THE POSTHUMOUS WORLD CHAMPION! A Look Back at Jochen Rindt on his 80th Birthday

Okay, his birthday was yesterday but point remains. Guy was killed by the very thing he fought to improve: Track safety. A sad way to win a championship, especially with the promises to his wife.
Jochen Rindt died during the 1970 Formula One World Championship, but by virtue of having a decent points advantage, his rivals couldn't make up the gap in the final two races. As such, he is the only person to be awarded the championship posthumously, with his wife Nina receiving the trophy from Jackie Stewart.
Here's how the F1 world ended up with this unique world champion, and hope it stays unique.
Enjoy! And remember to like and subscribe for more!
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[@wingracer1614]

The interviews with his wife in Grand Prix: The Killer Years are just heartbreaking.

[@matthewlawrenson3628]

Put it this way, I doubt a deceased champion's wife would be sent to pick up her husband's trophy at the awards ceremony while heavily tranquilised these days. But 1970 was a different time.

[@kubhak]

@@matthewlawrenson3628 with all respect people love drama and emotions these days

[@kevinprior3549]

Would like to see that documentary again on KZbin. Proper full version of it too, nothing getting cut out.

[@matthewlawrenson3628]

@@kevinprior3549 It was on Vimeo last I checked. Though this was 2 years ago so could have been removed.

[@aydankhaliq2967]

Nelson Piquet would be an interesting driver to make a video about. Started playing Tennis, took up racing under a different name, worked as a mechanic, helped drivers like *Roberto Moreno* to get up into F1, won titles against incredible drivers and being a troll.

[@newjerseywales]

100% troll!

[@DidierPeroni]

Absolutely. Watch 'Shit Nelson Piguet says'

[@aydankhaliq2967]

@@DidierPeroni one of my favourite videos on YT

[@chicobicalho5621]

And he is a racist, as well as a homophobic. This should go on record as well. No?

[@lrs3]

It feels sad that not that many people know of him, he was a bloody great driver.

[@AndyFromBeaverton]

Both Rindt and Andretti were WWII babies born in fascist countries. Rindt never had the luxury to move to a country that wasn't destroyed by the war. Beyond the Grid did a great podcast feature on his life. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4jbY3eFdtJ2Zqs

[@mclarenjohnf1]

The death of Jochen Rindt hurt Jackie Stewart deeply and also Helmut Marko both have spoken fondly about Jocken.

[@kevinprior3549]

Marko shouldn't even be spoken of in the same theme. Racist git he is

[@MichaelGloverMusic]

i actually appreciate the fact that you go into detail about what killed him as they somewhat gloss over it in 1: life on the limit, great video as always mate!

[@Busch22Fan]

I've got a fact about him a lot of you may not know. Jimmy Clark once ran a NASCAR Cup race in 1967 at Rockingham (NC) Speedway. He drove a Holman-Moody Ford. Something in the engine broke near the halfway point, handing him a DNF. But here's something else. Jimmy, being used to the shorter F1 race distances, had a relief driver ready for whenever he chose to jump out. That relief driver who never got to drive? None other than his good friend Jochen Rindt. Had the car lasted, Jochen would have gotten to add (part of) a NASCAR race to his legendary career, even if Jimmy did get credit for starting it.

[@RezaMaulanaRezaMaulana98]

Wasn't it the opposite that happened instead? From what I remember it was Clark who started the race and had Rindt as a relief driver in case fatigue kicks in, but Clark was comfortable enough that he kept going until he was forced to retire when his Holman Moody car ran into mechanical trouble. Oh and its the Rockingham race on the following year (67 instead of 66) that had Clark and Rindt present, and I believe Jackie Stewart is also there but ultimately didn't qualify his car to the race.

[@SirOliverNorwell]

Jochen Rindt was one of the fastest and most spectacular drivers of all time. The Senna of the late 60's and 1970. As his widow stated in an interview in 2021 he wouldn't have retired as the reigning World Champion. He was too much "a natural born racer" and would never have missed the new challenge of trying to defend his title. Sadly enough he never had the chance to do so.

[@arthuralford]

Niki Lauda's hero when he was growing up was Jochen Rindt. For one, he was a fellow Austrian. For another, Lauda respected Rindt's bluntness, a trait he'd display many times in his career

[@QuaDue]

Jochen was not an Austrian though but the Austrians (myself included) did not care.

[@allainangcao28]

@@QuaDue A lot of people mixed up Austrians and Germans, hell on 1:59, Rindt is listed as Austrian.

[@u_u4640]

@@QuaDue There was not much to care about back in those days. The nation you are competing for was determined by your license, not your citizenship.

