Calling Spa's Bluff: The Story of the 1969 and 1970 F1 Boycotts

[@neraLcM13]

With everything Sir Jackie has gone through in life, both professionally and personally, the way he conducts himself is something to be marvelled at. He is the consummate professional. The way he gives back to F1, still, even at his age and the work he does with fighting dementia is commendable; many a modern driver/person can learn a lot from Sir Jackie. 5'3" of honesty, humility, humbleness and integrity neatly outfitted in tartan.

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

I thought you were going to say 'even at his age and the work he does with fighting Rent-a-Cops at Miami is commendable' we would also have accepted that as a correct answer.

[@therrydicule]

That's a bit of how he sees it... It's not your fault, it wasn't his fault either, but some things had to be done.

[@T_Mo271]

The security guys in Miami had no chance.

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

“Roger! Roger!”

[@trashkitty78]

Good job on remembering Maria, unfortunately she often gets forgotten on most of these conversations about drivers who passed away.

[@AGB_HDV]

Sadly... She was a very talented driver...

[@thedon-e6514]

What is her story? Unfortunately I do not know it 😢

[@corpsecoder_nw6746]

Stewart is to be praised by every driver in the sport since his time for every safety thing he's campaigned for so fervently. Regardless of his controversial clips etc.,

[@Durbanite2010]

The John Frankenheimer film Grand Prix, which was filmed around the time of the start of Stewart's crusade for better driver safety, despite it being fictitious, actually got Ferrari's attitude dead-on - he didn't care for any of his drivers after Ascari died (with the exception of Gilles Villeneuve) - just look at the Hawthorn-Collins-Musso incidents in 1958. Most team owners supported Stewart, but Ferrari didn't. You look at the racing drivers credited with the race footage and almost every driver listed on the 2nd page of credits died in various racing accidents - just about every driver mentioned in this video assisted with this movie, with the exception of Stewart. You can even see Rindt at the beginning of the film and Graham Hill and Jo Bonnier are in multiple scenes.

[@ATEC101]

You almost had a point, what was it? Who else would be driving the cars in that film at that time? Hollywood money for driving F2 cars with 'Actors' was a good payday.

[@areasquirrel]

That seat belt thing is the query I had over the halo when it was first mooted. What if it breaks and traps you in the car? I had assumed at that point that it would be made out of similar materials to the rest of the crash structure. Then I learned it was made out of titanium, illustrated as it often was at the time with a London bus photoshopped on top of it to denote the force and weight it would take. Oh. Carry on, then, sorry. Then one pandemic fireball later... Could Grosjean have provided our generation's Stewart moment? Stewart is *the* man. The one with the off track legacy that normalised safety and giving a toss about your fellow competitors. For me, that particular Scottish brogue which used to mean silly, the Scottish equivalent of the Irish 'fiddle-de-dee', now means 'Listen. This is bleeping serious.' Safety, dyslexia/dyspraxia/education, dementia treatment, and more. This is a legendary human being, not just a legendary driver.

[@Pablo668]

Sir Jackie Stewart is nothing short of a legend. His contemporaries and every driver since owe him a debt of gratitude for bringing safety to the forefront of the sport and not just an afterthought.

[@nickklavdianos5136]

There are times when I see people on the internet saying that F1 should ditch safety and we should return to the days when people died and drivers were 'real men'. What I usually say to those people is simply: Go and say this to Jackie Stewart. See what he thinks of you.

[@reptongeek]

I didn't know that Ralf Schumacher was on the GPDA. Speaking of the GPDA Max Mosley refused to listen to them in 1994 after Senna was killed because in Damon Hill's words 'they weren't a proper body'. So they registered it as such. Take that Max!

