1970 Mexican Grand Prix

1970 Mexican Grand Prix
Race details
Date October 25, 1970
Official name Mexican Grand Prix
Location Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca, Mexico City, Mexico
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.000 km (3.107 miles)
Distance 65 laps, 325.000 km (201.946 miles)
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:41.86
Fastest lap
Driver Jacky Ickx Ferrari
Time 1:43.11 on lap 46
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Ferrari
Third McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1970 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca in Mexico City on October 25, 1970. It was race 13 of 13 in both the 1970 World Championship of Drivers and the 1970 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 65-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx after he started from third position. His teammate Clay Regazzoni finished second and McLaren driver Denny Hulme came in third.

Ickx was not able to close the points gap to the late Jochen Rindt in the final races of the season, and as a result, Rindt became the only driver ever to win the championship posthumously.

Qualifying

Qualifying classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap Grid
1 4 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 1:41.86 1
2 1 Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 1:41.88 +0.02 2
3 3 Jacky Ickx Ferrari 1:42.41 +0.55 3
4 15 Jack Brabham Brabham-Ford 1:43.57 +1.71 4
5 12 Chris Amon March-Ford 1:43.71 +1.85 5
6 6 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra 1:43.82 +1.96 6
7 19 Pedro Rodríguez BRM 1:44.01 +2.15 7
8 14 Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 1:44.13 +2.27 8
9 2 François Cevert March-Ford 1:44.21 +2.35 9
10 9 Peter Gethin McLaren-Ford 1:44.46 +2.60 10
11 7 Henri Pescarolo Matra 1:44.55 +2.69 11
12 23 Reine Wisell Lotus-Ford 1:44.59 +2.73 12
13 20 Jackie Oliver BRM 1:44.70 +2.84 13
14 8 Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 1:44.95 +3.09 14
15 17 John Surtees Surtees-Ford 1:45.03 +3.17 15
16 11 Jo Siffert March-Ford 1:46.15 +4.29 16
17 16 Rolf Stommelen Brabham-Ford 1:46.30 +4.44 17
18 24 Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 1:48.13 +6.27 18
Source:[1]

Race

The race was originally scheduled to start at 2:30pm but the crowd of 200,000 was difficult to control and almost forced the cancellation of the race. They were crammed in front of the guard-rails, sat at the trackside and ran across the track itself. Despite appeals from Jackie Stewart and local hero Pedro Rodríguez they still remained troublesome. It cause the start to be delayed to 4:00pm.

From the start, Jacky Ickx led from Stewart and Clay Regazzoni, but dropped back with steering column trouble. Later, a collision with a dog which had escaped onto the track damaged Stewart's suspension and forced his retirement, leaving the Ferraris dominant in first and second. Jack Brabham retired from third place in his final Grand Prix when the engine blew on lap 53. The Ferraris romped home with Ickx leading Regazzoni and Denny Hulme claiming the third podium spot.

The crowd control issues led to the Mexican Grand Prix being dropped from the 1971 calendar. It returned to the Formula One calendar fifteen years later in 1986.

Classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 3 Jacky Ickx Ferrari 65 1:53:28.36 3 9
2 4 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 65 + 24.64 1 6
3 8 Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 65 + 45.97 14 4
4 12 Chris Amon March-Ford 65 + 47.05 5 3
5 6 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra 65 + 50.11 6 2
6 19 Pedro Rodriguez BRM 65 + 1:24.76 7 1
7 20 Jackie Oliver BRM 64 + 1 lap 13  
8 17 John Surtees Surtees-Ford 64 + 1 lap 15  
9 7 Henri Pescarolo Matra 61 + 4 laps 11  
NC 23 Reine Wisell Lotus-Ford 56 + 9 laps 12  
Ret 15 Jack Brabham Brabham-Ford 52 Engine 4  
Ret 1 Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 33 Suspension 2  
Ret 9 Peter Gethin McLaren-Ford 27 Engine 10  
Ret 16 Rolf Stommelen Brabham-Ford 15 Fuel system 17  
Ret 2 François Cevert March-Ford 8 Engine 9  
Ret 14 Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 4 Overheating 8  
Ret 11 Jo Siffert March-Ford 3 Engine 16  
Ret 24 Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 1 Engine 18  
Source:[2]

Notes

  • This was the 10th podium finish for a Swiss driver.
  • This was the 50th fastest lap set by a Ferrari (as a constructor and as an engine supplier); a record.
  • This race marked the 126th and last Grand Prix start for Jack Brabham; a record that would be broken by Graham Hill at the 1971 Monaco Grand Prix.

Championship standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 6 results from the first 7 rounds and the best 5 results from the last 6 rounds counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

  1. ^ "Mexico 1970 - Qualification • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  2. ^ "1970 Mexican Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Mexico 1970 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.