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{{short description|German racing driver (1942–1970)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}▼
{{featured article}}
▲{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox F1 driver
| name = Jochen Rindt
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For the [[1969 Formula One season|1969 season]], Rindt signed for the 1968 World Constructors' Champion Lotus, where he joined the defending Drivers' Champion Graham Hill. Rindt felt uncomfortable with the move, owing to the notorious unreliability of the Lotus car; in a twenty-month period between 1967 and 1969, the team was involved in 31 accidents. Hill alone had 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."<ref name=spiegel3>{{cite journal|title=Immer Angst|journal=Der Spiegel|date=14 September 1970|issue=38/1970|url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-44906605.html|access-date=16 January 2016|trans-title=Always afraid|language=de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116205543/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-44906605.html |archive-date=16 January 2016}}</ref> When Rindt joined Lotus, his friend and ''de facto'' manager [[Bernie Ecclestone]], who had negotiated the deal, remarked that they were aware that Brabham may have been a better choice of team but the speed of the Lotus gave Rindt a chance to win the championship.{{sfn|Reuß|2010}} Rindt commented: "At Lotus, I can either be world champion or die."<ref name=spiegel1/>{{sfn|Zwickl|2007|p=78}} Because of his uncertainty about the wisdom of joining the team, Rindt did not sign the Lotus contract until shortly before the [[1969 Spanish Grand Prix]].{{sfn|Reuß|2010}}
[[File:Jochen Rindt 1969 German GP.jpg|thumb|left|Rindt at the [[1969 German Grand Prix]]|alt=Side-view color photograph of Rindt racing a red and white Lotus Formula One car with a wing attached at the rear]]
Rindt's hesitancy appeared justified when both he and Hill suffered high speed crashes at the Spanish Grand Prix at [[Montjuïc circuit|Montjuïc]]. In both instances, the suspension mounted wings on the cars broke off, causing accidents that could have killed either driver. The effect of the failure lifted Rindt's car off the track and into the barriers, where it collided with the stationary car of Hill, whose accident occurred at the same spot.<ref>{{cite web|title=Stewart profits from Lotus failures|url=http://en.espn.co.uk/f1/motorsport/story/56823.html|publisher=ESPN|access-date=16 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116223906/http://en.espn.co.uk/f1/motorsport/story/56823.html |archive-date=16 January 2016}}</ref> Although Rindt only suffered a broken nose, one [[Motorsport marshal|marshal]] lost an eye and another had his foot broken. Rindt was furious with Lotus's team owner, [[Colin Chapman]], over the failure; he 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 a day later, he said: "These wings are insanity [''ein Wahnsinn''] in my eyes and should not be allowed on racing cars.
Jackie Stewart later described Rindt's 1969 season as the year that he "came of age".{{sfn|Giesser|2010}} 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. The poor reliability of the [[Lotus 49|Lotus 49B]] affected him; he retired from seven races.<ref name=mmm69>{{cite journal|last=Jenkinson|first=Denis|author-link=Denis Jenkinson|title=The Grand Prix Drivers|journal=[[Motor Sport (magazine)|Motor Sport]]|issue=December 1969|page=48|url=http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/december-1969/48/lotus-49-b-jochen-rindt|access-date=16 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116211150/http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/december-1969/48/lotus-49-b-jochen-rindt |archive-date=16 January 2016}}</ref> At the {{F1GP|1969|British}}, Rindt fought a close battle with Stewart for the lead; both men were 90 seconds ahead of third-placed Jacky Ickx. The race was decided in Stewart's favour only when Rindt had to enter the pits after part of his car's bodywork started to rub on the tyre; he finished fourth.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Owen|first1=Oliver|title=The 10 most dramatic F1 races|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2004/mar/07/features.sportmonthly|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=17 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151228071226/http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2004/mar/07/features.sportmonthly |archive-date=28 December 2015|date=6 March 2004}}</ref> At the {{F1GP|1969|Italian}}, he was involved in a memorable finish. Having started from pole position, he traded the lead with Stewart and [[Piers Courage]] several times. During the last lap, Rindt, Stewart, McLaren, and [[Jean-Pierre Beltoise]] were running close together as they approached the finish line. Stewart took the win, only eight hundredths of a second ahead of Rindt, while fourth placed McLaren was also within two tenths of a second. It was the closest 1–2–3–4 finish in the history of the sport.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schot |first1=Marcel |title=A Race to Remember: The 1969 Italian GP |url=http://atlasf1.autosport.com/2000/ita/preview/schot.html |website=autosport.com |access-date=15 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115101444/http://atlasf1.autosport.com/2000/ita/preview/schot.html# |archive-date=15 November 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Rindt recorded his maiden Grand Prix win at the penultimate race of the season [[1969 United States Grand Prix|at Watkins Glen]], winning $50,000—the largest monetary prize in Formula One history at the time.{{sfn|Giesser|2010}} His victory was overshadowed by a serious accident involving his teammate Hill, who crashed after a high speed puncture and suffered major leg injuries.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Benson|first1=Andrew|title=Formula 1's greatest drivers. Number 19: Graham Hill|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/17406716|publisher=BBC|access-date=16 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116212215/http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/17406716 |archive-date=16 January 2016|date=20 March 2012}}</ref>
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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 {{convert|205|mi/h|km/h|order=flip|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Prüller|1970|p=195}} On his fifth lap of his practice session, he crashed heavily at the approach to the Parabolica corner. [[Denny Hulme]], who was following Rindt at the time, described the accident as follows:
{{blockquote|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,
Upon impact, a joint in the crash barrier parted, the suspension of the vehicle went under the barrier, and the car hit a [[stanchion]] head-on. The front end was destroyed. 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 exit the car quickly in the event of fire. As a result, upon impact he slid under the belts, and the belts fatally slit open Rindt's throat.<ref name=guardian/>{{sfn|Henry|1990|p=104}}{{sfn|Prüller|1970|p=199}} Later investigations found that the accident was initiated by a failure of the car's right front [[inboard brake]] shaft, but that Rindt's death was caused by poorly installed crash barriers.{{sfn|Nye|1986|p=69}}<ref name=forix/>. Chapman refuted the assertion that the broken half-shaft had caused the accident, arguing that the shaft was broken when the wheel hit the crash barrier <ref> Autosport Magazine, Correspondence Page, September 24 1970 </ref>
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