[@gordonwallin2368]

Sir Jackie Stewart is a living legend-in the most original and literal meaning. Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada

[@Yvolve]

There are two great documentaries related to this: Grand Prix - The Golden Years and Grand Prix - The Killer Years, as mentioned by Aidan. The first is about how great racing used to be, the golden age of publicity and worldwide attention to the sport. The second goes into the death and injuries standard in F1 for decades. It goes into how Jackie Stewart crashed and was motivated to change things, during interviews with him and his wife. Other famous drivers are also interviewed. If Aidan's video raised an interest in how F1 became safe, it highly recommend watching those. They can be found on YT, but are sometimes taken down.

[@hugoagogo9435]

I’ve seen the killer years before and would like to watch it again but can’t find it anywhere

[@Yvolve]

@@hugoagogo9435 It's hard to find. It comes up every once in a while, but I haven't seen it in a long time.. Another option is good 'ol digital piracy. It was available as a torrent, might still be active.

[@etoineschrdlu9382]

I call Mid-Ohio my home track. Back during the Can-Am's heyday, Jackie Stewart drove a Lola there. Similarly, he led a drivers' protest and got trees cut down to provide a little bit of run off at the end of the long straight. Today there are sand traps at that spot. I don't believe Sir Jackie ever drove there again.

[@JohnSmithShields]

After some of the recent videos, this was almost lighthearted. Thank you.

[@trappenweisseguy27]

You can see in the movie “Grand Prix” how ludicrous Spa was at the time.

[@andyventures6574]

Thank you for mentioning de violetta . Her accident foreshadowed bianchi's , though hers was a computer failure causing a stuck throttle.

[@ianwynne764]

Hello Aidan: Thank you very much for the photo of Jackie Stewart and Jochen Rindt chatting. Also, in one of Derek Bell's interviews he said that if he had spent longer in F1, he probably would have died. Keep up the good work.

[@calyodelphi124]

Honestly I think Jackie Stewart deserves to be MORE popular. He quite literally changed Formula One forever, and for the better, by making the sport so much safer that we can enjoy and adore the GOATs through a long and full career with only the rare but unthinkable exception nowadays.

[@liamfriel8749]

Excellent video! We know that Jenkinson originated in the Stone Age of Formula One. One more of his shameful comments was to trivialise the death of Jochen Rindt. RIP Jochen Rindt 🙁

[@mtl-ss1538]

Add - too the ones that made it, 1967 world champion Dennis Hume, retired to his home @ Lake Rotoiti, Rotorua, NZ.

[@AidanMillward]

Died of a heart attack during the 1992 Bathurst 1000.

[@LucasOliveira-tt2ll]

Jackie had some sombering moments like when Paul Stewart asked him if he was the next on the line, given his schoolmates lost their parents on the race track I also remember a simple pic depicting a young Damon Hill sorrounded by Bruce McLaren, Stirling Moss, Tony Brooks, his dad, Taffy von Trips and Jo Bonnier. 4 of them didn't saw the kid reach 15 years of age

[@eddieredmann3]

As much as I think he's said some really nasty things, I also can't deny that his contributions to safety improvements in F1 are indisputable.

[@adenkyramud5005]

What nasty things? Never heard about that before.

[@yannickhardow6819]

​@@adenkyramud5005 typical snowflake, don't worry

[@kojack57]

@@yannickhardow6819 No I think he needs to put words to his accusation.

[@kojack57]

Can you back up that accusation or are you a simple..and by simple I mean, a mong of a man child.

[@yannickhardow6819]

@@kojack57 he won't though. He heard somewhere that Jackie said "nasty things". That is the extent of his research on that topic until now

[@tadroid3858]

Sir Jackie is an amazing human being.

[@davidciesielski8251]

Wow!! Thanks so much..... Way to go Sir Jackie!!

[@whyareyoureadingmynickname8158]

Sir Jackie Stewart doesn't get nearly enough credit for his contributions to F1.

[@AGB_HDV]

Another quality production

[@jtp2007]

I love these videos. You do a great job. I would love to see you do a video about the Indy 500 career of Ted Horn. His stats are insane and I feel no one ever talks about him.

