Jochen Rindt

Jochen Rindt

Rindt in 1970
Born	Karl Jochen Rindt 18 April 1942 Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Died	5 September 1970 (aged 28) Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Lombardy, Italy
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Austrian^1
Active years	1964–1970
Teams	Rob Walker (Privateer Brabham), Cooper, Brabham, Lotus
Entries	62 (60 starts)
Championships	1 (1970)
Wins	6
Podiums	13
Career points	107 (109)^2
Pole positions	10
Fastest laps	3
First entry	1964 Austrian Grand Prix
First win	1969 United States Grand Prix
Last win	1970 German Grand Prix
Last entry	1970 Italian Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career Participating years 1964 – 1967 Teams NART Comstock Racing Porsche Best finish 1st (1965) Class wins 1 (1965)

Karl Jochen Rindt ([kaʁl ˈjɔχn̩ ʀɪnt]; 18 April 1942 – 5 September 1970) was a German-born racing driver who represented Austria during his career. In 1970, he became the only driver to posthumously win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, after being killed in practice for the Italian Grand Prix.

Rindt started motor racing in 1961, switching to single-seaters in 1963, earning success in both Formula Junior and Formula Two. In 1964, Rindt made his debut in Formula One at the Austrian Grand Prix, before securing a full drive with Cooper for 1965. After mixed success with the team, he moved to Brabham for 1968 and then Lotus in 1969. It was at Lotus where Rindt found a competitive car, although he was often concerned about the security of the notoriously unreliable Lotus vehicles. He won his first Formula One race at the 1969 United States Grand Prix.

In 1970, Rindt took five victories before his fatal accident, earning enough points to win the Drivers' World Championship. Overall, he competed in 62 Grands Prix, winning six and achieving 13 podium finishes. He was also successful in sports car racing, winning the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans, paired with Masten Gregory in a Ferrari 250LM

Early life and family

Jochen Rindt was born on 18 April 1942 in Mainz, Germany, to an Austrian mother and German father. His parents were killed in a bombing raid in Hamburg during the Second World War^[1] when he was one year old. He was thus raised by his grandparents in Graz, Austria, where he grew up.^[2] Rindt's mother had been a successful tennis player in her youth and later studied law, like her father, who was a lawyer.^[3] His parents owned a spice mill in Mainz, which was inherited by Rindt. His grandfather opted for Rindt to maintain German citizenship, but Rindt drove his entire career under an Austrian racing licence.^[4] In an interview, he described his heritage as a "terrible mixture" and, when asked if he felt more Austrian or German, said that he felt "like a European".^[5] Rindt had one half-brother, Uwe, through his mother.^[3]

The young Rindt has been described by his brother and friends as a "laddish child", often performing tricks for his friends. While on a skiing holiday, he broke his femoral neck, leading to several surgeries that left one leg 4 centimetres (1.6 in) shorter than the other. As a result of this, Rindt limped slightly for the rest of his life.^[3] When Rindt was sixteen years old, he got a moped and started racing his friends on motocross tracks.^[5] His time in school was troubled and he got expelled from schools more than once.^[6] He said:

In the end I got thrown out and went to England to learn English. I learned to drive while I was in England but I was too young to get a licence. When I went back home I broke my leg skiing but I decided I was more than capable of driving myself – even though I had one leg in plaster. I actually drove without a licence for 18 months and then got caught the day before I was eligible to collect it.^[2]

Obtaining a licence was put into further jeopardy because he had collected eight recorded misdoings with the police during his youth. In 1960, he received his first car, a Volkswagen Beetle, through his parents' spice mill company in Mainz.^[7] His interest in motorsport was really sparked when he visited the 1961 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring with school friends, including fellow future Formula One driver Helmut Marko.^[8][9] In the same year, Rindt's idol, the German Wolfgang von Trips, died in an accident at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix. However, Rindt still opted to go into the sport and started racing touring cars around that time.^[2]

