Obsession for lightness

Jochen Rindt signed early 1969 for Colin Chapman’s Team Lotus, where he joined the defending Drivers’ World Champion Graham Hill. Rindt was unsure of the move, owing to the notorious unreliability of the Lotus cars: in a twenty-month period between 1967 and 1969, the team was involved in 31 accidents due to failing components.

Picture above: At the 1970 Monaco Formula One Grand Prix though, the car held together and Jochen Rindt (here-above celebrating with Lotus boss Colin Chapman) scored the last victory for the glorious Lotus 49.

When end of 1968, Rindt had decided to leave Brabham for Lotus, his friend and manager Bernie Ecclestone, who had negotiated the deal, remarked, even though he also feared, that his driver had a better chance to become a World Champion at Lotus. Rindt commented: “At Lotus I can either be World Champion or die.” 

Indeed, it was known, that the engineering genius Colin Chapman designed very fast and often dominating cars, but that his obsession for lightness, sometimes pushed it too far.

Jochen Rindt dominated the 1970 F1 season, first in the Lotus 49 then with the new 72, with five wins and three pole positions in 10 races, had a confortable lead in the championship, until practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza (picture below), where just before the Parabolica his Lotus suffered a brake failure and hit the crash barriers at high speed. He died at the scene. He was nevertheless crowned at the end of the season, his points tally being unbeaten.