[@wanr5701]

I read in Sir Jackie's autobiography that he almost signed with Ferrari, before signing with Tyrrell. Can you make a storytime video on that?

[@pete5534]

Soberingly eloquent. Jackie Stewart is a man’s man, razor sharp, intelligent, and passionate. He is the world’s biggest man in a compact frame.

[@jimiverson3085]

Stewart was also close friends with Piers Courage. He had also raced with Mike Spence, Jo Bonnier, Jo Siffert, Pedro Rodriguez, Ronnie Peterson and Peter Revson. The toll from that period when the cars had gotten very fast and powerful but there was still no provision for safety was terrible.

[@neilperry2224]

Stewarts crash at the 64 Spa race was used in the film Grand Prix and its the wet race from that year was used as stock footage for Grand Prix. Also Stewart paid for a fully fitted out artic hospital that followed the Grand Prix circus till the Sir Sid Watkins had Bernje cough up for full hospital equipment at every race.

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

Jackie Stewart was the man who humanized racing... the Man who made it sane and survivable, and probably "not evil".... he was also the start, and ideological father of that which caused the F1 driver's journey from Speed-deity, to Pilot, to Driver, to "racing team employee (operator)"/performer in the F1 show... and whilst there are still people I consider "driving legends" today, the end point of the journey he started is why I feel Ok about the sport squeezing the maximum out of it's drivers/teams, & generally throwing them under the bus "for the show" in a way, I would never have accepted for the drivers of Jackie's era...

[@pastorearl1]

Another great one!!!

[@markusjuenemann]

Liked that "Derek Bell"...

[@heliumtrophy]

Even now when some of Lewis' fans were not pleased when he didn't outright say that LH was the greatest of all time so 50 years on, he still has that power. I must admit from my own point of view, much as I accept and believe in the safety improvements there is part of me that feels I would have had much the same attitude as Jenks did. I mean the illusion of daredevilry is pretty potent stuff especially when you're a kid. When the likes of Sir Stirling Moss credit of driving in F1 at its most dangerous and getting out alive as one of his biggest thrills in life does say something. This isn't to denigrate what Jackie did because that video of him in the 80s detailing the crash at Spa in minute detail is enough for me to say he was right. Basically I can see either side of the argument.

[@tippersimracing6070]

I fully agree with Sir Jackie, yes LH is a top driver, he's not the best of all time. Jackie Stewart said the best and this Is fully true is Juan Fangio.

[@ATEC101]

@@tippersimracing6070 Fangio broke his neck, Schumi broke a leg, Hammie barely broke a sweat.

[@tippersimracing6070]

@@ATEC101 remember Fangio has the most wins for starts which is something like 47.5%. And Fangio was captured in Cuba when he was racing in a non championship race by the Cuban revolutionaries when the previous govt were in charge.

[@isthatrubble]

​@@ATEC101 is hamilton supposed to go out and get himself injured on purpose to improve his credibility or something? what a stupid thing to judge someone on

[@free_playstation_2]

2:12 great line

[@MBSLC]

"Al Gore Rhythm" hilarious! And there hasn't been ice on the North Pole since 2013.

[@InstabilityControl]

Great video as always, thank you!

[@KR1736]

This is why JYS wasn’t scared of that security guard. If he can live through these years, they ain’t shit to Jackie

[@christopherortiz9330]

According to his autobiography, he was dyslexic all his life, made fun of for it and wasn't diagnosed until well after his F1 career. He broke down in tears when the doctor told him he was dyslexic, not a burden. That it was normal. He had to endure ridicule while pushing for F1 safety standards. All the pain came out in that moment. All thanks to Jackie for saving lives

[@bobdrooples]

Al Gore, casually slapping the Bon-Tempi beat on his keyboard .

[@minibus9]

awesome video

[@greyone40]

Another good story. Comment to help the algorithm.