Racing career

Beginnings

Rindt drove his first race at the Flugplatzrennen in 1961, in an Abarth Simca 2000. After missing the official application period, he only entered after prominent intervention from a friend from Graz.^[9] During the race, he was black flagged for his dangerous driving style, signalling his disqualification. He did not immediately come into the pits however, since he was unaware of the regulations. Rindt entered several rallies with his Simca, but was unable to score good results, until he was provided with a race-prepared Alfa Romeo GT 1300 at cost price and with free servicing, by a local dealer in which he achieved eight victories, almost all the races he entered.^[8]

In 1963, he switched to Formula Junior with the assistance of Kurt Bardi-Barry, a wealthy owner of a travelling agency and one of Austria's leading drivers at the time. Barry handed his one year old Cooper T67^[8] to Rindt and the two formed a partnership, driving to races together. He was fastest in practice for his first race in Vallelunga, a race that Barry won, but took victory in only his second attempt at Cesenatico. In the race, Rindt had taken advantage of an accident in the early stages. While most drivers slowed for the incoming ambulance, he raced ahead between straw bales and the ambulance to take the lead. He was notorious for his dangerous style, almost crashing into the crowd of spectators at a race in the streets of Budapest.^[10]

Formula Two

Rindt in a F2 Lotus 69 at the Eifelrennen in 1970

Rindt was highly successful in Formula Two racing, amassing a total of 29 victories.^[5] He once again entered the series in partnership with Barry, driving Brabham cars. With engines provided from Cosworth that were notoriously different in performance, Rindt reacted to getting a slower engine by declaring: "Then I just brake two metres later."^[3] He entered his first F2 race in April 1964 at the Preis von Wien at Aspern, retiring from both heats.^[11] The international motor racing world first took notice of him on 18 May 1964, when Rindt won the London Trophy race at the Crystal Palace circuit in a Brabham BT10 ahead of Graham Hill.^[12][13]

Like many other drivers at the time, Rindt continued to race in Formula Two races next to his duties in Formula One, with his last F2 appearance being the Festspielpreis der Salzburg in August 1970.^[14] In 1967, he dominated Formula Two, winning nine races in his Brabham BT23. However, as a graded driver, his results did not count towards the championship, handing the title to Jacky Ickx.^[3] Still, his performances led him to be called "king of Formula 2" by the racing press. He had a long-standing relationship with Roy Winkelmann, with whose team he drove until it closed at the end of 1969.^[12]

Sports cars

The Ferrari 250LM that took Rindt to his win at the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans

Next to single-seater racing, Rindt also took up sports car racing in the mid-1960s. His greatest result came at the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans. Sharing the drive of a Ferrari 250LM with American Masten Gregory for the North American Racing Team, Rindt won the event. At the start, when the drivers had to run to their cars, Rindt entered his vehicle with a forward roll that allowed him to get his foot on the throttle instantly, taking an early lead.^[15] He drove most of the night, advancing from 18th to third position by the dawn of morning. According to Austrian motorsport journalist Helmut Zwickl, both Rindt and Gregory had planned on driving the car on the limit, expecting it to break before half distance.^[5] Indeed, Jacky Ickx later proclaimed both had driven "like maniacs". However, the car survived, handing the pair what Ickx called an "unexpected victory".^[5][16]

Later the same year, Rindt drove, again in a Ferrari 250LM, at the 500 kilometre race at Zeltweg. He was able to win ahead of the better powered Ferrari of Mike Parkes due to a special lever that manually activated the brake lights. Using the tool shortly before his actual braking point, Rindt was able to force Parkes to brake earlier than him and allowed himself to stay ahead.^[3]

Rindt started at Le Mans a total of four times. Apart from his 1965 victory, he never finished the race. At his debut in 1964, sharing a Ferrari 250LM with David Piper, the car retired too early for Rindt even to take the wheel.^[17] In 1966, his Ford GT40 (shared with Innes Ireland) suffered an engine failure.^[18] A year later, he drove a Porsche 907 with Gerhard Mitter until their camshaft failed.^[19]

Formula One

Cooper and Brabham (1964–1968)

