Nationality Swiss Wins 0 Active years 1961 Championships 0 Role Racing driver | Entries 3 (2 starts) Name Michael May Teams non-works Lotus Podiums 0 | |
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Born 18 August 1934 (age 89)
Stuttgart, Wurttemberg, Germany ( 1934-08-18 ) | ||
Michael May (born 18 August 1934 in Stuttgart, Germany) is a former racing driver from Switzerland. He participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 14 May 1961. He scored no championship points.
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After a crash during practice for the 1961 German Grand Prix, May concentrated on engineering, helping to develop a fuel injection system for Porsche and Ferrari.
May is generally credited with introducing the first manipulated elevated wing onto a racing car - a Porsche 550 - to produce downforce (or down thrust) for enhanced braking and cornering speeds to reduce lap times.
He also worked in designing high-compression engines, improving fuel economy among other things. The most notable example was his reworked 'Fireball' head for the 'high-efficiency' high-compression Jaguar V-12 HE engine.
Complete Formula One World Championship results
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Non-Championship
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