1970 Mexican Grand Prix

 1970 Mexican Grand Prix

Racing data
13th of 13 races of the 1970 Automobile World Championship
Surname:	IX Gran Premio de México
Date:	October 25, 1970
Place:	Mexico city
Course:	Magdalena Mixhuca
Length:	325 km in 65 laps of 5 km
Weather:	dry and warm
Spectator:	~ 150,000 - 200,000
Pole position
Driver:	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari
Time:	1: 41.86 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari
Time:	1: 43.11 min
Podium
First:	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari
Second:	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari
Third:	Denis Hulme	McLaren

The 1970 Mexican Grand Prix took place in Mexico City on October 25 and was the thirteenth and final race of the 1970 World Automobile Championship .

Reports

background

Since the drivers' world championship had already been decided, no major changes were to be expected in the constructors’s championship and the organizer had already announced that only a maximum of 18 vehicles would be allowed to start, except for Rob Walker's private team, only the works teams traveled to Mexico, In contrast to most of the previous races of the season, a maximum of two drivers per team were registered.

training

The training was once again characterized by the duel for pole position between the two Ferrari 312Bs by Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni and the Tyrrell 001 by Jackie Stewart . Emerson Fittipaldi , who had won the US Grand Prix two weeks earlier, played no role. He struggled with engine problems all weekend. Two of his three engine failures already occurred during training, so that he could only qualify for the last place on the grid. Regazzoni finally secured pole from Stewart, Ickx and Jack Brabham , who announced that he would end his career after this race.

run

On race day, those responsible were surprised by an enormous crowd of approximately 150,000 to 200,000 people who could hardly be brought under control. Since the morning, more and more spectators flocked to the racetrack, which quickly made the space in the designated safety areas too tight. The spectators broke through the barriers and went right up to the track. Functionaries tried to bring people to their senses. Urgent appeals from last year's world champion Jackie Stewart and local hero Pedro Rodríguez to the fans only had a limited effect. It was discussed whether the race should be canceled as it was actually not responsible under the given circumstances, but the organizers feared a revolt by the spectators in this case.

After it had been possible to push the spectators back from the most dangerous areas, at least temporarily, the race finally started an hour late. Regazzoni initially took the lead, but was ousted from this position by Ickx on the second lap. This then did not give up the top position until the finish. Stewart also overtook Regazzoni, but had to pit a short time later to have his steering checked. After the pit stop, he managed to catch up with the leading group again. In the meantime the spectators had reached the edge of the track again. Some of them even made fun of crossing the track between the racing cars speeding by. Jackie Stewart was eventually eliminated on lap 27 after a collision with a dog that ran out onto the track because its suspension was damaged. Third place was then taken by Jack Brabham until he suffered one of the numerous engine failures of the weekend on lap 52 and was unable to finish the last race of his career.

During the last few laps, the audience occupied the track more and more. Immediately after the leading Ickx crossed the finish line, the start-finish straight was even completely stormed by the spectators, so that the following drivers could only drive through the finish line at a significantly slower speed. Denis Hulme ultimately took third place behind the victorious Ferrari drivers.

Despite the chaos, no one was injured. Nevertheless, there were consequences because, among other things, because of these events, there was no more Mexican Grand Prix in the following 15 years .

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Tyrrell Racing Organization	1	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell 001	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	D.
	2	François Cevert	March 701
Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	3	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari 312B	Ferrari 001 3.0 F12	F.
	4th	Clay Regazzoni
Equipe Matra Elf	6th	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra MS120	Matra MS12 3.0 V12	G
	7th	Henri Pescarolo
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing	8th	Denis Hulme	McLaren M14A	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G
	9	Peter Gethin
March engineering	11	Jo Siffert	March 701		F.
	12	Chris Amon
Rob Walker Racing Team	14th	Graham Hill	Lotus 72C		F.
Motor Racing Developments	15th	Jack Brabham	Brabham BT33		G
Auto Motor and Sport	16	Rolf Stommelen
Team Surtees	17th	John Surtees	Surtees TS7		F.
Yardley Team BRM	19th	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM P153	BRM P142 3.0 V12	D.
	20th	Jackie Oliver
Gold Leaf Team Lotus	23	Pure Wisell	Lotus 72C	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	F.
	24	Emerson Fittipaldi