[@pilotlasse]

I don't know if I should ask this, but who was Maria di Valotta? What happened to them? I'm interested to know since I haven't heard that name before.

[@TheTotallyRealXiJinping]

She died sometime down the line after a full life

[@heliumtrophy]

She was a test driver for Marussia and was in an unfortunate testing accident that caused her to lose one of her eyes - you'll see some pictures of her with a pirate's eye patch over it - and other head injuries. She died almost a year after her crash. I remember being in tears over it because there were reports of neglect on Marussia's part but it was all so tragic that it could have happened to anyone.

[@JohnSmithShields]

I had to Google that too. Video suggestion Aidan!!!!!!

[@pilotlasse]

@@heliumtrophy Ohhhh yeah, I remember reading about her in a racing magazine YEARS ago. Thanks for explaining. That was a pretty tragic story to read about, especially back then since her death was and still is pretty recent

[@heliumtrophy]

@@pilotlasse It's no problem at all, glad to help.

[@jakeylad7072]

Al Gore Rhythm is an excellent pun.

[@creekboi7]

Spa, public roads?? Shh, no one remind F1, I’m not trying to watch a Spa street circuit. 😂

[@VonBlade]

3:56 So that's why Ralf was rubbish, he's British :D (All in jest Aidan)

[@kazabubu10]

excelent vid aidan....

[@jonnyscott7772]

It's a shame when Jackie spoke up to get things changed for the good, and yet others moaned about the safety and it's great the safety changed for the best

[@brianbob7514]

I am glad nobody has ruined the Isle of Man TT

[@Starfire_Storm]

I always find both funny and disgusting when some idiotic people say that racing drivers today should be "real men" like the ones from the 60's and 70's that weren't afraid of anything and would die if needed. They are so incredibly wrong when they say that, that I can't help but laugh at them from the amount of shit that lives inside their brain, but also feel disgusted because they have the same psychopathic mentality of the era of that was pretty much "drivers should die for my entertainment" kind of bs. Sir Jackie Stewart is a legend. He doesn't get nearly the recognition that he deserves.

[@GaryWagers]

I know this isn't really your wheelhouse, but I'd love to hear your take on the boycott of Talladega by NASCAR drivers in 1969. I looked it up on Wikipedia just now in order to make sure I had the track and the year right in this comment; beyond the quick read I did there, I don't know anything about it except that it failed, and that, in the words of some NASCAR show I watched when I was a teenager, "The drivers never challenged Bill France again." I'm curious about how the situations differed enough to have such a different outcome, and I'm interested to know what you think about it.

[@neblolthecarnerd]

I think slapshoes did a video on it at some point

[@ruddgrandprix-speedrunraci8515]

Aidan millward presentation: Motorsports Sins and Virtues: 1969 and 1970 F1 in 11 minutes or less. (Spoilers duh!)

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

LOL Aidan, how many times are you going to milk' F1: The Killer years' ? Though today I did learn who wrote that Sir Jackie had BD eyes. So kudos for that!

[@NonFlyiingDutchman]

I've never understood the reverence in which Denis Jenkinson is held. Apart from his reports being incredibly tedious and boring, I thought his attitude to the safety of the drivers was callous even in the context of the time - using quotes such as "the throttle goes both ways" etc

[@lynp9996]

sending middle fingers to bosses based.

[@dylanzrim3635]

Tom pryce incident could still occur today with the way some country’s stewards act

[@ATEC101]

Unpaid volunteers in 2.73 billion euros sport, who is Fu&cking Up? Have you ever been an unpaid Marshal?

[@isthatrubble]

​@@ATEC101 maybe they should pay them then

[@AidanMillward]

@@ATEC101 the British and Monegasque marshals are probably the best in the world. You could pay them and they could still fuck it up if the training is bad.

[@philrussell5258]

Add money to the equation and you'll see a decline in standards. Marshalls who do it for the love of the sport instead of being motivated by money will see a higher class of Marshall.