[@callumcjham4478]

What a driver both speed and the first to openly question safety. Also that car is one of my all time greats to look at.

[@chrisclermont456]

I'm glad you did this video. I started following Formula 1 in 1971 when I was 8 years old. Within 5 years, many drivers perished in shocking crashes like My favorite driver Peter Revson, Pedro Rodriguez, Francois Cevert, Roger Williamson, and Helmuth Koennigg. I became a bit of an F1 historian memorizing all of the world champions, and Jochen Rindt was of particular fascination because he died and still won the championship. I remember a television interview with Nina Rindt talking about her husband not understanding why he wasn't there. Keep up the good work. Your F1 channel is about the only one I am not tempted to unsubscribe from from week to week due to ignorance, emotional nonsense, or bias.

[@williamford9564]

I got my introduction to racing in 1971 at 12 years old, beginning with seeing the Indy 500 in the US on TV and then seeing highlights on TV of the Monaco Grand Prix and the LeMans 24 Hours. I became a fan from afar of Pedro Rodriguez and was absolutely devastated by his death in a sports car race in 1971. Within a couple of years all the others you mentioned above were dead. I think back now and realize that if I had been an adult at that time, I would have thought "this is mad" and deserted the sport altogether.

[@johngreskamp4739]

I remember the day accident happened! Bad Year in F1! Talk at the time was Jackie Steward , Jochen's good friend, did his best to out score Jacky Ickx to insure the championship for Rindt!

[@MrSniperfox29]

Is that why the only time he outscored him was the Italian Grand Prix, and only because Ickx retired? Honestly what cost Ickx the championship was the terrible Ferrari reliability

[@TonySpike]

@@MrSniperfox29 he said that stewart did his best, not that he managed it

[@jimiverson3085]

In the end, it was Fittipaldi's win at Watkins Glen that clinched the championship for Rindt. Ickx finished 4th, and needed to win that race to have a chance to win the championship.

[@Goldie644]

I remember reading in Emerson Fittipaldi's book 'Flying on the Ground' that after Rindt had been killed, he had to go out and beat a certain driver to ensure Rindt's championship

[@LucasOliveira-tt2ll]

When someone do a feature on the most dangerous era of motorsports, I always remember a quote from Fittipaldi when Colin said he couldn't befriend him because he lost so many drivers before, and another one from Jackie Stewart suprised when Paul asked when will be his time, given that all his school mates whose parent were racing drivers already perished on crashes. Interesting to see that Jackie was the most vocal on safety and is still the dean of the F1 champions

[@Tamanstormwind]

Rindt is a sorely underrated and sadly obscure figure indeed. Rindt's life and career in fact had an impact on sports as a whole; not through his part in Sir Jackie's safety crusade, nor his friendship with any given contemporary, but rather through the adoration he inspired in a single fan of motorsport. That fan being Dr. D. Mateschitz. Founder of the marketing and distribution company that brough the obscure "Red Bull" energy drink out of its native Thailand and onto the world stage. A company that sponsors an overwhelming share of sports teams, events, exhibitions, one-offs, and record attempts. All while being famous (infamous?) in the business world for not actually producing anything, just marketing globally a product that already long existed in one small-ish corner of Asia. Or at least that was the case until this year 2022, when the "Red Bull" company brand at last became associated with an actual product they make in-house and would presumably sell if anyone was interested in buying it; Formula 1 V6 turbo-hybrid power units.

[@brakecheck5354]

Honestly one of my favorite videos of yours. Back when I first getting into racing around 1990, one of the few places I could find information about racing history was actually a library! I checked out a few books just to read about the classic drivers and tracks (getting track layouts for the classic circuits was actually a chore back then) back from F1 and sportscar racing's glory days. Back in those formative times, at least two of the books I looked at felt that Rindt would have been one of the all-time best drivers if he wasn't killed so young. Interesting considering that today his I feel his namely never comes up except as a trivia answer.

[@helmuttdvm]

I started following racing in those days, and the deaths of Clark & Rindt affected me greatly. It always hurts to lose your hero’s.

[@mirrorblue100]

Yes - I was very downcast when they died.

[@rars0n]

I bought an F1TV subscription a few years ago and immediately started going through the archives. I had watched F1 as a kid during the 90's but never followed it closely despite loving cars and racing. so I wanted to soak up the history. The archives start with 1970 and it immediately blew me away because of Jochen Rindt. They don't even have race replays from back then, so I'm assuming they don't exist. The season recap was obviously created decades ago, and it makes it abundantly clear what a tragedy a posthumous driver champion really is. That said, it doesn't do the man justice. In fact, it's presented like an inconvenient footnote. I'm sure that's not how it was intended, but it's like nobody wanted to acknowledge his death. Sad how that's how he's remembered. Thank you so much for this video.

