Jochen Rindt

Jochen Rindt

Nation:	Austria
Automobile world championship
First start:	Grand Prix of Austria 1964
Last start:	Grand Prix of Austria 1970
Constructors
1964 Rob Walker Racing  • 1965–1967 Cooper  • 1968 Brabham  • 1969–1970 Lotus
statistics
World Cup balance:	World Champion ( 1970 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 60 6th 10 3
World Cup points :	109
Podiums :	13
Leadership laps :	387 over 1,898.5 km

Karl Jochen Rindt (born April 18, 1942 in Mainz ; † September 5, 1970 in Monza ) was an automobile racing driver , Formula 1 driver and multiple Grand Prix winner. As an orphan with German citizenship, he grew up with his grandparents in Graz and started as a racing driver exclusively for Austria . In 1970, while training for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza , Rindt had a fatal accident. His point lead this season was enough to become the only driver to posthumously become Formula 1 world champion.

Life

origin

Rindt was the son of a German and an Austrian and had German citizenship (Austria had been annexed to the German Reich since 1938 ). His parents, who owned a spice mill ( Klein & Rindt ) in Mainz-Neustadt , died in an air raid during Operation Gomorrah in Hamburg in the summer of 1943 . Rindt was then brought to his grandparents in Graz , where he grew up and started motorsport at an early age.

At the instigation of his grandfather, a lawyer, he retained German citizenship . However, Rindt drove with an Austrian racing license - which is why he is usually considered an Austrian. Official FIA documents at the time also identify him as an Austrian. Only later did the FIA ​​add a still valid passage to its regulations, according to which participants in world championships are to be regarded and honored as citizens of the nation whose nationality they have. Rindt last lived on Lake Geneva in Switzerland .

In his youth, Rindt attended the Bad Aussee private middle school with his long-time friend Helmut Marko .

Start of the racing career

Jochen Rindt in the Cooper Climax at the German GP in 1965

Cooper T86 - Maserati , driven by Jochen Rindt in 1967

After graduating from high school, he joined the family's import business, but his main interest was motorsport . His career began in 1961 on the Innsbruck-Kranebitten race track with a private Simca . There he also drove a less competitive Formula Junior - Cooper from the Ecurie Vienne team ; In 1963 he reached 19th place. Because of his good performance, Ford Austria became aware of him. Ford supported him in 1964 with a Formula 2 Brabham - Cosworth . He was successful in two races in England : He finished second in Mallory Park and won the race at Crystal Palace in London against the then world champion Graham Hill .

His achievements earned him a place on Cooper's Formula 1 team in 1965 - as a team-mate of Bruce McLaren . The Cooper weren't particularly powerful, but Rindt took fourth place at the German Grand Prix and sixth at the US Grand Prix .

During this time, Formula 1 drivers improved their income by also competing in Formula 2, but where they were not counted for the championship. Rindt began a longer relationship with Roy Winkelmann's private Brabham team . He won in Reims and came third in Pau and Vallelunga . In Austria, Rindt was already a celebrated driver at the time, especially when he won the Prix ​​Du Tyrol near Innsbruck in an Abarth 2000.

In 1964, Rindt shared a Porsche with Jo Bonnier in the 1000 km race on the Nürburgring on the Nordschleife and came third. He won the 1965 Le Mans 24-hour race in a Ferrari 250LM used by NART, together with Masten Gregory , after the works Ford and Ferrari had retired.

Bruce McLaren left Cooper at the end of the year to build his own vehicle for the new three-liter formula. Rindt became number one at Cooper until John Surtees came to Cooper from Ferrari. The Cooper- Maserati were heavy, but powerful compared to the not yet developed new engines of the competition. Rindt finished second in Spa-Francorchamps , second in the US Grand Prix , third in Germany , fourth in France and Italy and fifth in the British Grand Prix .

At that time the Brabham Honda dominated Formula 2, but Rindt won the Eifel race at the Nürburgring and the last race in the 1.5 liter category at Brands Hatch , beating Jack Brabham in the process .

Family change and team change

In March 1967, Rindt married Nina Lincoln from Finland, and their daughter Natascha was born on August 7, 1968.