Rindt got his Formula One debut at his home race, the 1964 Austrian Grand Prix, in a loaned Brabham BT11 supplied by the Rob Walker Racing Team. He retired on the 58th lap with a broken steering column in what was to be his only Grand Prix of the season.^[5][20]

Rindt on his way to fourth place at the 1965 German Grand Prix

For the 1965 Formula One season, Rindt got a permanent drive with Cooper, paired with Bruce McLaren. He did not have immediate success, as the former top team was struggling at the time. In his first race with the team, in South Africa, he suffered a broken wire to the transistor. The damage was repaired only to break again, leaving Rindt to retire on track.^[21] His best result was a fourth place at the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.^[12] He ended the season with four points, 13th in the championship.^[22]

For 1966, Cooper introduced the T81 chassis and used nine year old Maserati V12 engines, which were powerful but overweight. The car was still competitive as many teams struggled with the new 3 litre engine formula. Rindt became team leader as McLaren left, at least until 1964 World Champion John Surtees joined from Ferrari.^[12] At the second race of the year, the Belgian Grand Prix, Rindt overcame an engine failure in practice to qualify second, next to Surtees on the front row of the grid. In a race marred by heavy rain, he overtook Surtees for the lead on lap four. He spun multiple times on the wet track and suffered from a limited-slip differential, but held onto the lead until lap 21, when Surtees repassed him and won. It was Rindt's first ever podium finish in Formula One however, in what Motor Sport magazine called a "very courageous" drive.^[23] Overall, he achieved three podium positions, handing him third place in the championship at the end of the year.^[5][24]

1967 was less successful, as Rindt only finished two races, the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix, both in fourth place.^[12] Six points meant that he ended the season in 13th place in the championship.^[25]

In 1968, Rindt, who had received offers from all teams except for Lotus and Honda,^[3] moved to Brabham, who had been world champions in the two previous seasons. However, his season was not what he had hoped for because of technical problems. Brabham's Repco V8 engine was not competitive against the now widely used Cosworth DFV^[12] and Rindt finished just two races, both in third place. At the season opener in South Africa on New Year's Day, Rindt placed third, being elevated by a late retirement from Jackie Stewart and closing on second placed Graham Hill towards the end.^[26] It was the last race and victory for Jim Clark, a close friend of Rindt's, who died three months later at a Formula Two race at Hockenheim.^[27] Rindt was deeply affected by the loss of Clark, telling Austrian journalist Heinz Prüller: "If Jim Clark is not safe, what can happen to us?"^[5] His second podium finish came under treacherous conditions of heavy rain and fog at the Nürburgring at the German Grand Prix, a race dominated by Stewart, who finished four minutes ahead of second placed Hill. Rindt had closed on Hill in the latter stages of the race after the Englishman had spun, and finished just four seconds behind after a close battle during the last lap.^[28][29] His eight points placed him twelfth in the championship at the end of the season.^[30]

During these years, he also raced in the Indianapolis 500 in both 1967 and 1968, but finished no better than 24th.^[31][32] In an interview in 2014, Heinz Prüller recalled Rindt speaking about Indianapolis in 1967: "In Indianapolis, I always feel like I am on my way to my own funeral."^[33] At another occasion, he said about the track: "It is catastrophic, I only drive there because of the money."^[15]

Team Lotus (1969–1970)

Rindt had a strained relationship with Lotus team owner Colin Chapman.

For the 1969 season, Rindt again switched teams, joining 1968 world champions Lotus, pairing up with defending drivers' champion Graham Hill. Rindt had not felt comfortable with the move, citing the Lotus cars' notorious unreliability. In fact, in a twenty-month period between 1967 and 1969, the team had incurred 31 accidents. Hill alone was involved in nine crashes between 1968 and 1970, which led him to joke: "Every time I am being overtaken by my own wheel, I know I am in a Lotus."^[34] On signing with Lotus and their team owner Colin Chapman, Rindt's friend and de facto manager Bernie Ecclestone, who had negotiated the deal, commented that although they knew that perhaps a better proposition would have been to drive for Brabham, they were always concerned about the fact that they knew Lotus were going to be quick, and Rindt wanted to win the championship.^[5] Rindt's hesitation about Lotus is underlined by the often repeated quotation: "At Lotus, I can either be world champion or die."^[35][36] Because of his doubts, Rindt did not sign the contract with Lotus until shortly before the 1969 Spanish Grand Prix.^[5]