[@josephnus]

I first knew Jochen Rindt from reading the 100 Greatest Driver of all time article of mid-2000s F1 Racing Magazine. Back then I only knew him as the driver who was crowned as world champion after his death. But after researching about F1 histories on the internet, I learnt that he was much more than that. I never knew that I need a story time about Jochen Rindt until Aidan made one. Thank you for another amazing video!

[@SirOliverNorwell]

Bernie Ecclestone still considers him one of the Top-5 F1 drivers of all time.

[@deezynar]

"Colin, if this happens again and I survive, I'm going to the lot of you!" That's a man I respect.

[@jozsefizsak]

I was quite a fan of Rindt when he was racing and the crushing sadness of his death is still fresh in my memory. You have presented much about him that is new to me and I'm grateful for the added insight.

[@JustinAH]

You should do the story about the 1965 24 Hours of LeMans and tell it from the Masten Gregory perspective. My best friends dad went to High School with Masten Gregory in Kansas City and knew the man very well. Masten told Mickey Thompson he wouldn't drive his dangerous entry into the 1964 Indy 500, and Dave MacDonald burned to death in one of those cars during race. Masten Gregory was also known for his ability to leap from a crashing car and on one occasion emerged unscathed. Did you know there is a rumored 3rd driver in the winning Ferrari at LeMans because Masten couldn't see too good at night and Rindt couldn't be found. Masten Gregory survived all the carnage of motorsports in 1960s and died of a heart attack in 1985... Make way for the Kansas City Flash! Jack Brabham didn't like Masten because he was a rich American playboy and got him kicked out of works Cooper team at end of 1959 season

[@bloqk16]

The magazine issue of _Auto Racing_ wrote a bio about Gregory in the late 1960s. What I vividly recall was the written description in the article of his 1965 rookie year at the Indy 500; where he qualified at the rear of the field and worked his way up to fifth place before being sidelined with a mechanical problem. A very talented, but some would consider, under-rated driver. Gregory's physical features, with his horned-rimmed glasses and slight physical build, of what people would have categorized back then as being bookish or academic in appearance; had a striking resemblance to my middle-school science instructor in 1968.

[@ulfulf7563]

5th of September 2023. Forever remembered. RIP Jochen

[@Durbanite2010]

Rindt was also one of the drivers who took part in the 1966 film Grand Prix that starred James Garner and Jessica Walter (you can see Rindt close-up during the credit titles with his helmet on his arm) - it's sad when you watch the credit titles of that film that almost the entire 2nd page list of drivers died in racing or testing accidents (Schlesser, Rindt, Revson, McLaren, Mike Spence, Jo Siffert, Scarfiotti)

[@SirOliverNorwell]

And in the drivers meeting scene he's tripping Graham Hill😁 earning him a good laugh from Dan Gurney sitting beside him. Typical practical joking by Jochen Rindt. I bet that was not in the script.😂

[@ThePointlessDeath]

Thank you. I've looked into how he died but most articles just either say 'died instantly' or 'died at track'. I honestly thought was a basilar skull fracture from the sudden deceleration under the barrier, first time I've ever heard the actual cause of death and I've watched 1 and Grand Prix: The Killer Years. Much love for the straight and blunt telling of what happened.

[@Racer881Ken]

Happy B day Jochen

[@mirrorblue100]

I think Rindt's most interesting year was 1966 when John Surtees was his team mate for part of the season. The '66 Cooper Maserati was powerful but a heavy handful and it was a tribute to Surtees and Rindt driving skill that they finished second and third to Jack Brabham that year. Rindt was a thinking man's driver and such a damn shame he died like that.

[@tomastoth4018]

Did you know the race winner Clay Regazzoni turned 31 years old the same day this tragedy occured? Same as Jean Alesi on June 11, 1995 (Canadian GP). Clay became only the 5th driver ever to win an F1 race during debut season after Farina, Fangio, Baghetti and Stewart. And the second one to do so in Monza, 5 years later than Stewart. Just two races later at Watkins Glen, Fittipaldi, just like Jacques Villeneuve, turned his fourth race start to win as well. This achievement eliminated Ickx's hopes to beat Rindt on leaderboard.

