Hawkins spun his Lotus-Climax on the 79th lap of 100 and the iconic photograph of him spearing into the water trailing an advertising banner has been associated with the Monaco event ever since. The Australian was able to escape his sinking car and swim to shore, prompting ribbing from his mechanics who later attached a lifebuoy to his retrieved car with the moniker "swimming kangaroo".

Motor racing legend Jackie Stewart is one of the few men who competed in the 1965 race who has survived to tell the tale of Formula One's early days. Stewart finished third in his BRM that day and told Fairfax Media from Monaco on Saturday that in a more dangerous era Hawkins was lucky to have survived the incident.

"I was racing when it happened and I didn't have a lot of time [to see]," Stewart said. "I knew there had been an incident, as you do when you are going round the track. I was aware, but didn't know until the end of the race who it was.

"There were actually bollards that ships would be tied up to – capstans, I believe they were called at the time – that were lethal if a car were to hit them. Paul luckily missed them and plunged into the harbour. The streets had 90-degree kerbs, not the chamfered ones you see today in Monaco.

"The road surface was not as billiard table smooth as it is today and therefore there were many more mechanical failures," Stewart recalls. "The race was also 100 laps, so a lot of things have changed, but Monaco is still magic."

Hawkins, who was known to those in the paddock as Hawkeye, was renowned for his salty language. Having arrived in London from Australia in 1960, he  started racing in Europe after answering an newspaper advertisement for a mechanic at the Donald Healey Motor Company.

He was one of several Australians and New Zealanders making their mark in motor sport at the time, with the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix also featuring the great Jack Brabham, who retired his car on the first lap, Bruce McLaren, who finished fifth in his Cooper-Climax, Denny Hulme, who finished eighth, and Frank Gardner who retired on lap 11.

"Paul was a good friend and we raced against each other quite a lot," Stewart said. "He had a great sense of humour and certainly had a great selection of pals in the UK.

"At the beginning of my career I got to know an awful lot of [Australian] drivers. Since I was living in Scotland, I didn't spend a lot of time socially down south so I really only saw him at race tracks but, of course, in those days we were all driving not only F1 cars but Formula Two, touring cars, sports cars etc, so there was a lot of camaraderie amongst us all. In those days there were no giant motor homes, so we were a community, regularly travelling together and working together, so we got to know each other very well."

Hawkins is one of only two men to have crashed into the water at Monaco, the other being Italian Alberto Ascari, who crashed his Lancia while leading the 1955 race. Ascari was killed in a race incident only weeks later.

Unfortunately, Hawkins was also not to have a long life after his Monaco harbour plunge. Having found success in the World Sports Car Championship as an owner-driver he was killed on May 26 1969 when his Lola T70 GT crashed and burned after going off at Island Bend during the RAC Tourist Trophy at Oulton Park, in Cheshire, England.  He was 31.