Rindt at the 1969 German Grand Prix

Rindt's scepticism about Lotus appeared to be right when both he and Hill suffered high speed crashes at the Spanish Grand Prix at Montjuïc. In both instances, the high, suspension mounted wings broke off, causing accidents that many felt could have killed either driver. The effect of the failure lifted Rindt off the track and into the barriers, crashing into the stationary car of Hill, who had his accident at the same spot.^[37] Although he walked away from the scene with only a broken nose, one marshal lost an eye and another suffered a broken foot. Rindt was furious with Chapman over the failure, and told a reporter after the accident: "I place the blame on him [Chapman] and rightfully so, because he should have calculated that the wing would break." In an interview on Austrian television one day later, he was even more articulate: "These wings are insanity [ein Wahnsinn] in my eyes and should not be allowed on racing cars. [...] But to get any wisdom into Colin Chapman's head is impossible." Asked whether he had lost trust in Lotus after the accident, he replied: "I never had any trust in Lotus", going on to describe his relationship with the team as "purely business".^[5][3] His accident left him sidelined for the Monaco Grand Prix, a race that Hill won.^[38]

Jackie Stewart later described Rindt's 1969 season as the year that he "came of age".^[3] At the end of the year, Motor Sport magazine called him "[t]he only driver to challenge Stewart seriously throughout the season", albeit placing only fourth in the championship. He suffered from the poor reliability of the Lotus 49B, retiring from seven races, second only to Jackie Oliver.^[39] At the British Grand Prix, Rindt fought a close battle with Stewart for the lead, both being 90 seconds ahead of third-placed Jacky Ickx. The race was decided in Stewart's favour only when Rindt had to go into the pits because part of his bodywork had started to rub on his tyre. He would finish fourth.^[40] Rindt took his first ever Grand Prix win at the penultimate race of the season at Watkins Glen, winning the highest ever prize money in Formula One at the time: $50,000.^[3] His victory was however overshadowed by a serious accident of his teammate Hill, who crashed when one of his tyres punctured at high speed, suffering major leg injuries.^[41]

For 1970, Rindt was partnered at Lotus by John Miles, as Graham Hill left the team to drive for Rob Walker's costumer franchise, establishing Rindt as the clear team leader.^[42] At the first Grand Prix of the season in South Africa, he qualified on the second row in fourth, but eventually retired with an engine failure after being entangled in a first lap incident with Chris Amon and Jack Brabham, who would go on to win his last ever Grand Prix.^[43] At the following race, the Spanish Grand Prix, Lotus introduced their new Lotus 72, a revolutionary design. Instead of the conventional front radiator, it featured two radiators at each side of the driver's cockpit. Further innovations included torsion bar brakes in place of the widely used coil-springs, with all four brakes now mounted inboard.^[44] During its first ever practice session, the left semi-axis of the car broke, sending Rindt into a spin.^[3] In addition, the car proved ineffective in the race, with Rindt retiring after nine laps.^[44]

With the Lotus 72 "not as good as we had imagined it", the car was sent back to the factory to be re-built and Rindt used the old Lotus 49 for the next race in Monaco. However, the 49 needed to be used with the new 72-type tyres, causing the car to be unstable. Seemingly unaffected by this, Rindt produced what his race engineer Herbie Blash called "the race of his life". From eighth on the grid, he worked his way through the field on a track notorious for lack of overtaking opportunities. In the closing stages, he was second, steadily closing the gap on leader Jack Brabham. On the very last lap, at Gasometer hairpin, the final corner of the circuit, Brabham made a mistake: he braked too late, touched the kerbstone and went straight ahead into the straw balls, allowing Rindt through to take his first victory of the season. Rindt used the Lotus 49 one last time at the Belgian Grand Prix, a race at which he heavily criticised the organisers for installing guardrails that had several metre gaps in between them.^[5] He had originally started practice in the remodelled 72, but the car came to a halt early in the session with a broken lower wishbone, forcing Rindt to switch cars once more. Even with engine troubles during the rest of practice, he still managed to qualify on the front row, but later retired with another engine failure.^[45]

Rindt took the Lotus 72's maiden victory at the 1970 Dutch Grand Prix.