[@DjDolHaus86]

The story as told by his wife in Grand Prix: The Killer Years is that Rindt asked Chapman to bring his favoured Lotus 49 to Monza because he didn't trust the 72 not to kill him but when they arrived at the circuit there were only the 72's in the garage. Apparently Chapman said 'You can either race the car we've brought or you can be replaced but you're awfully close to being champion and it'd be a shame to let it go now'.

[@gigadonis8684]

I don't get how you can be so unlucky. If he won in Austria, he would have not raced in Monza. If he never took part in Monza, even after the break down in Austria he would have still been world champion and then the Monza thing happened. I remeber in some intro for a GP someone said "only 32 drivers know what it's like to be world champion", but they seemed have forgotten the unfortunate guy who never had a chance to experience it. Also, Phil Hill and Mario Andretti wouldn't have had the experience, since their teammates died on the day they won, which means the sadnees of the loss would have overcame the victory. It just shows how dangerous GP racing was back then.

[@ianwynne764]

Hello Aidan: Thank you very, very much for this. I can remember when Rindit died. Your video bought back many memories. Stay well and safe.

[@chicobicalho5621]

Rindt was born in Germany as a German, and only later in life acquired an Austrian citizenship. In Monza 1970, Rindt was actually testing Fittipaldi's car without a wing to see how it behaved in that configuration, and he deliberately did not attach the crotch straps on his belts, something that did not exist in his car because of his fear of being trapped in a fire, and, ironically the lack of crotch straps was the reason for him dying. Another interesting fact is that Monza was the first time Fittipaldi was driving a Lotus 72, that behaved very differently from the 49, especially on fast turns, and Rindt gave EF invaluable tips on how to commit into fast corners, in a very different manner he had been accostumed on the 49, considering that Monza was only his 4th F1 race, and he was only 23, a young age for F1 back then. Perhaps, if Rindt had not tutored Fittipaldi on the 72, he would have taken longer to get the hang of that car, and would not have won the USGP on his 5th F1 race ever, securing Rindt's title.

[@photodave219]

As a newer F1 fan (about a year now), I greatly appreciate all of the history videos you make and how thorough you are with them. Helps me get up to speed and have a partial clue of what came before….

[@markko17]

@ 6:40 "Dealing with Chapman was downright impossible". Mario once said, "Working with Chapman wasn't no weekend in Paris."

[@RobertGracie]

I am not surprised about Jochen, he didnt mix his words and he had a preverbal bench vice on Chapmans balls at that point when he wrote that letter, Chapman knew Rindt wasnt messing around here, he was without doubt the Niki Lauda of his day before Niki Lauda came into the sport and made his own impact on the sport....

[@matthewlawrenson3628]

Rindt was notoriously blunt and several people over his career had problems with him. It wasn't really that he was deliberately being rude, more that he never quite mastered the subtleties of being polite in English. To show the milieu where Rindt came from, it's worth noting that his best friend at school was one Helmut Marko...

[@nonflyingdutchman9573]

whilst accepting that, it makes it all the more bewildering that Rindt was killed because he didn't bother to do his seatbelts up properly

[@matthewlawrenson3628]

@@nonflyingdutchman9573 It may seem odd in retrospect, but a lot of drivers of the time had odd ideas about risk (they probably needed to). They knew racing was dangerous, and it was likely they could be maimed or killed while doing it. They'd've remembered driving past horrible scenes such as the crashes of Bandini, Schlesser and Courage (amongst other fiery shunts) and thought "Well, THAT isn't going to happen to me." Loose belts gives you some some sense of agency, I guess, even if it did compromise your chances in a hard impact.

[@nonflyingdutchman9573]

@@matthewlawrenson3628 I get that but it's the contradiction that he was asking Chapman to make the car safer at the expense of making it heavier and slower, the campaigner for safety alongside Jackie Stewart, active member of the GPDA and instrumental in boycotting the Nurburgring in 1970 over safety concerns, but died because he didn't do his seatbelts up.

[@matthewlawrenson3628]

@@nonflyingdutchman9573 Safety wasn't as well understood in 1970 as it is now. We know now it's best to be firmly anchored during a high G-force impact, but that would have seemed counter-intuitive to a driver who learned his trade in the 1960s, to whom getting away from a crashed car was all-important. Rindt thought he was IMPROVING his survival chances with his unconventional seat belt policy, ridiculous as it seems. I'm sure other drivers did the same. Sadly, Jochen was unlucky in how his crash panned out.

[@ozenfant_ozn]

Jochen was the epitomy of cool. and his story "still" makes me sad (while i am austrian and he's a household name over here of course, and i was born in '79).

[@kieran8881]

Rindt: This car is dangerous make it safer. Also Rindt: Yeah take off the wings for sure.