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	1: 41.86	176.713 km / h	01
02	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	1: 41.88	176.678 km / h	02
03	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1: 42.41	175.764 km / h	03
04th	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Ford	1: 43.57	173.796 km / h	04th
05	Chris Amon	March-Ford	1: 43.71	173.561 km / h	05
06th	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	1: 43.82	173.377 km / h	06th
07th	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	1: 44.01	173.060 km / h	07th
08th	Graham Hill	Lotus Ford	1: 44.13	172.861 km / h	08th
09	François Cevert	March-Ford	1: 44.21	172.728 km / h	09
10	Peter Gethin	McLaren-Ford	1: 44.46	172.315 km / h	10
11	Henri Pescarolo	Matra	1: 44.55	172.166 km / h	11
12	Pure Wisell	Lotus Ford	1: 44.59	172.101 km / h	12
13	Jackie Oliver	BRM	1: 44.70	171.920 km / h	13
14th	Denis Hulme	McLaren-Ford	1: 44.95	171.510 km / h	14th
15th	John Surtees	Surtees-Ford	1: 45.03	171.380 km / h	15th
16	Jo Siffert	March-Ford	1: 46.15	169.571 km / h	16
17th	Rolf Stommelen	Brabham-Ford	1: 46.30	169.332 km / h	17th
18th	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus Ford	1: 48.13	166.466 km / h	18th

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	65	0	1: 53: 28.36	03	1: 43.11
02	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	65	0	+ 24.64	01	1: 43.46
03	Denis Hulme	McLaren-Ford	65	0	+ 45.97	14th	1: 44.04
04th	Chris Amon	March-Ford	65	0	+ 47.05	05	1: 43.78
05	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	65	0	+ 50.11	06th	1: 44.19
06th	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	65	0	+1: 24.76	07th	1: 44.60
07th	Jackie Oliver	BRM	64	0	+ 1 lap	13	1: 44.95
08th	John Surtees	Surtees-Ford	64	0	+ 1 lap	15th	1: 45.52
09	Henri Pescarolo	Matra	61	1	+ 4 rounds	11	1: 44.43
-	Pure Wisell	Lotus Ford	56	0	NC	12	1: 46.11	Unrated
-	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Ford	52	0	DNF	04th	1: 44.02	Engine failure
-	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	33	1	DNF	02	1: 43.17	Suspension damage
-	Peter Gethin	McLaren-Ford	27	0	DNF	10	1: 46.48	Engine failure
-	Rolf Stommelen	Brabham-Ford	15th	0	DNF	17th	1: 47.34	defective fuel supply
-	François Cevert	March-Ford	08th	0	DNF	09	1: 47.01	Engine failure
-	Graham Hill	Lotus Ford	04th	0	DNF	08th	1: 55.57	Defective water cooler
-	Jo Siffert	March-Ford	03	0	DNF	16	1: 50.38	Engine failure
-	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus Ford	01	0	DNF	18th	1: 59.51	Engine failure

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  Jochen Rindt lotus 45 02  Jacky Ickx Ferrari 40 03  Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 33 04th  Denis Hulme McLaren 27 05  Jack Brabham Brabham 25th 06th  Jackie Stewart March 25th 07th  Pedro Rodríguez BRM 23 08th  Chris Amon March 23 09  Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra 16 10  Emerson Fittipaldi lotus 12 11  Rolf Stommelen Brabham 10 12  Henri Pescarolo Matra 8th 13  Graham Hill lotus 7th

Item driver constructor Points 14th  Bruce McLaren McLaren 6th 15th  Mario Andretti March 4th 16  Pure Wisell lotus 4th 17th  Ignazio Giunti Ferrari 3 18th  John Surtees McLaren / Surtees 3 19th  John Miles lotus 2 20th  Jackie Oliver BRM 2 21st  Johnny Servoz-Gavin March 2 22nd  Peter Gethin McLaren 1 23  François Cevert March 1 24  Dan Gurney McLaren 1 25th  Derek Bell Brabham 1

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  lotus 59 02  Ferrari 52 03  March 48 04th  Brabham 35

Item constructor Points 05  McLaren 35 06th  Matra 23 07th  BRM 23 08th  Surtees 3

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Training" ( Memento of the original dated December 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on June 13, 2011)  
2. ^ Auto Motor und Sport, Issue 24/1970 (November 21, 1970), pp. 120–130
3. ^ "Report" (accessed June 13, 2011)
4. ↑ "World Cup stands" ( Memento of the original from December 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on June 13, 2011)