At the Dutch Grand Prix, Rindt eventually used the new Lotus 72, better sorted after anti-dive and anti-squat had been removed. After being only tenth in first practice, he set pole position in the second session. He suffered another accident however, when he braked too late, misjudging his new brake discs, crashing head-on into the barriers, forcing his mechanics to repair the car overnight.^[5] Rindt went on to take his maiden victory in the Lotus 72, but it was not a joyful occasion for him: On lap 23, his close friend Piers Courage, with whom he had eaten dinner just the night before, died in a fiery crash. Rindt was heavily shaken by the loss of yet another fellow driver and contemplated retirement.^[46]

After the success of Zandvoort, Rindt gained confidence in the new Lotus 72, describing it as "the best racing car that exists at the moment".^[3] Yet, bad luck continued to follow him. During practice for the French Grand Prix, Rindt had opted to drop his new all-enveloping Bell-Star crash helmet, finding it too hot. He went back to using his open-front helmet, only to be hit in the face by a stone from another car, causing a deep cut on his right cheek.^[47] Furthermore, he suffered a steering failure on his car. Furious over yet another mechanical problem, he stormed into the Lotus pits and yelled at Colin Chapman: "If this happens again and I survive, I will kill all of you!"^[3] Still, Rindt was able to win the race, taking the lead in the championship.^[47] The next race was the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. Jacky Ickx established an early lead ahead of Brabham and Rindt, but when Ickx's transmission failed, Rindt seized the opportunity to pass Brabham for the lead. Brabham was then able to regain the top spot on lap 69 as Rindt missed a gear and looked the certain winner, only to repeat his misfortune of Monaco: On the last lap, he ran out of fuel, allowing Rindt to take his third win in a row. His victory was cast into doubt however shortly after the race when Chief Scrutineer Cecil Mitchell found the rear aerofoil not at the regulated height. Rindt was provisionally disqualified, only to be reinstated as winner after three hours of deliberation.^[3][48]

The German Grand Prix was originally set to take place at its traditional venue, the Nürburgring. The Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), represented by Rindt and Graham Hill, demanded changes made to the circuit to increase safety, including Armco barriers along the entire 22.8 kilometres (14.2 mi) of the Nordschleife. No agreement was reached and the Grand Prix moved to Hockenheim, where Rindt took his fourth victory in succession. The race was another classic two-way fight, this time between Rindt and Ickx, who exchanged the lead several times.^[5] This meant that he could have secured the drivers' title at his home event at the Austrian Grand Prix. To the delight of the crowd, he set the Lotus 72 on pole position, but retired from the race with an engine failure.^[49] The title decision was therefore postponed to the next race in Monza.^[3]

Death and legacy

Rindt in 1969

The paddock next moved to the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, a track known for being very fast with cars often using the slipstream of drivers in front to achieve faster speeds. Therefore, many teams opted to drop the rear wings mounted on the cars in order to increase lap times. Lotus and Rindt followed the lead of Stewart in the Tyrrell run March and Denny Hulme of McLaren in an attempt to reduce drag. The more powerful flat-12 Ferraris of Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni had been up to 10 mph (16 km/h) faster than the Lotus at the previous race in Austria. Rindt's team mate John Miles was unhappy with the wingless setup in Friday practice, reporting that the car "wouldn't run straight". Rindt reported no such problems, and Chapman recalled that Rindt reported the car to be "almost 800 rpm faster on the straight" without wings.^[50]

