British GP 1969

British GP, 1969

The development of four-wheel drive Formula 1 cars resulted in four such vehicles appearing for the British Grand Prix with Team Lotus arriving with two 63s for Graham Hill and John Miles, Jean-Pierre Beltoise in the Matra MS84, Derek Bell in a McLaren M9A. A fifth 4WD car had been entered by Cosworth for Brian Redman to drive but it was not ready in time.

BRM was back in action after missing the French GP because of internal politics. Tim Parnell had become team manager, closing down the Reg Parnell Racing F1 team and releasing Pedro Rodriguez to drive for Ferrari. The P139 had been modified and was being driven by John Surtees while Jack Oliver had an older P133. Brabham was still down to one car as Jack Brabham was still out of action with a broken ankle and the planned replacement Dan Gurney was busy racing a USAC Eagle at Trenton, New Jersey. Jo Bonnier turned up again with a privately-entered Lotus 49.

Jackie Stewart had won four of the first five races and was expected to win at Silverstone as well although things did not go well in practice when he hit a dislodged piece of concrete in practice and crashed heavily on Saturday at Woodcote Corner. He took over Beltoise's car, forcing the Frenchman to struggle with the four-wheel-drive Matra. As a result Jochen Rindt was on pole in his Lotus with Stewart second and Denny Hulme's McLaren completing the front row. Jacky Ickx (Brabham) and Chris Amon (Ferrari) shared the second row while Surtees, Bruce McLaren (McLaren) and Rodriguez were on the third row. Graham Hill qualified 12th and there were clearly troubles in the Lotus camp as the World Champion was not happy that there was no 49 available for him. He ended up driving Bonnier's car rather than the 63 and Bonnier found himself racing the four-wheel-drive car.

The race provided a memorable battle between Stewart and Rindt, the pair running nose to tail for most of the race. In the end Rindt's challenge was blunted when his rear wing endplates worked loose and he had to pit, which lost him 30 seconds. Towards the end of the race he ran out for fuel and had to pit again, dropping to fourth. Stewart, therefore, won by a lap with Ickx second and McLaren third.

Jackie Stewart Matra-Cosworth MS80 84 1h55m55.600s  
Jacky Ickx Brabham-Cosworth BT26A 83  
Bruce McLaren McLaren-Cosworth M7C 83  
Jochen Rindt Lotus-Cosworth 49B 83  
16 Piers Courage Brabham-Cosworth BT26A 83  10 
19 Vic Elford McLaren-Cosworth M7A 82  11 
Graham Hill Lotus-Cosworth 49B 82  12 
10 Jo Siffert Lotus-Cosworth 49B 81  
Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra-Cosworth MS84 78  17 
12 Pedro Rodriguez Ferrari 312 61 Engine 
11 Chris Amon Ferrari 312 45 Gearbox 
Denny Hulme McLaren-Cosworth M7A 27 Engine 
15 Jackie Oliver BRM P133 19 Transmission 13 
18 Jo Bonnier Lotus-Cosworth 63 Engine 16 
20 Derek Bell McLaren-Cosworth M9A Suspension 15 
14 John Surtees BRM P139 Suspension