1970 Mexican Grand Prix
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 1970 Mexican Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| 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 |
| 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 need to win all three remaining races of the season following Monza (Canada, USA, Mexico) in order to close the points gap to the late Jochen Rindt, but could not because Rindt's team scored an emotional victory at the previous round at Watkins Glen with Emerson Fittipaldi while Ickx finished 4th. As a result, Rindt became the first Austrian Formula One World Champion and the only driver ever to win the championship posthumously.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap | Grid | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Ferrari | 1:41.86 | — | 1 | ||
| 2 | 1 | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:41.88 | +0.02 | 2 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Ferrari | 1:42.41 | +0.55 | 3 | ||
| 4 | 15 | Brabham-Ford | 1:43.57 | +1.71 | 4 | ||
| 5 | 12 | March-Ford | 1:43.71 | +1.85 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 6 | Matra | 1:43.82 | +1.96 | 6 | ||
| 7 | 19 | BRM | 1:44.01 | +2.15 | 7 | ||
| 8 | 14 | Lotus-Ford | 1:44.13 | +2.27 | 8 | ||
| 9 | 2 | March-Ford | 1:44.21 | +2.35 | 9 | ||
| 10 | 9 | McLaren-Ford | 1:44.46 | +2.60 | 10 | ||
| 11 | 7 | Matra | 1:44.55 | +2.69 | 11 | ||
| 12 | 23 | Lotus-Ford | 1:44.59 | +2.73 | 12 | ||
| 13 | 20 | BRM | 1:44.70 | +2.84 | 13 | ||
| 14 | 8 | McLaren-Ford | 1:44.95 | +3.09 | 14 | ||
| 15 | 17 | Surtees-Ford | 1:45.03 | +3.17 | 15 | ||
| 16 | 11 | March-Ford | 1:46.15 | +4.29 | 16 | ||
| 17 | 16 | Brabham-Ford | 1:46.30 | +4.44 | 17 | ||
| 18 | 24 | Lotus-Ford | 1:48.13 | +6.27 | 18 | ||
| Source:[1] | |||||||
Race report
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.
Race classification
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Ferrari | 65 | 1:53:28.36 | 3 | 9 | |
| 2 | 4 | Ferrari | 65 | + 24.64 | 1 | 6 | |
| 3 | 8 | McLaren-Ford | 65 | + 45.97 | 14 | 4 | |
| 4 | 12 | March-Ford | 65 | + 47.05 | 5 | 3 | |
| 5 | 6 | Matra | 65 | + 50.11 | 6 | 2 | |
| 6 | 19 | BRM | 65 | + 1:24.76 | 7 | 1 | |
| 7 | 20 | BRM | 64 | + 1 lap | 13 | ||
| 8 | 17 | Surtees-Ford | 64 | + 1 lap | 15 | ||
| 9 | 7 | Matra | 61 | + 4 laps | 11 | ||
| NC | 23 | Lotus-Ford | 56 | + 9 laps | 12 | ||
| Ret | 15 | Brabham-Ford | 52 | Engine | 4 | ||
| Ret | 1 | Tyrrell-Ford | 33 | Suspension | 2 | ||
| Ret | 9 | McLaren-Ford | 27 | Engine | 10 | ||
| Ret | 16 | Brabham-Ford | 15 | Fuel system | 17 | ||
| Ret | 2 | March-Ford | 8 | Engine | 9 | ||
| Ret | 14 | Lotus-Ford | 4 | Overheating | 8 | ||
| Ret | 11 | March-Ford | 3 | Engine | 16 | ||
| Ret | 24 | Lotus-Ford | 1 | Engine | 18 | ||
Source:[2] | |||||||