On the following day, Rindt ran with higher gear ratios fitted to his car to take advantage of the reduced drag, increasing the car's potential top speed to 205 mph (330 km/h).^[51] On his fifth lap, he crashed heavily at the approach to the Parabolica corner. Hulme, who was following Rindt at the time, described the accident as follows:

Jochen was following me for several laps and slowly catching me up and I didn't go through the second Lesmo corner very quick so I pulled to the one side and let Jochen past me and then I followed him down into the Parabolica, [...] we were going very fast and he waited until about the 200 metres to put on the brakes. The car just sort of went to the right and then it turned to the left and turned out to the right again and then suddenly just went very quickly left into the guardrail.^[5]

Upon impact, a joint in the crash barrier parted, the suspension dug in under the barrier, and the car hit a stanchion head-on. The front end of the car was destroyed. Although the 28-year-old Rindt was rushed to hospital, he was pronounced dead. Rindt was in the habit of using only four points on the five point harness then available and did not wear the crotch straps, as he wanted to be able to get out of the car quickly in the event of fire. As a result, upon impact he slid under the belts and suffered fatal throat injuries.^[2][52][53] Later investigations found that the accident was initiated by a failure of the car's right front brake shaft, but that Rindt's death was caused by poorly installed crash barriers.^[54][38] Rindt was pronounced dead on the way to hospital and Lotus withdrew all cars from the race, including the Lotus 72 entered by Rob Walker.^[38][55] The Grand Prix went ahead and Clay Regazzoni took his maiden victory, but celebrations were muted.^[56] Incidentally, Rindt was killed at the same spot at which his idol Wolfgang von Trips had died nine years earlier.^[2] There was a lengthy investigation into Rindt's death in Italy, leading to a trial against Colin Chapman. However, he was cleared of all charges in 1976. The destroyed Lotus 72 remained in Italy after the trial, going to a scrapyard near Monza. In 1985, a real estate agent found the wreckage and bought it from the authorities, later trading it in 1993 for a Lola Formula 3 car. Since then, the car rests in a garage near Milan.^[57]

Rindt was buried at the central cemetery (Zentralfriedhof) in Graz on 11 September 1970.^[5][58] At his funeral, Joakim Bonnier held the eulogy, saying:

To die doing something that you loved to do, is to die happy. And Jochen has the admiration and the respect of all of us. The only way you can admire and respect a great driver and friend. Regardless what happens in the remaining Grands Prix this year, to all of us, Jochen is the World Champion.^[5]

At the time he died Rindt had won five of that year's ten Grands Prix, which meant that he had a strong lead in the World Championship. After winning the next race in Canada, Jacky Ickx moved within 17 points of Rindt in the Championship, giving him a chance to win the title given he won the two remaining races.^[59] However, at the United States Grand Prix, a race won by Rindt's replacement at Lotus, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ickx placed only fourth, making Rindt motor racing's only posthumous World Champion.^[60] The Championship trophy was handed to his widow Nina from the hands of Jackie Stewart on 18 November 1970 in a ceremony near the Place de la Concorde in Paris.^[5][61]

The memory of Rindt was held up in many ways. The early season BARC 200 Formula Two race was renamed the Jochen Rindt Memorial Trophy for as long as the series existed. In 2000, on the 30th anniversary of his death, the city of Graz unveiled a bronze plate in remembrance of Rindt, with wife Nina and daughter Natasha present.^[38] The penultimate corner at the Red Bull Ring in Austria is named after Rindt.^[62]

Personal life

In March 1967, Rindt married Nina Lincoln, a Finnish model and daughter of racing driver Curt Lincoln, whom he had raced against in the early part of his career.^[12] After becoming engaged, Lincoln had originally broken up with Rindt and sent the engagement ring back. Rindt then put it back into the box with a note telling her to keep it until she changed her mind, which she did upon receiving the package, later explaining: "I like men who know what they want."^[35] The couple moved to Switzerland, near Begnins, where they built a house together.^[38] The Rindts had one daughter, Natasha, who was two years old at the time of her father's death. Nina Rindt married two more times after Rindt's death, first to Philip Martyn, with whom she had another daughter, and then to Alexander Hood, 4th Viscount Bridport, making her Lady Nina Hood Bridport. The couple had a son, Anthony.^[63] Their daughter Natasha later worked with Bernie Ecclestone for several years after he had taken over the commercial rights of Formula One.^[5]

