Jochen Rindt - WikiHQ

Karl Jochen Rindt (; 18 April 1942 – 5 September 1970) was a racing driver who competed under the Austrian flag in Formula One from to . Rindt won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Lotus, and remains the only driver to have won the World Drivers' Championship posthumously, following his death at the ; he won six Grands Prix across seven seasons. In endurance racing, Rindt won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1965 with NART.

Born in Germany and raised in Austria, Rindt started motor racing in 1961. Switching to single-seaters in 1963, he was successful in both Formula Junior and Formula Two. In , Rindt made his debut in Formula One at the Austrian Grand Prix, before securing a full drive with Cooper for . After mixed results with the team, he moved to Brabham for and then Lotus in . It was at Lotus that Rindt found a competitive car, although he was often concerned about the safety of the notoriously unreliable Lotus vehicles. He won his first Formula One race at the 1969 United States Grand Prix. He had a very successful 1970 season, mainly racing the revolutionary Lotus 72, and won five of the first nine races. In practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, he spun into the guardrails after a failure on his car's brake shaft, and a poorly installed crash barrier gave way. Rindt was pronounced dead while on the way to hospital. As his closest competitor Jacky Ickx was unable to score sufficient points in the remaining races of the season, Rindt was awarded the World Championship posthumously. Rindt left behind his wife, Nina, and a daughter, Natasha.

Overall, Rindt 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. Rindt was a popular figure in Austria and his success resulted in increased interest in motorsport and Formula One in particular. He hosted a monthly television show titled Motorama and set up a successful exhibition of racing cars in Vienna. During his time in Formula One, he was involved alongside Jackie Stewart in a campaign to improve safety in Formula One.

Early life and family

Jochen Rindt was born on 18 April 1942 in Mainz, Germany, to an Austrian mother and German father. when he was 15 months old, after which he was raised by his grandparents in Graz, Austria. Although his grandfather chose to retain Rindt's German citizenship, for his entire career he drove under an Austrian racing licence. 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". Rindt had one half-brother, Uwe, through his mother.

Rindt's childhood friends and his brother described him as a "laddish child" who often performed tricks to amuse others. While on a skiing holiday, he broke his femoral neck, leading to several surgeries that left one leg shorter than the other. As a result of this, Rindt limped slightly for the rest of his life. At the age of sixteen, he received a moped and started racing his friends on motocross tracks. His time in school was troubled and he was excluded from schools several times. He said:

Complete Formula One World Championship results

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

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! Pts

! Rob Walker Racing Team

! Brabham BT11

! BRM P56 1.5 V8

| MON

| NED

| BEL

| FRA

| GBR

| GER

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUT

| ITA

| USA

| MEX

! NC

! 0

|rowspan=2|

!rowspan=2| Cooper Car Company

! Cooper T73

!rowspan=2| Climax FWMV 1.5 V8

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| RSA

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ITA

!rowspan=2| 13th

!rowspan=2| 4

! Cooper T77

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| MON

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| BEL

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FRA

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GBR

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NED

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| GER

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| USA

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MEX

! Cooper Car Company

! Cooper T81

! Maserati 9/F1 3.0 V12

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MON

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| BEL

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| FRA

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| GBR

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NED

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| GER

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| ITA

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| USA

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MEX

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 22 (24)