[@Scoobydcs]

jackie sterwart vs dale earnhardt, go

[@isthatrubble]

different eras, different sports, can't really compare

[@Scoobydcs]

@@isthatrubble i meant personality wise rather than in a car lol

[@ARUSApacecarHAMPTON]

Dale was a product of his time and the sport at the time of his death. NASCAR at the time didn’t take safety seriously as today. Most of that was done by individual drivers who saw safety issues and were concerned about there own safety. Sadly it took the loss of Dale Sr to wake NASCAR up to this issue. Sir Jackie will always be remembered as a great champion and greater human. Everyone in Motorsports owes a debt of gratitude to Sir Jackie for making our beloved sport ( all types ) safer.

[@TerribleFire]

Graham Hill was being stupid to be fair.

[@ondrejkratochvil4589]

BTW Graham Hill died in an airplane accident, not racing...

[@kyle381000]

As did Tony Brise and Carlos Pace.

[@AidanMillward]

I know. I literally said he was in a plane crash outside of London on 1975. Didn’t die racing but died doing something outside of it.

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

@@AidanMillward Yeah, you said that. I heard it, I promise.

[@AidanMillward]

@@GregBrownsWorldORacing thought I wasn’t going crazy. 🤣

[@sepg5084]

Journalist talking shite about drivers who wanted safety, so easy to talk shite when it is not their life on the line

[@stephenscholes4758]

Journalist/Rolls Royce engineer/navigator in one of, if not THE greatest races ever conducted. So.....

[@AntoniusTyas]

@@stephenscholes4758 that's the problem. Denis Jenkinson survived Mille Miglia, so the 'It won't happen to me it happened on someone else and that's just the way it is' mindset is still pretty strong in his mind.

[@stephenscholes4758]

@@AntoniusTyas So Jenkinson's main fault is he didn't die during the MM? Such a 21st century opinion...

[@stephenscholes4758]

Boomery? Really? F1 more than most sports, rides on its history; a millennial, in hiis bedroom, and his constant callouts on "toxic masculinity" are really, really misplaced. Bottom line, today's F1 is excruciatingly dull, in both track design, technical convergence, and the imposition of regulators , partly down to Stewart

[@sagittated]

Jackie Stewart is a millennial in his bedroom?

[@jeremypnet]

If watching people die is the only thing that makes sport entertaining for you, you should probably take up some other hobby.

[@charleshulsey3103]

I suppose safety is important, but racing is inherently dangerous. You kinda have to expect some serious injuries and death when a car smacks a wall at 150+mph. It's what makes it a spectical. Racing is not supposed to be a family thing. It's for the bad wamma-jammers that ain't scared. In America, all race tracks have signs that say " motorsport is dangerous. Enter at your own risk." Obsession of safety can destroy the sport.

[@grommile]

Spectacle and safety can work together. Reliable engines and highly effective aerodynamics are far more injurious to spectacle than self-sealing fuel tanks, fire-resistant overalls, halos, carbon fibre monocoques, full-face helmets, head and neck supports, quick-release steering wheels, wheel tethers, roll hoops, energy-dissipating crash barriers, or prohibition of magnesium alloys as bodywork material.

[@sagittated]

You have excellently illustrated that the backwards, sociopathic attitudes of the 60's and 70's persist even today.

[@har234908234]

...and yet, it hasn't.

[@VeraTheTabbynx]

Sir, do you have any empathy? I love the sport but there's absolutely no reason signing up should be signing your death certificate. Safety is important as in every sport, people do have a right to survive doing the thing they enjoy

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

Safety is a moving target, You will never think of everything, we can never make it 100% safe. Some shunts you couldn't repeat even if you tried.

[@demonicsquid7217]

Would be nice if the GDPA had the balls to boycott places such as Saudi, China,or the US for human rights violations

[@AidanMillward]

They'd be boycotting every single race if that was the case. Not a single country on the calendar is immune.