In 1967 , Rindt was only able to achieve two fourth places, one each at the Belgian and one at the Italian Grand Prix. Nevertheless, he established himself at the top of Formula 2 and scored nine wins with his Winkelmann Brabham . His reputation as a fearless pilot was confirmed when he had an accident in Indianapolis , got out of the burning car, and his pulse remained perfectly calm during the subsequent medical examination.

For the 1968 season he moved to the Formula 1 racing team of Jack Brabham, who had built the world championship vehicle for himself and Denis Hulme in the previous two years . The further development of the Repco V8 engine , which had been reliable up to then , was not convincing, however, mainly because the competition had the new and superior Ford - Cosworth engine, which was to dominate Formula 1 for the next 15 years. In addition, experiments were carried out with new spoilers and wings, which changed the balance of power from race to race.

Jochen Rindt at Lotus

Jochen Rindt in 1969 in the Lotus 49 B during training at the Nürburgring

Jochen Rindt at the entrance to the box

Rindt in the Lotus Formula 2 in 1970

After the 1968 season, Rindt moved to Team Lotus , which was led by the founder, designer Colin Chapman . Lotus was both the defending constructors' championship and world champion with Graham Hill . However, the 1969 season was less successful. At the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona Hill and Rindt had an accident with their Lotus 49 because the long-legged rear wing construction broke. Rindt suffered a fracture of the nasal bone and a concussion. Although he recovered quickly from the incident, he was struggling with vision and balance problems. During his recovery, he wrote an open letter to the press calling for the wings to be banned on the vehicles, as they posed a danger to drivers and spectators.

After recovering, he quickly found his old form back and fought duels with his friend Jackie Stewart , who became world champion that year. At the end of the season, Rindt won his first Formula 1 world championship race in Watkins Glen . The race was overshadowed by a serious accident involving his team-mate Graham Hill, who broke both of his legs. Rindt became the new number one in the Lotus team for the 1970 season .

After experiments with all-wheel drive (the second place under Jochen Rindt in the Oulton Park Gold Cup Race 1969, which was not part of the Formula 1 World Championship, was the greatest success for the 4WD Lotus 63 ) and gas turbines in 1969, Lotus started the wedge-shaped Lotus 72 in 1970 . Rindt went back to the 1969 Model 49 and won in Monaco as the leading Jack Brabham slipped into the bales of straw in the last corner (gasometer) when lapping Piers Courage . When Grand Prix of Great Britain at Brands Hatch won Rindt again. The leading Brabham ran out of gas and Rindt was able to overtake in the last few meters.

At the Dutch Grand Prix , Rindt won the now further developed Lotus 72 . The victory was overshadowed by an accident in which his friend Piers Courage burned in the vehicle. The Formula 1 drivers then decided to demand improved safety measures for the German Grand Prix, which was to take place at the Nürburgring, or to boycott it because it was considered impossible to implement. Rindt won the races in France and Germany , the latter had now been moved to Hockenheim , his home track. The Grand Prix of Austria on the Austria Ring won Jacky Ickx in a Ferrari. On August 30, 1970, six days before his death, Jochen Rindt drove his last race - a Formula 2 race in Austria at the Salzburgring .

Monza 1970

The final training for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza took place on September 5, 1970. Rindt overtook Denis Hulme at full speed when he downshifted in the braking area before the Parabolica curve . At that moment, the front right brake shaft on his Lotus 72 most likely broke . The car crashed into the guardrail on the left, turned a few times and hit the boundary several times before it came to rest about five meters from the guardrail. The lotus had broken apart and Rindt's legs were sticking out. Jochen Rindt was immediately taken to the track's own emergency room and then transferred to the Milan University Clinic; According to official statements, he died in the ambulance. However, his friend Jackie Stewart said in an interview that Rindt was dead before the transport. According to medical reports, a ruptured windpipe and a crushed chest were the cause of death.

He suffered the fatal injuries mainly because he had not put on the new seat belt correctly for fear of one of the fire accidents that were frequent at the time and as a result slipped through the belts in the violent impact.

The event caused great consternation in the racing world, much like the death of Jim Clark two years earlier or the death of Ayrton Senna in 1994 .

