1969 Formula One season

The 1969 Formula One season was the 23rd season of the FIA 's Formula One motor racing. It featured the 20th World Championship of Drivers , the 12th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and four non-championship races open to Formula One cars. The World Championship was contested over eleven races between 1 March and 19 October 1969.

British driver Jackie Stewart , driving a Matra - Ford Cosworth , won more than half of the races and claimed his first Drivers' Championship. [ 1 ] The Matra works team did not compete in this season, but the privateer Matra International team, led by Ken Tyrrell , helped Matra win the Manufacturers' Cup. [ 2 ] Both titles were the first titles won by a French constructor, and still remain the only titles won by a car built in France. [ 3 ]

Going into the second half of the season, Chris Amon left Ferrari . The Italian team signed Mexican driver Pedro Rodríguez from BRM .

The Belgian Grand Prix was originally to be held on 8 June, but Jackie Stewart , a strong advocate for safety in Formula One, had inspected the track and demanded multiple changes to the circuit. The track owners did not grant his wishes and the drivers boycotted the Grand Prix. [ 4 ] [ 5 ]

Aerodynamics had been the talk of the town since last season and most teams chose to implement front and rear wings, besides the front nose spoilers which had been around a little longer. Lotus had pioneered movable wings, operated by a fourth pedal at the driver's feet, and their rivals had used the winter stop to implement a system of their own. McLaren , for example, gave their drivers a lever next to their left hand to flatten the rear wing, giving more speed on the straight, and connected t...

At the beginning of the season, the wings were positioned as high as possible to generate the most downforce and secured on the car's suspension to push the tyres into the ground. But when the 1969 Spanish Grand Prix featured several dramatic crashes, the FIA (then known as the Commission Sportive Internationale or CSI ) banned all use of wings. Only the aerofoils on the nose were still allowed. This was suddenly decided after the first practice session of the Monaco Grand Prix . [ 7 ]

From the next race on, wings would be allowed again, but only if there no movable parts, if they were rigidly attached to sprung parts of the bodywork (so not to the suspension ) and fell within a certain maximum height and width . These rules were introduced for the Dutch Grand Prix and strictly enforced from the French Grand Prix on. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ]

During practice for the South African Grand Prix , reigning champion Graham Hill broke the pedal operating the wings, while the wings themselves broke on the cars of his Lotus teammates Jochen Rindt and Mario Andretti . The American driver had noticed that, when going through a fast corner, the wing leant sideways so far that it touched the rear tyre and twisted the struts . Three-time World Champion Jack Brabham qualified on pole position in the car bearing his name , ahead of Rindt and 1967 ch...

For the first time, the Spanish Grand Prix was run at Montjuïc circuit (although the street circuit had existed since 1933). During practice, Rindt hit a stray dog and damaged his suspension but still managed to qualify on pole, ahead of Amon and Hill. Stewart and Brabham qualified on the second row. Only twelve drivers managed to start the race and Hill crashed out after just six laps, but Rindt led away without trouble. On lap 20, however, his rear wing collapsed while travelling 225 km/h (140...

Going into the Monaco Grand Prix , one could have expected unified actions to control the high and fragile wings, but it took the CSI ( FIA ) until after the first practice was already run. In the meantime, Matra had added even more aerodynamic pieces to their cars' noses and Ferrari had implemented an hydraulically -controlled wing. Stewart set a lap time that looked unbeatable, but when all aerofoils and wings were banned, the FIA also scrapped all times from Thursday practice. After this rese...

The ban on movable wings was still active during the Dutch Grand Prix , but the CSI now allowed aerodynamic devices if they were fixed to the bodywork (and not to the suspension) and could not move. With the regulations formulated quite loosely, though, teams provoked the Dutch scrutineers with some daring designs, only some of which were banned. Furthermore, Matra and Lotus introduced four-wheel drive cars, but only tried them out in practice. Rindt qualified on pole, with Stewart and Hill next...

In the Drivers' Championship, Jackie Stewart ( Matra ) was leading with 27 points, ahead of Graham Hill ( Lotus ) with 15 and Jo Siffert (Lotus) with 13. For the Manufacturers' Cup, Matra was leading the standings with 27 points, ahead of Lotus (21) and McLaren (15).

