The 1970 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza on 6 September 1970. It was race 10 of 13 in both the 1970 World Championship of Drivers and the 1970 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was marred by the death of Jochen Rindt, who died during the practice session on 5 September. Rindt himself went on to become Formula One's only posthumous World Champion to date. The 68-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Clay Regazzoni for his first Grand Prix victory after starting from third position. Jackie Stewart finished second for the Tyrrell team in one of the last races the team used the March chassis and Matra driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise came in third.
This was the last time that Monza was driven for 68 laps. From 1971 onwards, the race distance would be 55 laps. It was also the last win for a driver wearing an open-face helmet in Formula One. , this was also the last time all three podium finishers used different tyre brands; Regazzoni used Firestones, Stewart used Dunlops and Beltoise used Goodyears.
Qualifying classification PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGapGrid12 Jacky IckxFerrari1:24.14 —1210 Pedro RodríguezBRM1:24.36 +0.22234 Clay RegazzoniFerrari1:24.39 +0.253418 Jackie StewartMarch-Ford1:24.73 +0.59456 Ignazio GiuntiFerrari1:24.74 +0.60568 Jackie OliverBRM1:24.77 +0.636750 Jo SiffertMarch-Ford1:25.09 +0.957844 Jack BrabhamBrabham-Ford1:25.39 +1.258930 Denny HulmeMcLaren-Ford1:25.47 +1.3391014 John SurteesSurtees-Ford1:25.56 +1.42101120 François CevertMarch-Ford1:25.56 +1.42111222 Jochen RindtLotus-Ford1:25.71 +1.571334 Andrea de AdamichMcLaren-Alfa Romeo1:25.91 +1.77121452 Ronnie PetersonMarch-Ford1:25.93 +1.79131540 Jean-Pierre BeltoiseMatra1:26.01 +1.87141642 Henri PescaroloMatra1:26.04 +1.90151732 Peter GethinMcLaren-Ford1:26.19 +2.05161828 Graham HillLotus-Ford1:26.38 +2.241924 John MilesLotus-Ford1:26.51 +2.372046 Rolf StommelenBrabham-Ford1:26.60 +2.46172148 Chris AmonMarch-Ford1:26.67 +2.53182254 Tim SchenkenDe Tomaso-Ford1:26.67 +2.53192312 George EatonBRM1:27.15 +3.012038 Jo BonnierMcLaren-Ford1:28.07 +3.93—26 Emerson FittipaldiLotus-Ford1:28.39 +4.25—36 Nanni GalliMcLaren-Alfa Romeo1:28.59 +4.45—56 Silvio MoserBellasi-Ford1:28.61 +4.47—Source:
Jochen Rindt qualified 12th, but did not start the race after he was killed after a mechanical failure causing an accident in Saturday qualifying. His place in grid was left vacant.
Post-qualifying
Rindt died after seven minutes, before arriving to a hospital in Milan. The official time of death was given as 16 minutes, meaning that he had been killed instantly. The autopsy recorded the cause of death as head injuries likely caused by an impact from a wheel and suspension. Lotus team withdrew from the race on Sunday morning.
On 8 September, the FIA called a meeting at the request of the Italian Automobile Club to review the events of the weekend. Later on, the governing body announced new safety measures for the next round in Canada which included the entry and exit of the pit lane to be controlled by a curve to force cars to run at a reduced speed, no team mechanic would be allowed onto the pit lane surface except for pit stops and a draw would be arranged to determine the order in which cars make pit stops and be limited to emergencies with cars not taking on new tyres or allowed to refuel.
Rindt was the last Austrian driver for 24 years to die in a Formula One qualifying accident, until the death of Roland Ratzenberger from injuries sustained at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. It was also the last Austrian driver fatality until Helmut Koinigg at the 1974 United States Grand Prix.
Next two rounds, Rindt won the Driver’s Championship posthumously after the United States Grand Prix.
Race classification Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 4 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 68 1:39:07.1 3 9 2 18 Jackie Stewart March-Ford 68 + 5.73 4 6 3 40 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra 68 + 5.80 14 4 4 30 Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 68 + 6.15 9 3 5 46 Rolf Stommelen Brabham-Ford 68 + 6.41 17 2 6 20 François Cevert March-Ford 68 + 1:03.46 11 1 7 48 Chris Amon March-Ford 67 + 1 Lap 18 8 34 Andrea de Adamich McLaren-Alfa Romeo 61 + 7 Laps 12 32 Peter Gethin McLaren-Ford 60 + 8 Laps 16 8 Jackie Oliver BRM 36 Engine 6 52 Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 35 Engine 13 44 Jack Brabham Brabham-Ford 31 Accident 8 2 Jacky Ickx Ferrari 25 Clutch 1 12 George Eaton BRM 21 Overheating 20 54 Tim Schenken De Tomaso-Ford 17 Engine 19 6 Ignazio Giunti Ferrari 14 Fuel system 5 42 Henri Pescarolo Matra 14 Engine 15 10 Pedro Rodríguez BRM 12 Engine 2 50 Jo Siffert March-Ford 3 Engine 7 14 John Surtees Surtees-Ford 0 Electrical 10 16 Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford Practice only 28 Graham Hill Lotus-Ford Withdrew (Teammate's fatal accident) 24 John Miles Lotus-Ford Withdrew (Teammate's fatal accident) 22 Jochen Rindt Lotus-Ford Fatal accident in qualifying 38 Jo Bonnier McLaren-Ford 26 Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford Withdrew (Teammate's fatal accident) 36 Nanni Galli McLaren-Alfa Romeo 56 Silvio Moser Bellasi-Ford
Notes Lotus withdrew after the death of Jochen Rindt. Their places on the grid were left vacant.
Notes
This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Italian driver Nanni Galli. This was the 10th race start for British constructor March. This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British constructor Tyrrell.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jochen Rindt* 45 3 2 Jackie Stewart* 25 1 3 Jack Brabham* 25 1 4 Denny Hulme* 23 3 5 Clay Regazzoni* 21Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Lotus-Ford* 50 2 March-Ford* 39 3 Brabham-Ford* 35 1 4 Ferrari* 34 1 5 McLaren-Ford* 30Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Competitors in bold and marked with an asterisk still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
References