1969 Formula One season

The McLaren M7C with early 1969 high-position wings attached. In the Donington Grand Prix Collection.

Matra, which had entered Formula One the previous year, withdrew their works team from the 1969 championship and focused on their partnership with Ken Tyrrell. Stewart won the 1969 title easily with the new Matra MS80, which corrected most of the weaknesses of the MS10. Stewart's title was the first won by a French chassis, and the only one won by a chassis built in France. It would also be the only time a constructor won in Formula One without fielding a works team.

Jacky Ickx had a strong second half to the season for Brabham, winning in Germany and Canada, after Jack Brabham was sidelined by a testing accident.[1] Ickx finished second in the Drivers' Championship, with 37 points to Jackie Stewart's 63.

The season was the second to see the use of add-on aerodynamic devices, which were experimented with by some teams in the 1968 season. After several incidents in which wings, struts, or the suspension (to which they were attached) collapsed, wings were banned from Monaco 1969. They were reintroduced later in the season but were to be restricted in size and height, and attached directly to the chassis in a fixed position.

1969 also saw a brief resurgence of interest in four wheel drive following a number of wet races the previous year. Four such cars were entered for the British Grand Prix, and Johnny Servoz-Gavin became the one and only driver to score a point with a 4WD, finishing sixth with the Matra MS84 at the Canadian Grand Prix. At the same race, Al Pease made history by being the only driver disqualified from a World Championship event for being too slow. Wide tyres and downforce quickly proved to be superior means of increasing grip, and the technology was largely abandoned, although Lotus continued to experiment with the idea for a few more years. Bruce McLaren described the handling of his M9 as being like trying to sign an autograph while someone was jogging his elbow; Cosworth discovered that their car handled better with more power directed to the rear wheels.

1969 was the first year in which genuine safety measures were implemented at circuits. The cars were going far faster over time, particularly with the increased engine capacity rules for 1966 onwards from 1.5 litres uncompressed to 3 litres uncompressed or 1.5 litres compressed, and the role that manipulated aerodynamics began to play in the cars' performance. The Montjuic circuit in Barcelona was a first in Grand Prix racing- the circuit was completely Armco-lined. Although safety measures in 1969 were still nearly non-existent compared to today's modern safety standards, these measures were a new step forward to protect drivers from further harm. About half the circuits in Formula One at this time had some safety standards, such as Silverstone, Magdalena Mixhuca in Mexico City and (less so) Monaco; although other circuits were nearly unchanged from previous years, such as the Nürburgring in Germany and the Clermont-Ferrand circuit in France; both were twisty mountain road circuits with all kinds of unprotected drop offs and solid obstacles on the sides of both circuits. Another example was the feared Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, an extremely fast public road circuit which was located in a similar area and had similar dangers to the Nürburgring and Clermont-Ferrand, such as unprotected drop offs and solid obstacles on the side of the track. The Belgian Grand Prix there was boycotted by many of the drivers because of the extreme danger of the track after an overall inspection of Spa by Jackie Stewart, who was responsible for most of the activities in Formula One to try to make it safer. He demanded changes to the circuit that the track owners did not want to pay for, so the race was boycotted and eventually cancelled. Spa was included in 1970 after Armco was added to some parts of the track.[2]

Briton Jackie Stewart won his 1st of 3 championships, driving a Matra-Ford for Ken Tyrrell

Stewart in 1969 at Nürburgring

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1969 FIA World Championship.