Posthumous world champion

Jochen Rindt (1969)

Rindt had collected 45 points from his five victories. Including Monza, four more races took place in which up to 36 points could be achieved, so that those eight drivers who had at least 10 points after the Austrian Grand Prix still had a chance of winning the world championship. After the Italian Grand Prix, five candidates remained, of which the second-placed Jackie Stewart and the failed Jack Brabham had the best prospects with 25 points, as one victory and two second places would have been enough for them to win Rindt with 46 points surpass. Denis Hulme with 23 points and Monza winner Clay Regazzoni with 21 points would have needed at least two wins and podium positions, and Jacky Ickx , who was also failed, with 19 points should have won all three remaining races. In Canada there was a Ferrari double victory by Ickx ahead of Regazzoni. Thus only Ickx was able to overtake Rindt with two victories, his team mate Regazzoni could have achieved a maximum of equal points and thus the second place in the world championship standings.

In the penultimate race, the US Grand Prix , Ickx was on the first starting position, but in the middle of the race he lost a lap due to a defective fuel line, which decided the drivers' championship in Rindt's favor. It won Rindt's teammate, the Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi in the Lotus 72 , with which he secured Lotus the constructors' world championship. Jacky Ickx was fourth behind the second Lotus driver Reine Wisell ; he won the last race in Mexico again from Regazzoni.

Jochen Rindt is the only Formula 1 world champion to be awarded the title posthumously . His widow Nina accepted the world championship trophy.

In total, Rindt drove sixty Formula 1 Grand Prix races and won six or five of them in the 1970 season alone. Although he only achieved his first Formula 1 victory in 1969, he was in Formula 2 for years - even against other Formula 1 drivers - very successful and was considered the "king" of this formula racing class due to his numerous victories .

Others

• In 1965, Jochen Rindt organized the first Jochen Rindt show in the Vienna Messepalast , which later led to the MuseumsQuartier , which was continued by his wife Nina until 1975 after his death. Later it was to be continued by his successor Niki Lauda as the Niki Lauda Show . At times (1970-1977) The still held annually was Essen Motor Show the Messe Essen as Jochen Rindt-show called.
• His widow Nina was married to Alexander Hood, 4th Viscount Bridport , in third marriage 1979-1999 .
• The Briton Bernie Ecclestone , who controlled Formula 1 from the 1970s until the beginning of 2017, was a close friend and at times its manager.
• Udo Jürgens ' song "The Champ" is a tribute to Jochen Rindt.
• Rindt's grave is located in the Graz Central Cemetery next to the grave of the actor Rudolf Carl .
• 1982 in Vienna- was Liesing the Jochen Rindt street named after him.
• In Reininghaus, Graz will name a new square after Rindt in 2020.

statistics

Statistics in the automobile world championship

This statistic includes all participations of the driver in the automobile world championship , which is nowadays referred to as the Formula 1 world championship .

Grand Prix victories

1969 US Grand Prix ( Watkins Glen )  1970 Monaco Grand Prix ( Monte Carlo )  1970 Dutch Grand Prix ( Zandvoort )

1970 French Grand Prix ( Clermont-Ferrand )  1970 British Grand Prix ( Brands Hatch )  1970 German Grand Prix ( Hockenheim )

general overview

season	team	chassis	engine	run	Victories	Second	Third	Poles	nice Race laps	Points	WM-Pos.
1964	Rob Walker Racing Team	Brabham BT11	BRM 1.5 V8	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1965	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T73	Climax 1.5 V8	1	-	-	-	-	-	4th	13.
		Cooper T77		8th	-	-	-	-	-
1966	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T81	Maserati 3.0 V12	9	-	2	1	-	-	22 (24)	3.
1967	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T81	Climax 1.5 V8	3	-	-	-	-	-	6th	13.
		Cooper T81B		4th	-	-	-	-	-
		Cooper T86		3	-	-	-	-	-
1968	Brabham Racing Organization	Brabham BT24	Repco 3.0 V8	3	-	-	1	-	-	8th	12.
		Brabham BT26		9	-	-	1	2	-
1969	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Lotus 49B	Ford-Cosworth 3.0 V8	10	1	1	1	5	2	22nd	4th
1970	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Lotus 49C	Ford-Cosworth 3.0 V8	3	1	-	-	-	1	45	1.
		Lotus 72		1	-	-	-	-	-
		Lotus 72C		5	4th	-	-	3	-
total				60	6th	3	4th	10	3	109