[@pali1H]

That final montage in the 1 documentary showing the current safety gives me chills every time I watch it. Specifically the Webber flip at Valencia.

[@liamfriel8749]

Brilliant analysis of a crazy period where drivers faced almost impossible odds to succeed and/or survive. Rindt was one of the very best and his fate incidentally underlines the fear of fire which still prevailed after the introduction of deformable fuel tanks a few years later. 🤔

[@kc0dxf]

Very good history of a very tragic year in F1. A few things that I take (slight) issue with, overall it was great though. The 72 was designed with wings in mind, I think that can be agreed with but how many of the other cars actually were? You pointed out that the 72 was the 1st car with side pod radiators and, as far as I know, there was no other such car in the field that year. Rindt's accident I do not think was caused by brake failure. The other unique thing about the 72 was inboard breaks on all 4 wheels. One of the shafts in the front failed under breaking and caused the car to spin in the opposite direction right into the guard rails. The wedge shape of the car caused it to get under the rails which made the accident worse. The lack of crotch belts meant that he was forced under and this lead to the broken neck. At least this is how I remember reading about the accident. I also remember that Rindt was somewhat claustrophobic and this caused him to be a bit picky about fresh air into the cockpit. You can look at some of the 49's that he drove and the vent in front of the wind screen is elevated with a hose going back. This condition also might have had an influence on his not using the crotch belts.

[@simonandrachelperchard5779]

"And Rindt said..." (cut to advert) "Are you still wearing uncomfortable underwear?" 😂

[@dennisschmitter7310]

Thank you so much for this! Truly top notch!!

[@Goodnewsglobal]

Great video man! 😊

[@JohnSmithShields]

Excellent video. Love the storytime series.

[@amaccama3267]

Thank you 😊

[@johngeren1053]

The problem with the tall rear wings on the Lotus 49 was that they were attached directly to the suspension uprights. After the Barcelona crashes the tall wings were outlawed - whether attached to the hubs or the chassis.

[@thecrowtips]

Great video mate

[@charamia9402]

Excellent as always - learnt a lot from this video. You have a good way of presenting. Thank you for not leaving out how he died - these tidbits need to be remembered.

[@mikeparadis9037]

Thanks! Very well done. It puts the current safety standards into perspective.

[@nikiwo2003]

Nice video, thanks Mr Millward

[@williamford9564]

Excellent!

[@bloqk16]

In that 1970 Monaco Grand Prix, Jack Brabham leading the last lap had victory in sight until he shunted into the barrier, opening the way for Rindt's victory . I recall seeing it on US TV as it was televised on ABC-TV (US).

[@minibus9]

great video Aidan, respectful and with great knowledge of history of F1

[@randyhill3800]

good stuff, learned a lot more about chapman's cars.

[@LightsOutLow]

Good video. I remember years ago, reading somewhere, that instead of taking Rindt to the well - equipped (for the time) infield medical centre to declare he had died at the track, that he was taken in an ambulance, in the Monza traffic to a nearby hospital to be pronounced dead there instead? that 1970 Monaco GP was memorable too, for Jack Brabham sliding off at the final bend, giving Rindt that famous win. Years ago, i knew the guy who ended up marrying Jochen's widow. Philip Martyn was his name, a very famous backgammon player at that time.

[@Dat-Mudkip]

The reason they would pronounce him dead at a hospital instead of the race track is due to an unusual quirk in Italian law. I don't know it word-for-word, but it essentially states that if a race car driver is killed at a track, the event in question is suspended (if not canceled outright), and a criminal investigation is to immediately start. It's worth noting that Senna's death was somewhat controversial, as Roland Ratzenberger's death should have effectively cancelled the race outright... however, he too had been removed from the racetrack (this time via helicopter) and was not pronounced dead until he had reached a public hospital. Senna himself wasn't pronounced dead until over two hours after the race - with an autopsy later confirming he had been killed instantly, which once again would have cancelled the race.

[@ednedjari6062]

200mph in 1970 at Monzo…FUCK THAT…Jesus

[@QuaDue]

What I nice tribute, I was born Austrian and 8 years old when I passed Black Jack in (Rascasse IIRC) and got hooked, when my father told me that featful 5th of September what had happened I just could not believe it, I guess we all need to be confronted with death one day. RIP Jochen

[@robertkeefer1552]

In those days for Lotus it was win or break down. Car safety has risen exponentially since then which is great. A great example of that is Roman Grosjean and his terrible accident.

[@marksimpson2689]

Thanks for detailing how he died, it was very interesting to learn.

