1969 USA Grand Prix

 1969 USA Grand Prix

Racing data
10th of 11 races of the 1969 Automobile World Championship
Surname:	United States Grand Prix
Date:	5th October 1969
Place:	Watkins Glen
Course:	Watkins Glen International
Length:	399.708 km in 108 laps of 3.701 km
Weather:	hot
Pole position
Driver:	Jochen Rindt	lotus
Time:	1: 03.62 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Jochen Rindt	lotus
Time:	1: 04.34 min
Podium
First:	Jochen Rindt	lotus
Second:	Piers Courage	Brabham
Third:	John Surtees	BRM

The 1969 United States Grand Prix took place in Watkins Glen on October 5th and was the tenth race of the 1969 Automobile World Championship .

Reports

background

Apart from two Canadian guest starters, all teams that had been present at the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks earlier were also present in Watkins Glen with similar line-ups. With regard to the drivers, only John Miles was represented by Mario Andretti and the third works BRM was filled with Formula 1 debutant George Eaton for the last two races .

training

The lap times achieved in the first practice session on wet track conditions did not play a role in the starting grid. It turned out that the controversial all-wheel drive Lotus 63 and Matra MS84 cars did not have any significant advantages over conventionally powered vehicles even under these conditions.

In the second practice session, Jochen Rindt beat McLaren driver Denis Hulme with a fastest lap time of 0.03 seconds . Jackie Stewart , who has been the new world champion since the Italian GP , shared the second row with Graham Hill , last year's world champion.

run

Bruce McLaren was unable to use his sixth place on the grid because his engine was already overheating in one of the warm-up laps.

Jochen Rindt converted his pole position into a lead without being able to clearly set himself apart from his pursuers Stewart and Hill. Hulme fell behind immediately due to technical problems and had to head for the pits after a few laps. On the third lap, Jo was able to overtake Siffert Hill, followed by Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Piers Courage . Due to Siffert's retirement a few laps later and the fact that Beltoise was at a disadvantage due to transmission problems, Courage finished third.

On lap 12, Stewart managed to take the lead from Rindt. However, he fought his way back to the top on lap 20 and this time was able to clear away from Stewart, as his engine was already showing the first signs of a defect, which ultimately led to a failure on lap 36.

Around 40 seconds behind Rindt, Piers Courage was fighting for second position in his customer Brabham with the two works cars from Jacky Ickx and Jack Brabham . However, after Ickx retired with engine failure and Brabham had to pit to refuel, former world champion John Surtees had the chance of a podium place for the first time this season.

On lap 88, Hill had a spin and his engine stopped. He then had to get out to get his car going again by pushing. Although this succeeded, he could no longer buckle up correctly without the support of his mechanics. In another spin with a subsequent rollover on lap 91, Hill was thrown out of the cockpit and broke both legs.

In the end, Jochen Rindt was able to secure his first Grand Prix victory in the most highly endowed race of the year, directly in connection with his first hat trick . It was also the first victory for an Austrian Formula 1 driver.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Gold Leaf Team Lotus	1	Graham Hill	Lotus 49 B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	F.
	2	Jochen Rindt
	9	Mario Andretti	Lotus 63
Matra International (Tyrrell)	3	Jackie Stewart	Matra MS80		D.
	4th	Jean-Pierre Beltoise
	16	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Matra MS84
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing	5	Denis Hulme	McLaren M7A		G
	6th	Bruce McLaren	McLaren M7C
Motor Racing Developments	7th	Jacky Ickx	Brabham BT26 A		G
	8th	Jack Brabham
Rob Walker Racing Team	10	Jo Siffert	Lotus 49 B		F.
North American Racing Team	12	Pedro Rodríguez	Ferrari 312 (1969)	Ferrari 255C 3.0 V12	F.
Owen Racing Organization	14th	John Surtees	BRM P139	BRM P142 3.0 V12	D.
	15th	Jackie Oliver
	22nd	George Eaton	BRM P138
Frank Williams Racing Cars	18th	Piers Courage	Brabham BT26 A	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	D.
Silvio Moser Racing Team	19th	Silvio Moser	Brabham BT24		G
Pete Lovely Volkswagen Inc.	21st	Pete Lovely	Lotus 49 B		F.

