The story of the man who was champion of Formula 1, but died two months before knowing the glory

Towards the end of 1966 the Formula 1 driver got engaged Jochen Rindt and Finnish model Nina Lincoln (daughter of running back Curt Lincoln). A few days later she broke off the relationship and returned the ring to him. But he put it in a box and sent it to him with a note saying "keep it until you change your mind." It was so and his future wife then explained: "I like men who know what they want." So was this Austrian who always knew what he wanted. What he couldn't know is what it feels like to be a world champion. Because he did it, but posthumously, the only one in the history of the Maxim in that condition. It was an out of series with a spectacular handling.

Karl Jochen Rindt was born on April 18, 1942 in Mainz-Rhin, in Germany. From the cradle her life was marked by tragedy since her parents died in a bombing of the Second World War. He was unhurt by a miracle and was adopted by his maternal grandparents when he was only 15 months old. They took him to live in Graz, an Austrian city near Vienna.

In the eagerness to reward that terrible loss, his grandparents were always willing to give in to every little Karl's request or whim. From there he may have acquired the rebellious spirit that always distinguished him.

Until the age of 17, Rindt had shown no inclination for motorsports. At that time he was engaged in yachting, but in 1959 he traveled to Chichester, England, to perfect his English. He went through the Goodwood circuit and made his first attempts with a Jaguar Sport. He was fascinated by that experience and when he returned he asked his grandfather to buy him a car to improve his handling. Then he started running climbing competitions with a Simca.

In 1961 he went to the Austrian circuit in Zeltweg to watch a single-seater race, won by Englishman Innes Ireland, who was escorted by Australian Jack Brabham and Swedish Joakim "Jo" Bonnier. He was so impressed by the single-seaters that he promised himself to one day drive such cars.

Meanwhile in 1962 he bought an Alfa Romeo TI 1300 with factory preparation. He won in his debut at the Aspern Autodrome, near Vienna, where he beat a three-liter Jaguar. That victory was followed by eight others.

He fulfilled his mission and started in the formula cars. Those monosposos that kept him awake. It was in Formula Junior with a Cooper-Ford from the Kurt Bardi-Barry team. His debut was in Vallelunga, Italy, where he made pole positions. In the following race he was second and in Monaco fourth.

Although she had both nationalities, German and Austrian, she chose to run with the second because it was her mother's. He was striking for his spectacular way of driving, his character and his way of dressing, wearing red shirts and pink pants. He liked solitude, until Nina appeared with whom he ended up marrying in 1967 and they had a daughter named Natasha. No one reminds Rindt of overflows of joy, even in moments of triumph and fame. It was of few words. Auto racing was of greater importance to him. Running was his air to breathe.

Bardi-Barry himself was his great admirer and offered to join his Formula 2 team. In his debut that was in the dangerous Nürburgring, he ranked fourth behind Scottish Jim Clark, English Richard Attwood and American Mike Spence. At that point I was already running with the support of Ford-Austria.

Everything in his life happened in a dizzying way. One weekend in 1964 he had two races in England. Saturday at Mallory Park was third behind Clark himself and Peter Arundell of England. On Sunday he ran at Cristal Palace and won his first race defeating none other than Englishman Graham Hill and Clark himself. It surpassed the two best drivers of the moment.

English newspaper headlines were devoted to highlighting the qualities of the "new Australian promise …". Far from being offended, he replied that "the English could not believe that a good runner was not Australian, in those years Brabham and McLaren were in fashion."

That same year he made his F-1 debut against his people with a Brabham from Rod Walker's private team and left due to management problems.

He had a lot of personality. His sharp and unanticipated responses also contributed to creating a "terrible boy" halo. He stated that "If I am not on the track with a chance of winning, I prefer to stay in the pits. I'm not interested in fighting a ninth or a tenth place …" No one thought he was going to answer Walker with a resounding "no" when he offered to join his F-1 team in a full season. He even gave himself the pleasure of rejecting the proposal of Ferrari to run in his official team in the World Championship of Sport Prototypes in 1965. In that exercise he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans (with 23 years old) sharing the handling of a Ferrari 275 LM with the American Masten Gregory, but with the North American Racing Team squad. It was a very romantic time and with no restrictions on contracts allowing pilots to race in anything: F-1, F-2, Le Mans and Indianapolis. Rindt also ran the 500 Miles in 1967 and 1968, where he abandoned due to mechanical failure.

Although that rejection of Walker's team had a reason. Rindt knew there was a better alternative. And that was the Cooper team he drove for in 1965. But that decision did not go as expected. He finished 13th in the championship and his best result was fourth in Germany.

Beyond that he was already a celebrity in his country and lHe managed to make motorsports popular in Austria that had a hero before Niki Lauda. He promoted an iron fever and in 1965 organized the first race car exhibition in his country, the "Jochen-Rindt-Show" in Vienna. It was a success with 30,000 people just the first weekend. Thanks to his contacts, he brought friends Sir Jackie Stewart and "Jo" Bonnier and former Mercedes F-1 team manager Alfred Neubauer as opening speakers. The event was repeated every year and then moved to the German city of Essen in 1970, shortly after Rindt's death, and remains there as the Essen Motor Show. In addition, from its presence in the F-1 and other categories, racetracks such as Österreichring were built in 1969 (now Red Bull Ring), for which Jochen worked as a consultant, and is where the Maxima runs today. Also the Salzburgring (1968).