Rindt had met Bernie Ecclestone during his time at Cooper and the two became friends. Noticing his commercial talent, Rindt allowed Ecclestone to manage his professional contracts, without ever officially employing him as a manager. Ecclestone said of the relationship: "I was never his manager, we were good friends. I helped him with any help he ever needed." After Rindt's accident, it was Ecclestone who carried his bloody helmet back to the pit lane.^[5]

Rindt following Jackie Stewart at the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix

In Formula One, Rindt had several friendly relationships with other drivers, most notably Jackie Stewart. The two first met at a Formula Two event in 1964 and soon became friends, often going on holiday together and living close to one another in Switzerland. Until his death, they were sometimes accompanied by Jim Clark.^[3] Rindt got involved in Stewart's fight for increased safety in Formula One racing, being one of the leading figures of the GPDA. For his role in the safety campaign, Rindt was antagonised by fellow drivers and the press alike, with reporters derogatively calling Stewart, Rindt and Joakim Bonnier the "Geneva connection", due to their residence in Switzerland.^[5] Stewart said that it took Rindt some time to understand the graveness of the situation but after that, he was a "good ally".^[3] After Rindt's death, his wife Nina stayed close with the Stewarts and can be seen visiting them at the 1971 Monaco Grand Prix in the Roman Polanski produced film Weekend of a Champion.^[64]

Privately, Rindt was known to family and friends as an often reckless driver when on public roads. During the early years of his career, he would take his Jaguar E-Type out to the streets of Vienna, where he lived, and drift through the streets.^[65] He sparked public criticism in 1968 when he flipped over a Mini Cooper during a demonstration run at an Auto-Cross event in Großhöflein, while his then pregnant wife was on board.^[3]

His success in racing highly popularised motorsport in Austria, with Helmut Zwickl calling him "the driving instructor of the nation".^[5] In 1965, Rindt put together the first exhibition of racing cars in Austria, the Jochen-Rindt-Show in Vienna. It was an immediate success, with 30,000 visitors on the first weekend alone. Using his connections, he brought in his friend Joakim Bonnier and former Mercedes Grand Prix manager Alfred Neubauer as opening speakers, with other drivers such as Jackie Stewart attending.^[3] The show soon became an annual event and later moved to the German city of Essen in 1970, shortly after Rindt's death, and remains there as the Essen Motor Show.^[35] Rindt, with the help of Ecclestone, was able to successfully promote himself, including lucrative sponsorship and advertising contracts.^[3] Following his ascent in racing, two race tracks were built in Austria, the Österreichring (now Red Bull Ring), for whom Rindt worked as a consultant, and the Salzburgring. Rindt's popularity was further increased through the TV show Motorama, which he hosted. The monthly programme focussed on both tips for driving on public roads as well as reports from Grands Prix, with Rindt interviewing fellow drivers himself.^[5]

