1970 Mexican Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Mexico
Grand Prix:Mexican
Date:October 25
Year:1970
Official Name:Mexican Grand Prix
Location:Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca, Mexico City, Mexico
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:3.107
Course Km:5.000
Distance Laps:65
Distance Mi:201.946
Distance Km:325.000
Pole Driver:Clay Regazzoni
Pole Team:Ferrari
Pole Time:1:41.86
Pole Country:Switzerland
Fast Driver:Jacky Ickx
Fast Team:Ferrari
Fast Time:1:43.11
Fast Country:Belgium
First Driver:Jacky Ickx
First Team:Ferrari
First Country:Belgium
Second Driver:Clay Regazzoni
Second Team:Ferrari
Second Country:Switzerland
Third Driver:Denny Hulme
Third Team:McLaren-Ford
Third Country:New Zealand

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 was not able to close the points gap to the late Jochen Rindt in the final races of the season, and as a result, Rindt became the only driver ever to win the championship posthumously.

Qualifying

Qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGapGrid
14 Clay RegazzoniFerrari1:41.861
21 Jackie StewartTyrrell-Ford1:41.88+0.022
33 Jacky IckxFerrari1:42.41+0.553
415 Jack BrabhamBrabham-Ford1:43.57+1.714
512 Chris AmonMarch-Ford1:43.71+1.855
66 Jean-Pierre BeltoiseMatra1:43.82+1.966
719 Pedro RodríguezBRM1:44.01+2.157
814 Graham HillLotus-Ford1:44.13+2.278
92 François CevertMarch-Ford1:44.21+2.359
109 Peter GethinMcLaren-Ford1:44.46+2.6010
117 Henri PescaroloMatra1:44.55+2.6911
1223 Reine WisellLotus-Ford1:44.59+2.7312
1320 Jackie OliverBRM1:44.70+2.8413
148 Denny HulmeMcLaren-Ford1:44.95+3.0914
1517 John SurteesSurtees-Ford1:45.03+3.1715
1611 Jo SiffertMarch-Ford1:46.15+4.2916
1716 Rolf StommelenBrabham-Ford1:46.30+4.4417
1824 Emerson FittipaldiLotus-Ford1:48.13+6.2718
Source:[1]

Race

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.

Classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
13 Jacky IckxFerrari651:53:28.3639
24 Clay RegazzoniFerrari65+24.6416
38 Denny HulmeMcLaren-Ford65+45.97144
412 Chris AmonMarch-Ford65+47.0553
56 Jean-Pierre BeltoiseMatra65+50.1162
619 Pedro RodriguezBRM65+1:24.7671
720 Jackie OliverBRM64+1 Lap13 
817 John SurteesSurtees-Ford64+1 Lap15 
97 Henri PescaroloMatra61+4 Laps11 
NC23 Reine WisellLotus-Ford56Not Classified12 
Ret15 Jack BrabhamBrabham-Ford52Engine4 
Ret1 Jackie StewartTyrrell-Ford33Suspension2 
Ret9 Peter GethinMcLaren-Ford27Engine10 
Ret16 Rolf StommelenBrabham-Ford15Fuel System17 
Ret2 François CevertMarch-Ford8Engine9 
Ret14 Graham HillLotus-Ford4Overheating8 
Ret11 Jo SiffertMarch-Ford3Engine16 
Ret24 Emerson FittipaldiLotus-Ford1Engine18 

Notes

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Jochen Rindt45
2 Jacky Ickx40
3 Clay Regazzoni33
24 Denny Hulme27
15 Jackie Stewart25
Source:[2]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Lotus-Ford59
2 Ferrari52 (55)
3 March-Ford48
4 Brabham-Ford35
5 McLaren-Ford35
Source:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mexico 1970 - Qualification • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 28 December 2021.
  2. Web site: Mexico 1970 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 19 March 2019.