Jochen Rindt : The Formula One DataBase

Next Race: 2009-03-29 15:00:00 GMT+11:00

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Birthdate:	April 18th 1942

Country:	Austria

Gender:	M

History:

Karl Jochen Rindt, the Austrian born in Mainz, Germany, is so far the only posthumous F1 world champion.

Rindt was born in Mainz in the height of the Second World War. When both of his parents were killed in bombing raids he moved to live with his grandparents in Graz, and subsequently began motor racing.

After an exceptionally good career in Formula 2, Rindt was ready for the big step into F1. However he always seemed to be in the wrong cars at the wrong time.

Jochen Rindt had out-standing skills behind the wheel - he was incredibly fast and competitive, and even though the three-year contract with Cooper (1965-67) and the troublesome Repco four-cam engine (1968) rarely allowed him to shine in F1, he was the undisputed king of F2 at the time - and this was an era wghen all the F1 stars would race in F2 as well, so it really counted.

Occasionally, when conditions made the driver's skills more improtant than the car's handling and power, Rindt would show what he was capable of - not the least in the 1966 Belgian GP, where he led most of the way, but had to give in to John Surtees near the end, when the rain eased.

He rose to stardom fast - one weekend in early 1964 was enough to make him famous, when he showed his skills in two British F2 races.

His first major win was the 1965 Le Mans 24 hrs where he and Masten Gregory raced flat out for the entire distance in a Ferrari 250LM, entered bythe US Ferrari importer, Luigi Chinetti - Chinetti had won the race as a driver in 1949 and now fullfilled his ambition of becoming the first man to win Le Mans both as a driver and as an entrant.

Rindt and Gregory didn't fancy their chances before the race - actually they agreed to drive flat out in the hope that their car would brake down so they could get home early - but it held together and they won!

Like other European stars of his era he also competed at Indianapolis - in 1967 he escaped a fiery accident unharmed. His throttle stuck open, and he directed his car towards the wall - but did so at such a small angle that the car would sldie along the wall and lose speed. However it caught fire, and Rindt had to jump ship at something like 25 mph.

When the rescue workers arrived, they were stunned to see Rindt with barely a scratch - and even more stunned when they discovered, that his pulse was already down to normal!

After the unsuccesful 1968 season Rindt had to chose between Brabham and Lotus - his F2 team manager, Bernie Ecclestone, said, that if he wanted to become champion, he should go to Lotus, but if staying alive was his main priority, Brabham would be the right choice. Rindt made it known that if Jack Brabham could match 75 percent of the wage offered by Colin Chapman, Rindt would go stay at Brabham, but Black Jack didn't have the cash, so Rindt signed for Lotus - and full-filled the prophecies of Bernie E.

His big break came in '69 when he was signed by Lotus. He took his first F1 win at Watkins Glen and went on to score 22 points, which was enough for fourth in the championship.

1970 would be Rindts best F1 season. Unfortunately it would also be his last. He began his season in style by winning the Monaco Grand Prix at the last corner. In the Lotus 72, he won 4 more races in Holland, France, Britain and Germany.

Going into the Italian Grand Prix at Monza Rindt now had a virtually unassailable lead in the championship. If results went his way he would take the title with three races to spare. But first he needed to win. However in practice Rindt's Lotus hit trouble, causing him to skate into the barriers at the Parabolica at high speed. Rindt died almost instantly. The results of the Italian Grand Prix mean that six drivers could take the title from Rindt. However when Jackie Ickx took maximum points in Canada he became the only man capable of denying Rindt his first title. Ickx needed to win every race, however when he failed to win the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, Rindt became Formula 1's first posthumous world champion.

Statistics

Statistic	#	Percentage	First	Last
Number of Grand Prix	62	100%	1964	1970
Number of starts	61	98.39%	1964	1970
Number of finishes	23	37.10%	1965	1970
Number of finishes on podium	13	20.97%	1966	1970
Number of finishes in points	21	33.87%	1965	1970
Number of retirements	37	59.68%	1964	1970
Number of wins	6	9.68%	1969	1970
Number of pole positions	10	16.13%	1968	1970
Number of fastest laps	3	4.84%	1969	1970
Number of doubles (pole position & win)	3	4.84%	1969	1970
Number of triples (pole position, win & fastest lap)	1	1.61%	1969	1969