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13
1964
							DNF
1965
	DNF	DNQ	11	DNF	14 *	DNF	4th	8th	6th	DNF
1966
	DNF	2	4th	5	DNF	3	4th	2	DNF
1967
	DNF	DNF	DNF	4th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	4th	DNF
1968
	3	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	3	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF
1969
	DNF	DNF		DNF	DNF	4th	DNF	2	3	1	DNF
1970
	13 *	DNF	1	DNF	1	1	1	1	DNF	DNS

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1964	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250LM	David Piper	failure	Oil pump
1965	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250LM	Masts Gregory	Overall victory
1966	FR English Ltd.	Ford GT40	Innes Ireland	failure	Engine failure
1967	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 907/6 long tail	Gerhard Mitter	failure	camshaft

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th
1964	Gotfrid Köchert NART	Ferrari 250LM	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
									DNF		DNF
1965	Porsche NART	Porsche 904 Ferrari 250LM	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
											3			1
1966	NART Porsche English Ltd.	Ferrari 250LM Porsche 906 Ford GT40	DAY	SEB	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	MUG	CCE	HOK	SIM	ONLY	ZEL
			9					DNF	DNF						9
1967	Porsche Jochen Rindt	Porsche 906 Porsche 910 Porsche 907	DAY	SEB	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	HOK	MUG	BRH	CCE	ZEL	OVI	ONLY
			DNF		3				DNF			11		10

See also

• List of fatally injured Formula 1 drivers

literature

• Alan Henry: Jochen Rindt. Hazleton Publishing Ltd, Richmond 1990, ISBN 0-905138-79-1 .
• Ferdi Kräling: Jochen Rindt. The first pop star in Formula 1. With texts by Herbert Völker and the extraordinary photo contributions by McKlein and Milan Schijatschky. Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-7688-2650-1 .
• Georg Lentz , Günther Effenberger , Günter K. Kodek (eds.): Jochen Rindt Reportage of a career. Ueberreuter, Vienna et al. 1970, ISBN 3-8000-9004-X .
• Erich F. Neger:  Rindt, Jochen. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-428-11202-4 , pp. 627 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Eric Thomas Neger: Jochen Rindt. Pictures from the life of the unforgettable world champion. Verlag Styria Printshop Druck GmbH, Graz 1999, ISBN 3-901921-08-7 .
• Martin Pfundner: Jochen Rindt. A picture biography. Böhlau, Vienna et al. 2012, ISBN 978-3-205-78827-0 .
• Heinz Prüller One of them: Jochen Rindt. Orac, Vienna 1966 (in English: Jochen Rindt. The Story of a World Champion. Translated from the German by Peter Easton. Kimber, London 1971, ISBN 0-7183-0162-5 ).
• Heinz Prüller Jochen Rindt. Tribute to a world champion. Motorbuch Verlag et al., Stuttgart 1970.
• Heinz Prüller Jochen Rindt. The James Dean of Formula I. Orac, Vienna et al. 1995, ISBN 3-7015-0351-6 .
• Friedel Schnitzler: Jochen Rindt. Copress-Verlag, Munich 1970.
• Helmut Zwickl : execution of a champion. The example of Jochen Rindt. Dichand & Falk, Vienna 1970.

Movie

• Jochen Rindts last summer - A dead man becomes world champion. Documentary by Eberhard Reuss. Germany 2010.
• Jochen Rindt is alive. Documentation by Christian Giesser. Germany.

Web links

Commons : Jochen Rindt  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Jochen Rindt in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Literature by and about Jochen Rindt in the catalog of the German National Library
• Official website about Jochen Rindt
• Report on the 30th anniversary of death
• Mortal only on the racetrack
• Entry on Jochen Rindt in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
• Jochen Rindt racing driver opera - Salzburgring 2009

Individual evidence

1. ↑ In the footsteps of the racing driver Jochen Rindt on SWR.de.
2. ↑ Picture ( Memento from December 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (Note: 'Monthery' is an equipment variant, not a type designation)
3. ^ List of results 1963 Innsbruck
4. ↑ The myth of Jochen Rindt ( Memento from November 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ The Monza drama: Rindt wanted to quit ten days before death - Formula1.de-F1-News . In: Formel1.de . ( formel1.de [accessed April 27, 2017]).
6. ^ Film website ( memento from September 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) at 3sat
7. ↑ DVD notice from 3sat, accessed on December 29, 2014.