport’s most forward-thinking engineers.
Grand Prix Stats
| Race Entries | 3 |
| Race Starts | 2 |
| Did Not Start | 1 |
| Best Race Start | 13th |
| Best Race Finish | 11th |
| Retirements | 1 |
| First-Lap Retirements | 0 |
| Not Classified | 0 |
| Disqualified | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 0 |
Qualifying
| Qualifying Sessions | 3 |
| Reached Q3 | 0 |
| Q2 Eliminations | 0 |
| Q1 Eliminations | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 0 |
Stats by Season
| Year | Constructor | Entries | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Poles | Fastest Laps | Front Rows | DNF | Best Start | Best Result | Pts Finishes | Points | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Privateer: Scuderia Colonia Lotus | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 0 | NC |
Stats by Constructor
| Constructor | Years | Entries | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Poles | Fastest Laps | Front Rows | DNF | Best Start | Best Result | Pts Finishes | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Privateer: Scuderia Colonia Lotus | 1961 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
Teammates & Qualifying Head-to-Head
| Teammate | Years | Races | Qualifying H2H |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wolfgang Seidel | 1961 | 1 | – |
