Jochen Rindt was a first-rate racing driver during a period when the sport was extremely dangerous. Formula One racing will always carry an element of personal risk to the drivers, but before Jackie Stewart’s charge for driver safety starting in the late 70s (and continuing to this day) drivers were dying at the rate of more than one a season.
The sport may have been deadly but it was also almost impossibly glamorous and attracted the bravest and the most skilled drivers in the world with the promise of fortune and glory. Coming into the 1970 season Jochen Rindt was one of the best of the best.
As it turned out his 1970 season was his greatest achievement, but also one in which he set a record which has never been beaten, and one which it is fervently hoped will never be repeated. What happened to Rindt in his final year as a racing driver?
A Tragic End
Rindt had been a racing driver for nine years by 1970, with 7 of them in the open single seaters that could get round a circuit faster than anything else on four wheels at the time. The German driver had experienced mixed fortunes with the Cooper and Brabham teams, but from 1969 he was the lead driver for Lotus.
The Lotus 72, Rindt’s car for 1970, was nothing short of revolutionary. Colin Chapman, Lotus’s mercurial owner, was both a genius and a visionary and had introduced several features on the 72 which are staples today.
The Lotus mounted its radiators alongside the driver, rather than in front, which made the car more aerodynamic, and brought the brakes inboard to allow for betting cooling and better braking. But it was the all new (but now universal) downforce-producing wings that allowed the car to shine.
And Rindt was worthy of his new car. Finally he had a competitive drive and could chase his dream of being Formula One world champion, and he started the season on a charge. Rindt won five of the first nine races of the season, establishing himself as the front runner and favorite to take the title.
But tragedy struck during practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. This high-speed course has a reputation as a deadly track, and to add to the danger most teams removed the rear wings from their cars, making them faster but also removing grip. Lotus was no different.
During the fifth lap of his practice session, Rindt lost control of his car during the approach to a corner known as the Parabolica, a heavy braking section where traction is at its most important. His car suddenly threw itself to the left into the guardrail, which parted under the impact.
Rindt died on the way to hospital from his injuries. However, the 1970 season was not done with him yet. Jack Ickx, running second in the championship behind Rindt, was not able to accumulate enough points in the remaining four races to overtake Rindt’s lead.
And so, at the end of the season, Jochen Rindt became the only person to be crowned Formula One World Champion posthumously. He had achieved his dream, but lost his life in doing so.
And may such a tragedy never happen again.
Top Image: Jochen Rindt in 1969. Source: DirkHerbert / CC BY-SA 3.0.
By Joseph Green
References