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	Driver	Rounds
Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Lotus-Ford	49B 63	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	F	Graham Hill	1–10
					Jochen Rindt	1–2, 4–11
					Mario Andretti	1, 7, 10
					Richard Attwood	3
					John Miles	5–6, 8–9, 11
Rob Walker/Jack Durlacher Racing Team	Lotus-Ford	49B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	F	Jo Siffert	All
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing	McLaren-Ford	M7A M7B M7C M9A	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G	Denny Hulme	All
					Bruce McLaren	All
					Derek Bell	6
Matra International	Matra-Ford	MS10 MS80 MS84	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	D	Jackie Stewart	All
					Jean-Pierre Beltoise	All
					Johnny Servoz-Gavin	9–11
		MS7	Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4	D	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	7
Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC North American Racing Team	Ferrari	312/68 312/69	Ferrari 255C 3.0 V12	F	Chris Amon	1–6
					Pedro Rodríguez	6, 8–11
					Tino Brambilla	8
Owen Racing Organisation	BRM	P138 P133 P139	BRM P101 3.0 V12 BRM P142 3.0 V12	D	John Surtees	1–4, 6–11
					Jackie Oliver	1–4, 6–11
					Bill Brack	9
					George Eaton	10–11
Reg Parnell Racing	BRM	P126	BRM P101 3.0 V12	G	Pedro Rodríguez	1–3
Motor Racing Developments Ltd	Brabham-Ford	BT26A	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G	Jack Brabham	1–4, 8–11
					Jacky Ickx	All
Team Gunston	Lotus-Ford	49	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	D	John Love	1
	Brabham-Repco	BT24	Repco 620 3.0 V8	F	Sam Tingle	1
Team Lawson	McLaren-Ford	M7A	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	D	Basil van Rooyen	1
Jack Holme	Brabham-Repco	BT20	Repco 620 3.0 V8	G	Peter de Klerk	1
Frank Williams Racing Cars	Brabham-Ford	BT26A	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	D	Piers Courage	2–11
		BT30	Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4	D	Richard Attwood	7
Antique Automobiles	Cooper-Maserati	T86	Maserati 10/F1 3.0 V12	G	Vic Elford	3
	McLaren-Ford	M7B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8			4–7
Silvio Moser Racing Team	Brabham-Ford	BT24	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G	Silvio Moser	3–5, 8–11
Ecurie Bonnier	Lotus-Ford	63 49B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	F	Jo Bonnier	6–7
Ahrens Racing Team	Brabham-Ford	BT30	Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4	D	Kurt Ahrens Jr.	7
Roy Winkelmann Racing	Lotus-Ford	59B	Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4	F	Hans Herrmann	7
					Rolf Stommelen	7
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG	BMW	269	BMW M12/1 1.6 L4	D	Hubert Hahne	7
					Gerhard Mitter	7
					Dieter Quester	7
Matra Sports	Matra-Ford	MS7	Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4	D	Henri Pescarolo	7
Tecno Racing Team	Tecno-Ford	TF69	Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4	D	François Cevert	7
Squadra Tartaruga	Brabham-Ford	BT23C	Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4	F	Xavier Perrot	7
Felday Engineering Ltd	Brabham-Ford	BT30	Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4	F	Peter Westbury	7
Pete Lovely Volkswagen Inc.	Lotus-Ford	49B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	F	Pete Lovely	9–11
Paul Seitz	Brabham-Climax	BT23B	Climax FPF 2.8 L4	D	John Cordts	9
John Maryon	Eagle-Climax	T1F	Climax FPF 2.8 L4	F	Al Pease	9

• Pink background denotes F2 entrants to the German Grand Prix.

Points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis for the top six finishers at each Grand Prix. However only the best five results from the first six races and the best four results from the last five races counted towards the World Championship.