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Jochen Rindt	Lotus Ford	1: 03.62	209.425 km / h	01
02	Denis Hulme	McLaren-Ford	1: 03.65	209.326 km / h	02
03	Jackie Stewart	Matra Ford	1: 03.77	208.932 km / h	03
04th	Graham Hill	Lotus Ford	1: 04.05	208.019 km / h	04th
05	Jo Siffert	Lotus Ford	1: 04.06	207.986 km / h	05
06th	Bruce McLaren	McLaren-Ford	1: 04.22	207.468 km / h	06th
07th	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra Ford	1: 04.29	207.242 km / h	07th
08th	Jacky Ickx	Brabham-Ford	1: 04.32	207.146 km / h	08th
09	Piers Courage	Brabham-Ford	1: 04.58	206.312 km / h	09
10	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Ford	1: 04.80	205.611 km / h	10
11	John Surtees	BRM	1: 05.06	204.789 km / h	11
12	Pedro Rodríguez	Ferrari	1: 05.94	202.056 km / h	12
13	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	1: 06.52	200.295 km / h	13
14th	Jackie Oliver	BRM	1: 06.55	200.204 km / h	14th
15th	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Matra Ford	1: 07.13	198.475 km / h	15th
16	Pete Lovely	Lotus Ford	1: 07.55	197.241 km / h	16
17th	Silvio Moser	Brabham-Ford	1: 08.20	195.361 km / h	17th
18th	George Eaton	BRM	1: 11.27	186.945 km / h	18th

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Jochen Rindt	Lotus Ford	108	0	1: 57: 56.84	01	1: 04.34
02	Piers Courage	Brabham-Ford	108	0	+ 46.99	09
03	John Surtees	BRM	106	0	+ 2 rounds	11
04th	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Ford	106	1	+ 2 rounds	10
05	Pedro Rodríguez	Ferrari	101	1	+ 7 rounds	12
06th	Silvio Moser	Brabham-Ford	98	0	+ 10 rounds	17th
-	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Matra Ford	92	0	NC	15th		Unrated
-	Graham Hill	Lotus Ford	90	0	DNF	04th		accident
-	Jacky Ickx	Brabham-Ford	77	0	DNF	08th		Engine failure
-	George Eaton	BRM	76	0	DNF	18th		Engine failure
-	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra Ford	72	1	DNF	07th		Engine failure
-	Denis Hulme	McLaren-Ford	52	1	DNF	02		Gearbox damage
-	Jackie Stewart	Matra Ford	35	0	DNF	03		Engine failure
-	Pete Lovely	Lotus Ford	25th	0	DNF	16		broken half-wave
-	Jackie Oliver	BRM	23	0	DNF	14th		Engine failure
-	Jo Siffert	Lotus Ford	03	0	DNF	13		defective fuel supply
-	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	03	0	DNF	05		Suspension damage
-	Bruce McLaren	McLaren-Ford	-	0	DNS	06th	-	engine overheat

World Cup stands after the race

The first six of the race got 9, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Jackie Stewart Matra 60 02  Jacky Ickx Brabham 31 03  Bruce McLaren McLaren 26th 04th  Jochen Rindt lotus 22nd 05  Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra 19th 06th  Graham Hill lotus 19th 07th  Piers Courage Brabham 16 08th  Jo Siffert lotus 15th 08th  Denis Hulme McLaren 11

Item driver constructor Points 10  Jack Brabham Brabham 10 11  John Surtees BRM 6th 12  Chris Amon Ferrari 4th 13  Pedro Rodríguez Ferrari 3 14th  Richard Attwood lotus 3 15th  Vic Elford McLaren 3 16  Silvio Moser Brabham 1 17th  Johnny Servoz-Gavin Matra 1

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  Matra 63 02  lotus 47 03  Brabham 45

Item constructor Points 04th  McLaren 29 05  Ferrari 7th 06th  BRM 6th

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Training" ( memento of the original from March 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on June 18, 2011)  
2. ^ "Report" (accessed on June 18, 2011)
3. ^ "World Cup stands" ( Memento of the original from March 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on June 18, 2011)