With the rules on aerodynamic devices now formalised, the French Grand Prix would likely show who the favourites would be for the title. And first of all, it was Jackie Stewart claiming pole position for Matra , ahead of 1967 champion Denny Hulme for McLaren and Jochen Rindt for Lotus . Reigning champion Graham Hill started down in eighth, out of just thirteen entrants. The Lotus 63 was prepared for their Formula Three driver John Miles , giving him the honour to make the first ever start in a f...

During practice for the British Grand Prix , it was again Stewart who set the pace from the beginning, and he was comfortable to switch to the four-wheel drive Matra MS84 . McLaren launched their four-wheel drive car, the M9A-1 , while Lotus came prepared with two four-wheel drive cars, having convinced Hill to give it a try. But it was Rindt in the two-wheel drive Lotus 49 B that gave Stewart a real run for his money: the Austrian came within two tenths of a second of the Scot , who felt anothe...

For the German Grand Prix , twelve Formula Two cars complemented the grid, and one of them, Gerhard Mitter , was sadly killed during practice. On the F1 grid, it was Ickx who set his first pole position of the year, ahead of Stewart and Rindt, and the Belgian made a good start. Mario Andretti , coming over from the United States to further develop the four-wheel drive Lotus, slowed down during the first lap and saw Vic Elford crashing into him and flying into the trees. The McLaren driver broke ...

Ickx had climbed up to second place in the standings, but was looking at such a distance to Stewart, that the championship would be decided at the Italian Grand Prix if the Scot managed to win the race. During qualifying , he did not manage more than third, behind Rindt and Hulme, but overtook the New Zealander at the start and the Austrian later in the first lap. Ickx had to pit when his oil pressure dropped. The three at the front traded places a couple of times, with a group of five drivers b...

His sixth win of the season gave Jackie Stewart ( Matra ) an unsurmountable lead in the Drivers' Championship. He stood at 60 points, ahead of Bruce McLaren ( McLaren ) with 24 and Jacky Ickx ( Brabham ) with 22. Matra now also had enough to be awarded the Manufacturers' Cup with 60 points, ahead of Lotus with 34 and Brabham with 30.

After he was injured in a testing accident in June, [ 17 ] triple World Champion Jack Brabham returned to the grid for the Canadian Grand Prix . He would finish this season and then retire, also selling his shares of the Brabham team to co-founder Ron Tauranac . In practice , at least three drivers spun or crashed out on the slippery sandy surface of Mosport , but Jacky Ickx managed to qualify on pole position , five tenths ahead of the competition. It was Jochen Rindt , however, that took the l...

The United States Grand Prix was the penultimate round of the championship and saw Rindt take his fifth pole position of the year, ahead of Hulme and Stewart. Ickx started down in eighth after a hair-raising spin off the track in practice. After the start, Rindt and Stewart left the field behind and the Scot took the lead on lap 12, when the Austrian made a slight error. Rindt kept pressing, however, and was back in front on lap 21, the two already running half a lap ahead of the competition. On...

In qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix , Jack Brabham claimed pole with a new lap record. Going into his supposedly final race, the Australian had lost none of his speed, beating the old record by more than a second. Ickx and Stewart started beside him on the front row, and it was the Scot who took the lead, before Ickx took it on lap 2. Stewart then fell back a bit, with fourth-starting Hulme rising to the occasion. On lap 10, the McLaren passed the Brabham for the lead and sailed away. Ickx ...

Jackie Stewart ( Matra ) finished first in the Drivers' Championship with 63 points, ahead of Jacky Ickx ( Brabham ) with 37 and Bruce McLaren ( McLaren ) with 26. In the standings for the Manufacturers' Cup, Matra had achieved 66 points, ahead of Brabham with 49 and Lotus with 47.

Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers. Formula 2 cars were not eligible for Championship points. The International Cup for F1 Manufacturers only counted the points of the highest-finishing driver for each race. For both the Championship and the Cup, the best five results from rounds 1-6 and the best four results from rounds 7-11 were counted.

Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points were awarded in the following system:

Formula 2 cars occupied the positions between fifth and tenth at the German GP, but the drivers who drove these cars did not earn points for the championship. The fifth and sixth points went to the eleventh and twelfth in the race, Siffert and Beltoise.

Other Formula One races were held in 1969, which did not count towards the World Championship. The Madrid Grand Prix and Gold Cup were held concurrently with Formula 5000 cars.