Pos. Driver RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER ITA CAN USA MEX Pts. 1 Jackie Stewart 1 1 Ret 1 1 1 2 1 Ret Ret 4 63 2 Jacky Ickx Ret 6 Ret 5 3 2 1 10 1 Ret 2 37 3 Bruce McLaren 5 2 5 Ret 4 3 3 4 5 DNS DNS 26 4 Jochen Rindt Ret Ret Ret Ret 4 Ret 2 3 1 Ret 22 5 Jean-Pierre Beltoise 6 3 Ret 8 2 9 12 3 4 Ret 5 21 6 Denny Hulme 3 4 6 4 8 Ret Ret 7 Ret Ret 1 20 7 Graham Hill 2 Ret 1 7 6 7 4 9 Ret Ret 19 8 Piers Courage Ret 2 Ret Ret 5 Ret 5 Ret 2 10 16 9 Jo Siffert 4 Ret 3 2 9 8 11 8 Ret Ret Ret 15 10 Jack Brabham Ret Ret Ret 6 Ret 2 4 3 14 11 John Surtees Ret 5 Ret 9 Ret DNS NC Ret 3 Ret 6 12 Chris Amon Ret Ret Ret 3 Ret Ret 4 13 Richard Attwood 4 61 3 14 Vic Elford 7 10 5 6 Ret 3 15 Pedro Rodríguez Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 Ret 5 7 3 16 Silvio Moser Ret Ret 7 Ret Ret 6 11 1 17 Jackie Oliver 7 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 1 18 Johnny Servoz-Gavin Ret1 6 NC 8 1 — Sam Tingle 8 0 — Pete Lovely 7 Ret 9 0 — John Miles Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret 0 — Bill Brack NC 0 — Mario Andretti Ret Ret Ret 0 — Jo Bonnier Ret Ret 0 — George Eaton Ret Ret 0 — Peter de Klerk NC 0 — Basil van Rooyen Ret 0 — John Love Ret 0 — Derek Bell Ret 0 — John Cordts Ret 0 — Al Pease DSQ 0 — Ernesto Brambilla DNS 0 Drivers ineligible for Formula One points, because they drove with Formula Two cars — Henri Pescarolo 5 — Kurt Ahrens Jr. 7 — Rolf Stommelen 8 — Peter Westbury 9 — Xavier Perrot 10 — François Cevert Ret — Gerhard Mitter DNS — Hubert Hahne DNS — Dieter Quester DNS — Hans Herrmann DNS Pos. Driver RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER ITA CAN USA MEX Pts.

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Other points position Blue Other classified position Not classified, finished (NC) Purple Not classified, retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrawn (WD) Did not enter (cell empty) Text formatting Meaning Bold Pole position Italics Fastest lap

• ¹ – Ineligible for Formula One points, because they drove with Formula Two cars.

Formula 2 cars occupied the positions between fifth and tenth at the German GP, but the drivers who drove these cars did not earn points for the championship. The fifth and sixth points went to the eleventh and twelfth in the race, Siffert and Beltoise.

Points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the first six finishers at each round, however only the best placed car from each manufacturer was eligible to score points. The best five results from the first six rounds and the best four results from the last five rounds were retained.

Pos.	Manufacturer	RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX	Pts.
1	Matra-Ford	1	1	Ret	1	1	1	2	1	4	NC	4	66
2	Brabham-Ford	Ret	6	2	5	3	2	1	(5)	1	2	2	49 (51)
3	Lotus-Ford	2	Ret	1	2	6	4	4	2	3	1	9	47
4	McLaren-Ford	3	2	(5)	4	4	3	3	4	5	Ret	1	38 (40)
5	BRM	7	5	Ret	9		Ret	Ret	NC	NC	3	6	7
6	Ferrari	Ret	Ret	Ret	3	Ret	Ret		6	Ret	5	7	7
—	Cooper-Maserati			7						WD			0
—	Brabham-Repco	8											0
—	Brabham-Climax									Ret			0
—	Eagle-Climax									DSQ			0
Pos.	Manufacturer	RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX	Pts.

• Bold results counted to championship totals.

Other Formula One races were held in 1969, which did not count towards the World Championship.

Race Name	Circuit	Date	Winning driver	Constructor	Report
IV Race of Champions	Brands Hatch	16 March	Jackie Stewart	Matra-Cosworth	Report
XXI BRDC International Trophy	Silverstone	30 March	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Cosworth	Report
Madrid Grand Prix	Jarama	13 April	Keith Holland	Lola-Chevrolet	Report
XVI International Gold Cup	Oulton Park	16 August	Jacky Ickx	Brabham-Cosworth	Report