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	WDC	Points^2
1964	Rob Walker Racing Team	Brabham BT11	BRM V8	MON	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT Ret	ITA	USA	MEX				NC	0
1965	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T73	Climax V8	RSA Ret													13th	4
		Cooper T77	Climax V8		MON DNQ	BEL 11	FRA Ret	GBR 14	NED Ret	GER 4	ITA 8	USA 6	MEX Ret
1966	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T81	Maserati V12	MON Ret	BEL 2	FRA 4	GBR 5	NED Ret	GER 3	ITA 4	USA 2	MEX Ret					3rd	22 (24)
1967	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T81	Maserati V12	RSA Ret	MON Ret						CAN Ret						13th	6
		Cooper T81B	Maserati V12			NED Ret	BEL 4	FRA Ret					USA Ret	MEX
		Cooper T86	Maserati V12						GBR Ret	GER Ret		ITA 4
1968	Brabham Racing Organisation	Brabham BT24	Repco V8	RSA 3	ESP Ret	MON Ret											12th	8
		Brabham BT26	Repco V8				BEL Ret	NED Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 3	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA Ret	MEX Ret
1969	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Lotus 49B	Ford V8	RSA Ret	ESP Ret	MON	NED Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 4	GER Ret	ITA 2	CAN 3	USA 1	MEX Ret			4th	22
1970	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Lotus 49C	Ford V8	RSA 13		MON 1	BEL Ret										1st	45
		Lotus 72	Ford V8		ESP Ret
		Lotus 72C	Ford V8					NED 1	FRA 1	GBR 1	GER 1	AUT Ret	ITA DNS	CAN	USA	MEX
Source:[66]

Non-Championship Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
1963	Jochen Rindt	Cooper T67	Ford V8	LOM	GLV	PAU	IMO	SYR	AIN	INT	ROM	SOL	KAN	MED	AUT Ret	OUL	RAN
1965	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T77	Climax V8	ROC 7	SYR	SMT DSQ	INT Ret
	Roy Winkelmann Racing	Brabham BT16	BRM V8					MED Ret	RAN
1966	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T81	Maserati V12	RSA	SYR	INT 5	OUL
1967	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T81	Maserati V12	ROC Ret	SPR	INT	SYR	OUL 6	ESP
1968	Brabham Racing Organisation	Brabham BT26	Repco V8	ROC	INT	OUL Ret
1969	Team Lotus	Lotus 49B	Ford V8	ROC Ret	INT 2	MAD
		Lotus 63					OUL 2
1970	Team Lotus	Lotus 49C	Ford V8	ROC 2
		Lotus 72			INT Ret	OUL 2
Source:[67]

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1964	North American Racing Team	David Piper	Ferrari 250LM	P 5.0	0	DNF	DNF
1965	North American Racing Team	Masten Gregory	Ferrari 250LM	P 5.0	348	1st	1st
1966	F.R. English Ltd. \ Comstock Racing	Innes Ireland	Ford GT40 Mk I	S 5.0	8	DNF	DNF
1967	Porsche System Engineering	Gerhard Mitter	Porsche 907	P 2.0	103	DNF	DNF
Source:[68]

Complete Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish
1967	Eagle	Ford	32nd	24th
1968	Brabham	Repco	16th	32nd
Source:[69]

Notes

^1 — While Rindt raced with an Austrian licence, he had a German passport and never held Austrian nationality.^[70]
^2 — Until 1990, not all points scored by a driver contributed to their final World Championship tally (see list of points scoring systems for more information). Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

Citations

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Film sources

• Reuß, Eberhard (Director) (2010). Jochen Rindts letzter Sommer [Jochen Rindt's Last Summer] (Documentary) (in German). SWR.
• Giesser, Christian (Director) (2010). Jochen Rindt lebt [Jochen Rindt Lives] (Documentary) (in German). Cinecraft.

Further reading

• Henry, Alan (1990). Jochen Rindt. Hazleton Publishing. ISBN 0905138791.
• Nye, Doug (1986). Autocourse history of the Grand Prix car 1966–85. Hazleton publishing. ISBN 0-905138-37-6.
• Prüller, Heinz (1970). Jochen Rindt. Kimber Publishing. ISBN 0-7183-0162-5.
• Mappes-Niediek, Norbert (2008). Österreich für Deutsche: Einblicke in ein fremdes Land (in German). Links Verlag. ISBN 978-3-86153-454-9.
• Rendall, Ivan (2007). The Chequered Flag – The complete history of motor racing. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-1-4072-0683-7.
• Zwickl, Helmut (2007). Die wilden Jahre der Formel 1 (in German). Egon Theiner Verlag. ISBN 978-3-902480-48-4.

External links

• Official website created by his daughter Natasha Rindt
• Report on Rindt on the official Formula One website