Jochen was a prophet in his homeland, but he still hadn't managed to be a top pilot in the F-1. As the results did not arrive, he alternated his participation in the F-2. He teamed up with Roy Winkelmann, owner of a private team that ran with Brabham cars. Between 1967 and 1970 he started 35 races and had 13 wins (1 every almost 3 competitions). However, he did not add points because he was part of the group of "graduated pilots" who had experience in the Máxima.

In F-2 he moved like a fish in water. "Having a race car under control is an expression of art"He described. There was nothing he couldn't do in a car of that division: lead coldly, advance in the peloton and even beat Clark, "The Flying Scotsman." In December 1968 the category ran in Argentina in the "International Season". There were four races. In both of Buenos Aires, he first left and then was second, same position that he held in Alta Gracia and completed the podium in San Juan. In the mini tournament he finished second behind Italian Andrea de Adamich (Ferrari).

Whereas after four and a half years in the F-1 without winning, many doubted his ability. It was great in the F-2, but in the Máxima, which had already stopped using 1.5-liter engines for the 3.0-liter, the theme was different. In the mid-sixties there was a power jump from 200 to 430 horses. Between 1966 and 1968 he had 21 dropouts in 32 races. "I try to walk as hard as I can; If the irons can't hold, let the mechanics work. Racing is for running”, Wielded before so many defections. Was he really capable of succeeding in F-1? Did you have enough pasta? Or was his talent only allowing him to be king in the F-2? Those questions began to be answered with another tragedy that would mark his life again …

With Clark's death in an F-2 accident in Hockenheim, Germany, running for Lotus, Colin Chapman's squad had to find a replacement. It was so that Rindt had his great opportunity in 1969. He ran with the Lotus 49, a competitive car and in 1968 he had been champion with Hill. On October 5 of that year he captured his triumphant debut. After his victory in the United States, his friend Stewart came out to support him: “I am sure that before there was great frustration on the part of Jochen. Although his success in F-2 kept him on the run. It was vital in maintaining his reputation. "

During that season he gave another test of his personality due to the discussion he had with Chapman, after suffering a serious accident on the Monjuich street circuit in Barcelona, ​​due to the spoiler used in the Lotus 49. He suffered a broken nose and cheekbones. , and skull fracture. Before, no one had dared to discredit the successful English constructor publicly and then continue to be linked to the team: Rindt did it.

In 1970 his consecration arrived. He achieved five wins in 85 days: Monaco (10/5), the Netherlands (6/21), France (5/7), Great Britain (7/18) and Germany (2/8). After leaving in Austria due to engine failure, he added 45 points and took 25 to New Zealand's Denny Hulme (McLaren), 26 to Stewart (Tyrrell) and Belgian Jacky Ickx (Ferrari) and 33 to Swiss Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari). There were 36 units left in dispute and Rindt had the mathematical chance to be crowned early.

The race came in Italy. "Things work out so well that it scares me"He said in the previous one. At Monza, Rindt preferred to use the car without spoilers because he highlighted having "800 more RPM on the straights." His car was hell and he reached 330 km / h of final speed. On a hot Saturday, September 5, on the fifth lap of practice, his Lotus 72 suffered a broken front suspension (it was suspected in the pits why that element was lighter than the rest). He began to zigzag on his way to the Parabolic curve. Until without control, it turned violently to its left and hit 200 km / h against the guardrail. Friction broke the body. It was impossible to suppose the error of the pilot who had developed that model. Again a Chapman car was charging a crack, two years earlier it cost Clark his life …

"I may not reach the age of 40, but I will have experienced more things than any other man until that time… ”Rindt once confessed. Reckless to the extreme, he never went to the limit of his possibilities. A limit that was far beyond that of ordinary runners. That audacity, that contempt for danger led him, perhaps, to find death at just 28 years old. He was killed on September 5, 1970. Not a year had passed since his first victory …

In his six F-1 seasons he has run 59 races and earned 109 points. He obtained six victories, 9 pole positions, 4 lap records and on 18 occasions started from the front row. On three occasions he was 2nd; in five, 3º; in six, 4th; once 5th and another time 6th. Only on four occasions did he arrive in non-scoring positions and in 33 he defected.

He was also a committed guy to his colleagues. Half a century ago, he was one of the leaders of the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA), which proclaims to improve safety on road courses. At that time the media called Stewart, Rindt and "Jo" Bonnier the "Geneva connection", due to their residence in Switzerland.

While a few years earlier, while in Cooper, he had met Bernie Ecclestone and the two became friends. Realizing his commercial talent, he allowed English to manage his professional contracts, without having to formally employ him as a manager. After Jochen's accident, it was Ecclestone who brought his bloody helmet back to the pits. He vowed never to be a friend or manager of a pilot again. Much later, when Bernie was already the owner of the F-1, he allowed Natasha (Rindt's daughter) to work alongside him.

After a month of his death, the Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus) obtained the first of his 14 victories in the Maxima. It was in the United States where his success left Ickx with no chance and secured the title for Rindt, who could not enjoy reaching glory. He died two months before the end of the championship and the advantage he had taken was so much that it allowed him to achieve the title, which was worth his life. He was the only post-mortem champion of the F-1. There he became a king, but his cruel destiny denied him being able to live that coronation.