[@jimiverson3085]

Chapman had a fascination with inboard brakes that never worked. In the 72, he used inboard front brakes and halfshafts that weren't strong enough to link the brakes to the wheel; one of them broke and that cost Rindt his life. And in 1978, Chapman put inboard rear brakes on the 79 and Andretti commented that the rear brakes never worked for more than a couple of laps. There were multiple problems in the Rindt crash. First the broken halfshaft led to unbalanced braking and pulled Rindt's car off the track. Then the nose of the 72 was lower than previous cars and rather than bounce off the barrier, the nose went under the lower beam in the barrier. As a result, the 72 continued sliding along the barrier until it hit a support post, which stopped the car suddenly. That pulled Rindt towards the front of the car and the seat belt crushed his throat. IIRC, the steering wheel and front roll hoop may have also crushed his chest.

[@ysgol3]

Lovely, thank you very much. I'm a Rindt fanatic (I was born on his 18th birthday but that's not why!), and feel as you do when he's a pointless answer! If only he'd fastened the crotch strap on his belts. He wouldn't have 'submarined' and got the fatal injury you describe, and his horrendous foot injuries wouldn't have happened either, so there's a good chance he'd have survived. In the 1971 Polanski film about Jackie Stewart, Jackie, without mentioning Rindt, talks about how vital for safety the crotch strap is. I hadn't heard your point about a looser belt before, very interesting and pretty plausible I think. I do think he'd have retired, you may know there was a strong rumour in 1970 he was planning a 'superteam' with Jackie for 1971. Jackie has never said this, presumably therefore it was just a rumour. How he wasn't killed in Spain in 1969, all Chapman's stupid fault with those mad high wings, is impossible to fathom. There are photos of Graham, ignoring petrol flowing everywhere, using his 'magic hands' to help free him. The wreck was such that it's baffling that a live human could have got out of it.

[@Slikx666]

I've missed so many F1 races in my life due to whatever reason, but thanks to the people who upload races to KZbin I've seen a lot. Unfortunately there still so many I'll never get the chance to see because no-one has the video. I'd love it if someone could upload the free practices, qualifications and races so we could watch a full weekend. Maybe if someone finds out how to travel through time they could record the races and upload them. 🤔👍

[@ianwynne764]

Hello Aidan: I liked this so much, that I have just watched it again.

[@AJZulu]

Salute

[@Zezezeze69]

“The Geneva Convention” is pretty hilarious

[@justrelax8465]

What a picture @ 1:11 brilliant

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

I learned a little, thanks. Chapman said the Lotus 49 isn't' here, so it's the Lotus 72 or go home essentially. Had he gone home he still would have been Welt Meister and may have lived to see 80 years old. Incidentally, with the soon to appear Tech on the car, Chapman might have had the first copy of Lotus 123.

[@matthewdupuis232]

1 is a GREAT movie!

[@brad6630]

Life on the Limit is on KZbin also. It is a great watch.

[@bobbler42]

“Life at the Limit” is also the title of a book by Prof. Sid Watkins. I read a signed copy my aunt got whilst being treated for a non-motorsport related back injury in the late 90s. It sort of treads an awkward line between wild party stories and detailed accounts of deaths, the latter of which may be responsible for my general disdain for anyone who weaponises a car.

[@Pikernik]

A video like this on the accident that killed tom pryce and the marshal would be good probably

[@JohnSmithShields]

Agreed, another tragic story that needs telling.

[@dragonheatgaming5005]

just seen the picture post crash, yeah that'll haunt me for a while

[@stevenmacdonald9619]

It's knowing the history of those who gave their lives to F1, that so infuriates when you hear young fans say 'oh it's too dangerous to race in the rain', when we know how safe the sport is today compared to the past, and when you can survive the sort of crash Grosjean had. No drivers should lose their lives to motorsport, but if they hadn't gone to such extremes, I really do not think Formula One could have been the massive sport it is today. As a kid, those drivers were like astronauts to me. You knew there was no guarantee they would be going home, and that kept you on the edge of your seat at every corner, and in every braking zone. Hoping you wouldn't hear Murray Walker suddenly change his tone because he had seen something we hadn't on TV yet. When you saw a crash happen, you couldn't know the outcome. That was what was so shocking about Imola 1994. You'd seen a car come off the barriers there before, Gerhard Berger had done it. There's no way Ayrton Senna wouldn't be fine, then you saw the helicopter, and it all changed...... Ratzenberger died the day before, and only Jules Bianchi has been so unlucky in a Grand Prix since. 1 is too many, but in 28 years that shows where the sport is today. To the 30 that lost their lives during F1 Grand Prix, you are never forgotten.

