On this week #36: Karl Jochen Rindt
Karl Jochen Rindt was killed during qualifying for the 1970 Italian Grand Prix on 5 September at Monza, the only Formula 1 world champion to be crowned posthumously.
He was born in Mainz, Germany on 18 April 1942 to a German father and an Austrian mother. In 1943 both his parents were killed during the Allied bombing of Hamburg after whch he was brought up by his maternal grandparents in Graz, Austria. From a very early age he had a great love of speed and when he graduated from high school, his grandparents bought him a Simca Aronde Montlhery with which he began to compete in races, having previously raced on skis and motorcycles in his teenage years. His idol was Count Wolfgang von Trips, whose tragic death on the banking at Monza during the 1961 Italian Grand Prix did little to dent his enthusiasm: then 19, he was obviously unaware what fate had in store for him.
Rindt immediately proved quick in touring car races at the wheel of an Alfa Giulietta TI and in Formula Junior, making his Formula 1 debut in the non-championship and very first Austrian Grand Prix in Zeltweg. He was fast, impetuous, aggressive on track and confident off it, almost to the point of arrogance. In 1964, he invested in his future, buying a Brabham Formula 2 car to race in England, at the time the place to learn one's trade as a racing driver. He immediately stood out, beating drivers of the calibre of Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart. The move to Formula 1 was inevitable and that same year he made his debut in Austria for Brabham, qualifying 13th before having to retire just before half distance. In those days, Formula 1 drivers did not restrict themselves to the one category and he continued racing in Formula 2.
In 1965 Rindt signed a three year deal with Cooper but his greatest success that season came in an Italian car when, paired with Masten Gregory, he won the Le Mans 24 Hours with the North American Racing Team at the wheel of a Ferrari 250 LM. The Italian manufacturer swept the board taking the top three places, the last time it won this race outright prior to 2023. The Austrian fared less well in Formula 1 with the Cooper, as it wasn't a good enough car to fight at the front. In three years, Rindt only made it to the podium three times, all in 1966, when he did at least manage to finish third in the Drivers' championship.
In 1967, he continued in Formula 2, winning nine times, although the most significant moment for Rindt that year was his marriage to Finnish model, Nina Lincoln who, as motor racing rapidly moved with the times in the late Sixties and took on a glamorous image, became a star of the paddock, usually photographed recording her husband's lap times. Fed up with the Cooper, Rindt moved to Brabham in 1968 and although the car was very quick, its reliability was disastrous: from 13 Grands Prix, the best he could manage was two pole positions and two podium finishes in the only races in which he made it to the chequered flag.
In 1969, Rindt got the call from Colin Chapman to race alongside reigning world champion Graham Hill at Lotus and he soon proved to be quicker than his team-mate. The car was quick but fragile, especially its aerodynamic wings that were then in their infancy in Formula 1. In the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona's Montjuich circuit, the rear wing gave way, first on Hill's car and then on Rindt's causing a multiple accident that left the Austrian with concussion and a broken jaw. This led to plenty of criticism aimed at Chapman, but Rindt stayed with Lotus and finally took his first win in the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.
At the start of the following season, the Lotus 49 was still the car to beat, while waiting for its successor, the Lotus 72 to run reliably, a car that would be very influential on the next generation of Formula 1 machinery. At round 3, in Monaco, Rindt took an incredible win, working his way up to second as others retired before chasing down Jack Brabham at a furious pace, forcing the Australian into an error on the very last lap. Once the new car was ready, the Austrian seemed unbeatable, taking four wins in a row to lead the series going into the Austrian Grand Prix, which was back on the calendar that year. However, during that time, two of his colleagues and friends had been lost to their love of racing: Piers Courage in the Dutch Grand Prix and Bruce McLaren while testing at Goodwood. Rindt was considering retiring to a nice life with Nina and their little girl Natasha, but there was unfinished business to attend to. At his home race, his engine let him down after 21 laps, but he could still wrap up the title next time out in Monza. He led Brabham by 20 points, Denny Hulme by 25 and Jacky Ickx and Jackie Stewart by 26. It seems it was a mechanical failure, although it was never proven beyond doubt, that let him down at the Parabolica corner, sending his Lotus into the barrier, splitting it in two at pretty much the same spot where Von Trips had died nine years earlier. Those who were first on the scene, including his friend Bernie Ecclestone, immediately realised there was nothing to be done and Rindt died while being taken to hospital.
His tragic end created quite a stir, as Rindt had become a personality far beyond just the sports pages. And his racing legacy went on after his death, because in the four remaining races that season, no driver was able to match his points total. Ickx came close, finishing fourth at Watkins Glen in a race won by Rindt's replacement at Lotus, Emerson Fittipaldi, which meant the Austrian was world champion with one race still to go.
On 17 November 1970 at FISA headquarters in the Place de la Concorde in Paris, the world champion's trophy was presented to Nina Rindt by Jackie Stewart who, along with Jochen had been instrumental in pushing for greater safety in racing and giving the drivers a much stronger voice in the debate. It was the start of a safety push that has seen enormous strides taken over the decades, even if the risks are always there, an essential element of motor racing, which makes the drivers heroes in the eyes of many. Rindt was certainly one of them.
During his brief time in Formula 1, Jochen Rindt took part in 60 Grands Prix, winning six, starting from pole ten times, with 13 podium finishes to his name and 37 retirements.