|rowspan=4|

!rowspan=4| Cooper Car Company

! Cooper T81

!rowspan=2| Maserati 9/F1 3.0 V12

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| RSA

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MON

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| CAN

!rowspan=4| 13th

!rowspan=4| 6

!rowspan=2| Cooper T81B

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NED

!rowspan=2| Maserati 10/F1 3.0 V12

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| BEL

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FRA

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| USA

| MEX

! Cooper T86

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GBR

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GER

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| ITA

|rowspan=2 |

!rowspan=2 | Brabham Racing Organisation

! Brabham BT24

! Repco 740 3.0 V8

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| RSA

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ESP

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MON

!rowspan=2 | 12th

!rowspan=2 | 8

! Brabham BT26

! Repco 860 3.0 V8

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| BEL

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NED

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FRA

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GBR

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| GER

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ITA

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| CAN

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| USA

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MEX

! Gold Leaf Team Lotus

! Lotus 49B

! Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| RSA

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ESP

| MON

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NED

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FRA

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| GBR

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GER

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| ITA

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| CAN

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| USA

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MEX

! 4th

! 22

|rowspan=3|

!rowspan=3| Gold Leaf Team Lotus

! Lotus 49C

!rowspan=3| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| RSA

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| MON

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| BEL

|style="background:#FFFFBF;" rowspan=3| 1st

|style="background:#FFFFBF;" rowspan=3| 45

! Lotus 72

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ESP

! Lotus 72C

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| NED

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| FRA

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| GBR

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| GER

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUT

|style="background:#FFFFFF;"| ITA

| CAN

| USA

| MEX

!colspan="19"|

Non-championship Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

(Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! Jochen Rindt

! Cooper T67

! Ford 109E 1.5 L4

| LOM

| GLV

| PAU

| IMO

| SYR

| AIN

| INT

| ROM

| SOL

| KAN

| MED

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUT

| OUL

| RAN

|rowspan=2|

! Cooper Car Company

! Cooper T77

! Climax FWMV 1.5 V8

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ROC

| SYR

|style="background:#000000; color:#ffffff"| SMT

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| INT

! Roy Winkelmann Racing

! Brabham BT16 (F2)

! Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MED

| RAN

! Cooper Car Company

! Cooper T81

! Maserati 9/F1 3.0 V12

| RSA

| SYR

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| INT

| OUL

|rowspan=2|

! Cooper Car Company

! Cooper T81

! Maserati 9/F1 3.0 V12

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ROC

| SPR

| INT

| SYR

! Roy Winkelmann Racing

! Brabham BT23 (F2)

! Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| OUL

| ESP

! Brabham Racing Organisation

! Brabham BT26

! Repco 860 3.0 V8

| ROC

| INT

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| OUL

|rowspan=2|

!rowspan=2| Gold Leaf Team Lotus

! Lotus 49B

!rowspan=2| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ROC

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| INT

| MAD

! Lotus 63

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| OUL

|rowspan=2|

!rowspan=2| Gold Leaf Team Lotus

! Lotus 49C

!rowspan=2| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| ROC

! Lotus 72

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| INT

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| OUL

!colspan="19"|

Tasman Series results

(key)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"

! Year

! Team

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! Rank

! Pts

| rowspan=2| 1969

! rowspan=2| Gold Leaf Team Lotus

! Lotus 49T

! rowspan=2| Cosworth DFW 2.5 V8

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| PUK

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| LEV

! rowspan=2 style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2nd

! rowspan=2 style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 30

! Lotus 49BT

|style="background:#ffffbf;"| WIG 1

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| TER

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| LAK

|style="background:#ffffbf;"| WAR 1

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| SAN

!colspan="13"|

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"

! Year

! Team

! Co-drivers

! Car

! Class

! Laps

|align="left"| North American Racing Team

|align="left"| David Piper

|align="left"| Ferrari 250LM

| P 5.0

| 0

| DNF

|align="left"| North American Racing Team

|align="left"| Masten Gregory

|align="left"| Ferrari 250LM

| P 5.0

| 348

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1st

|align="left"| F.R. English Ltd. \ Comstock Racing

|align="left"| Innes Ireland

|align="left"| Ford GT40 Mk I

| S 5.0

| 8

| DNF

|align="left"| Porsche System Engineering

|align="left"| Gerhard Mitter

|align="left"| Porsche 907

| P 2.0

| 103

| DNF

!colspan="8"|

Complete Indianapolis 500 results

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"

! Year

! Chassis

! Engine

! Start

! Finish

| 1967

| Eagle

| Ford

| 32nd

| 24th

| 1968

| Brabham

| Repco

| 16th

| 32nd

!colspan="5"|

Notes

References

Film sources

Bibliography

External links

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