[@vaska00762]

Racing in the rain depends on the severity of the rain. Rain like what was seen at Spa last year, that was indeed too dangerous. If it was more like what we saw towards the end of last year's Sochi GP, then it's fine. Rain isn't just about whether or not it's slippy, it's also about visibility. If a car has spun out, and there's only 10 metres of visibility, then you can't reasonably expect cars to be safely doing race pace and stop in time. I think complacency in motorsports is going to be a ticking time bomb of sorts. Bianchi might be the last F1 death, but that's ignoring the likes of Hubert and other single seaters, and even the likes of motorcycle racing, which likewise has very specific safety requirements due to how bad incidents could be. You could claim that Grosjean's incident indicates that the sport is "safe", but I feel like the fact that the fuel tank permitted ignition of the fuel is an indication of a fundamental failure of the crash structure - not something you want to see. And even elsewhere, incidents like Abbie Eaton breaking her back might show that the sport isn't "lethal", but it's not a good sign if the sports still have cars and tracks that could still possibly paralyse a driver, or leave other possibly life changing injuries.

[@hugeiftrue4224]

Shout out to a very young Emerson Fittipaldi whose results for Lotus after he was promoted to Rindt’s seat helped secure the championship for the Austrian. His win on debut for the team (in only his 5th Race) was crucial to help cement the legacy of why this sport needs to have safety forever on its agenda.

[@QuaDue]

well said, if I might add, at his first GP (Hockenheim, not sure though) Emmo (in a 49 I believe) needed Jochen giving him some draft to even qualify, but what a driver, and I always loved him for that (although he should have drank the milk, really)

[@prongATO]

I just watched that, his hypothetical was you could give a driver a choice of one car that is 100% safe or another which if they crash they will likely be killed but is 2 seconds a lap quicker, they would choose the quicker.

[@Mrmayhembsc]

Shame Jochen Rindt is not well know :( Love you do a story on BRM another Team sadly forgotten by newer fans. It a shame that BRM history is in a mill that barely opens

[@AidanMillward]

I used to live near Bourne, as it so happens.

[@matthewlawrenson3628]

@@AidanMillward Yeah. Quite a few stories out there about the former BRM team principal Louis T. Stanley. But we'll leave that here for now.

[@Mrmayhembsc]

@@AidanMillward yeah i know :) more reason to do the story a ;)

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

Thank you for such a comprehensive, yet respectful story about him. I was - fortunately - too young for his story to register on me at the time, but I heard about it by the time I was old enough to understand. His was such a tragic story, but then again, so was Tom Pryce, François Cevert, and so many, _many_ others. Rindt's and Jim Clark's losses were reasons I found it hard to fully get behind Chapman. That he was a far-seeing aerodynamic genius is not in doubt, but his selfish and obsessed nature was as bad as his talent was good. Yes, he built beautiful cars, but there's more to life than beauty.

[@spudgun1978]

I didn't realise that was how he died, jeez. That just makes it even bloody worse.

[@aprilkurtz1589]

I didn't know Rindt went after Chapman that hard. I know that Old Man Ferrari was pretty cavalier with other people's lives, he had that well earned reputation. But nobody ever says the same about Chapman, who was just as bad, if not worse, than Ferrari.

[@heliumtrophy]

I remember seeing an end of year ceremony at what must've been the Mexican GP where they put a laurel leaf over Nina and with her sunglasses on looking to the right and understandably very sullen. It all seemed very chilling. Hell even watching BBC's coverage of Hockenheim '82 where Pironi had his accident, given today's climate it would seem very odd that they would briefly mention an accident but would give it short shrift in order for us to watch the race and I'm sure that while acknowledging the death and give a moment's silence it would end up sounding like "well anyway, the race is about to get underway." Grief gets extended these days. That documentary though, Fassbender is completely underwhelming as the narrator. I know he's a motorsport fan but he really could've sold it a bit more.

[@derosiflo6524]

Rindt was born one day before me, i call this a win

[@allainangcao28]

There are pretty much four pictures I can use to explain how scary Lotuses are; Jim Clark’s wreck, Jochen Rindt’s wreck, Ronnie Peterson’s inferno, and Martin Donnelly’s unconscious body in 1990.

