The 1969 South African Grand Prix, formally the Third AA Grand Prix of South Africa (Afrikaans: Derde AA Suid-Afrikaanse Grand Prix), was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on 1 March 1969. It was race 1 of 11 in both the 1969 World Championship of Drivers and the 1969 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 80-lap race was won by Matra driver Jackie Stewart after he started from fourth position. Graham Hill finished second for the Lotus team and McLaren driver Denny Hulme came in third.

Background

In the weeks leading up to the first Formula One race of the season, entries were being announced for the race, with all the teams, apart from Ferrari expected to nominate two drivers for the race. Enzo Ferrari, the managing director of the team he founded, announced that Ferrari were only going to nominate one driver for the race. To most people's surprise, Ferrari at first nominated two drivers for the race without explanation. However, the decision was later changed, with only Chris Amon nominated eventually for Ferrari. Brabham, BRM, Lotus, Matra and McLaren all chose to nominate two drivers for the race meeting.

Classification

Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 14 Jack Brabham Brabham-Ford 1:20.0 — 2 2 Jochen Rindt Lotus-Ford 1:20.2 +0.2 3 5 Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 1:20.3 +0.3 4 7 Jackie Stewart Matra-Ford 1:20.4 +0.4 5 9 Chris Amon Ferrari 1:20.5 +0.5 6 3 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 1:20.8 +0.8 7 1 Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 1:21.1 +1.1 8 6 Bruce McLaren McLaren-Ford 1:21.1 +1.1 9 18 Basil van Rooyen McLaren-Ford 1:21.8 +1.8 10 16 John Love Lotus-Ford 1:22.1 +2.1 11 8 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra-Ford 1:22.2 +2.2 12 4 Jo Siffert Lotus-Ford 1:22.2 +2.2 13 15 Jacky Ickx Brabham-Ford 1:23.1 +3.1 14 11 Jackie Oliver BRM 1:24.1 +4.1 15 12 Pedro Rodríguez BRM 1:25.2 +5.2 16 19 Peter de Klerk Brabham-Repco 1:27.2 +7.2 17 17 Sam Tingle Brabham-Repco 1:50.4 +30.4 10 John Surtees BRM 1:21.8 +1.8 Surtees's qualifying time was excluded as he had started at the back of the grid.

Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 7 Jackie Stewart Matra-Ford 80 1:50:39.1 4 9 2 1 Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 80 + 18.8 7 6 3 5 Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 80 + 31.8 3 4 4 4 Jo Siffert Lotus-Ford 80 + 49.2 12 3 5 6 Bruce McLaren McLaren-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 8 2 6 8 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 11 1 7 11 Jackie Oliver BRM 77 + 3 Laps 14   8 17 Sam Tingle Brabham-Repco 73 + 7 Laps 17   19 Peter de Klerk Brabham-Repco 67 + 13 Laps 16   2 Jochen Rindt Lotus-Ford 44 Fuel Pump 2   10 John Surtees BRM 40 Engine 18   12 Pedro Rodríguez BRM 38 Water Leak 15   9 Chris Amon Ferrari 34 Engine 5   14 Jack Brabham Brabham-Ford 32 Handling 1   3 Mario Andretti Lotus-Ford 31 Gearbox 6   16 John Love Lotus-Ford 31 Ignition 10   15 Jacky Ickx Brabham-Ford 20 Ignition 13   18 Basil van Rooyen McLaren-Ford 12 Brakes 9  

Notes

This was the 100th race for BRM as an engine supplier. In those 100 races, they had won 14 Grands Prix, achieved 56 podiums, 9 pole positions, 12 fastest laps, 2 Grand Slams, and had won 1 Driver's and 1 Constructor's World Championship.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jackie Stewart 9 2 Graham Hill 6 3 Denny Hulme 4 4 Jo Siffert 3 5 Bruce McLaren 2Source:

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Matra-Ford 9 2 Lotus-Ford 6 3 McLaren-Ford 4Source:

Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

Further reading