The 1969 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit on 19 July 1969. It was race 6 of 11 in both the 1969 World Championship of Drivers and the 1969 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. Jackie Stewart was victorious, as he lapped the entire field and took his fifth win in six races.
The race developed as a contest between Stewart and Jochen Rindt who constantly overtook each other by slipstreaming. It was on one of these occasions towards the end when Stewart signalled to Rindt as he drew alongsideStewart in TalkSport radio interview 02/07/15 that the end plate of his rear wing had come loose and was fouling the left-rear tyre each time Rindt flung his Lotus through a fast right-hander. Rindt was able to confirm this in his mirror and was forced to pit. However, his team failed to put enough fuel into the car to enable him to finish the race and consequently he was obliged to make a further stop. The race was also notable for being the only race that Cosworth entered. Their car was withdrawn weeks before the race weekend.
Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap1 2 Jochen Rindt Lotus-Ford 1:20.8—2 3 Jackie Stewart Matra-Ford 1:21.2 +0.43 5 Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 1:21.5 +0.74 7 Jacky Ickx Brabham-Ford 1:21.6 +0.85 11 Chris Amon Ferrari 1:21.9 +1.16 14 John Surtees BRM 1:22.1 +1.37 6 Bruce McLaren McLaren-Ford 1:22.6 +1.88 12 Pedro Rodríguez Ferrari 1:22.6 +1.89 10 Jo Siffert Lotus-Ford 1:22.7 +1.910 16 Piers Courage Brabham-Ford 1:22.9 +2.111 19 Vic Elford McLaren-Ford 1:23.3 +2.512 1 Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 1:23.6 +2.813 15 Jackie Oliver BRM 1:23.7 +2.914 9 John Miles Lotus-Ford 1:25.1 +4.315 20 Derek Bell McLaren-Ford 1:26.1 +5.316 18 Jo Bonnier Lotus-Ford 1:28.2 +7.417 4 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra-Ford 1:31.2 +10.4 Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 3 Jackie Stewart Matra-Ford 84 1:55:55.6 2 9 2 7 Jacky Ickx Brabham-Ford 83 + 1 Lap 4 6 3 6 Bruce McLaren McLaren-Ford 83 + 1 Lap 7 4 4 2 Jochen Rindt Lotus-Ford 83 + 1 Lap 1 3 5 16 Piers Courage Brabham-Ford 83 + 1 Lap 10 2 6 19 Vic Elford McLaren-Ford 82 + 2 Laps 11 1 7 1 Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 82 + 2 Laps 12 8 10 Jo Siffert Lotus-Ford 81 + 3 Laps 9 9 4 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra-Ford 78 + 6 Laps 17 10 9 John Miles Lotus-Ford 75 + 9 Laps 14 12 Pedro Rodríguez Ferrari 61 Engine 8 11 Chris Amon Ferrari 45 Gearbox 5 5 Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 27 Ignition 3 15 Jackie Oliver BRM 19 Transmission 13 18 Jo Bonnier Lotus-Ford 6 Engine 16 20 Derek Bell McLaren-Ford 5 Suspension 15 14 John Surtees BRM 1 Suspension 6
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jackie Stewart 45 2 2 Bruce McLaren 17 1 3 Graham Hill 16 1 4 Jo Siffert 13 2 5 Jacky Ickx 13Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Matra-Ford 45 2 Lotus-Ford 25 3 McLaren-Ford 20 (22) 4 Brabham-Ford 19 5 Ferrari 4Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 5 results from the first 6 rounds and the best 4 results from the last 5 rounds counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
References
Further reading