[@wpflesh6510]

Dale Earnhardt’s death even in 2001 was completely avoidable…..It was a perfect storm of things from the fact his seat belt was either loose or cut that day,to him flat out refusing to try the HANS device and openly making fun of people like Kyle Petty who were using an early version of it then…To his racing seat being basically a reupholstered school bus seat (which he always reupholstered himself) and of course him and his son where the last guys wearing the open face helmet and him chafing his driving style later in the race……anyway heard you mention Dale Sr and I wanted to comment him

[@SaraSpruce]

A good question for Pointless would be Finns that have collected the World Championship trophy. I bet Nina Rindt would be the lowest scoring answer. I also remember vividly reading an article about Rindt's death when I was a kid, possibly in the F1 Racing magazine. It was one of the main things that sparked my interest in F1 history.

[@montevallomustang]

Slight correction, captain Kirk's enterprise couldn't reach warp 10 as warp 10 was considered infinite speed. 😅 I don't know why I just remembered that 🤣

[@AidanMillward]

Tom Paris has entered the chat.

[@CrunchyMotorsport]

The thing is, he is often not appreciated however without him there could have been many more deaths

[@atishaykankaria4461]

the tragedy about Jochen Rindt is that he died yards away from where his idle the late great Wolfgang won trips died in the same race 9 years earlier in the Ferrari 156

[@lagoonceo_1671]

I knew that his accident happend because something broke but for some reason i always thought that it was a front suspension part and that he was killed by his steering rod lodging itself into his neck. Now my dad needs to do some explaining why he made his death even more scary for a kid. Also Jochen Rindt was doing the paddock interviews for the austrian tv stations.

[@arthuralford]

The accident was to my understanding due to a braking issue. The 72 used inboard brakes on the front, with a halfshaft connecting them to the wheels. One of the halfshafts broke, and Rindt lost control

[@gustavomarques4097]

So much history during the first two decades of F1, yet Fangio and Clark get all the attention.

[@superferrariman]

If you haven’t still, watch “Champions Forever - the F1 drivers”. If you have seen it, why not a video about the best F1 documentary there is? 🤔 Would love to see your points on that!

[@RageousMode]

With all due respect to Rindt, just one question on one of your quotes Aiden. You said hopefully his record is one that would "never be matched OR BEATEN." I'm not quite sure how this record could be beaten unless....someone came back to life or something?

[@RACECAR]

I don't know if there would've been a better way to phrase it, but I think the point made was that hopefully we don't have another posthumous World Champion.

[@tamingthejungleanallotment5486]

Hi Aidan, do you think the sport could have survived through until now whyout any of the safety improvements demanded by Jackie Stewart et al? Would they have happened anyway? Or would the sport have morphed into something else?

[@hogziller]

I believe Captain Kirk Enterprise never did warp 10......... they did it on Voyager with Tom Paris and he turned into a salamander like thing

[@richardbuchanan5497]

Well... the Lotus 72 wasn't the first car to use side pods.

[@Ultegra10SPD]

I thought he demanded his 49B for Monza and Chapman refused. Recall that somewhere. -U10

[@AidanMillward]

It’s one of those stories that changes depending on where you read it. Some places say he demanded it prior to Monza and some say he demanded it at Monza. Good luck shipping a car from Norfolk to Milan overnight in 1970.

[@johngeren1053]

He right front brake shaft broke - too much lightness added.

[@jk_46]

Shit I always thought the Aramco had killed him didn't know it was his seat belt..

[@matthewlawrenson3628]

It was both. Rindt had the bad luck to hit one of the mounting posts. And even then, it wouldn't have been so bad, but the Lotus 72 was wedge-shaped, so it concentrated all the impact through the front when it hit the unyielding post. Had he been in a Brabham or a McLaren with a front mounted radiator, Rindt would have likely had badly broken ankles and/or feet. Had he done up his belts in the Lotus as factory specified, the result would have been broken legs. A fatal crash generally has multiple reasons why it's fatal. All of which have to be unluckily aligned for it to be so.

[@cosmostrek512]

the walls were bales of hay, houses and sometimes trees

[@squidcaps4308]

Didn't know it is Red Bull Rink, i thought it was Red Bull Ring....

[@wingzero7621]

13:10 Someone basically need to die twice for it to be smash or beaten

[@AidanMillward]

James Bond to F1 confirmed.

[@KR1736]

I'm more shocked that people think of JPM as an obscure race winner

[@AidanMillward]

Because he was there when Schumacher was cleaning up and Alonso won on the other side.

[@KR1736]

@@AidanMillward it also might be bias as an American myself being such a massive fan of his from his CART/Indy 500 success

[@seanmccusker5199]

Hard to know what to say after this video. Its painted a different picture of Colin Chapman and Lotus for me

[@AidanMillward]

Chapman was ruthless as anything. He was no different to Enzo Ferrari really.