1969 South African Grand Prix Explained

The 1969 South African Grand Prix, formally the Third AA Grand Prix of South Africa (Afrikaans: Derde AA Suid-Afrikaanse Grand Prix^[1]), was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on 1 March 1969. It was race 1 of 11 in both the 1969 World Championship of Drivers and the 1969 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 80-lap race was won by Matra driver Jackie Stewart after he started from fourth position. Graham Hill finished second for the Lotus team and McLaren driver Denny Hulme came in third.

Background

In the weeks leading up to the first Formula One race of the season, entries were being announced for the race, with all the teams, apart from Ferrari expected to nominate two drivers for the race. Enzo Ferrari, the managing director of the team he founded, announced that Ferrari were only going to nominate one driver for the race. To most people's surprise, Ferrari at first nominated two drivers for the race without explanation. However, the decision was later changed, with only Chris Amon nominated eventually for Ferrari. Brabham, BRM, Lotus, Matra and McLaren all chose to nominate two drivers for the race meeting.^[2]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	14	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Ford	1:20.0	—
2	2	Jochen Rindt	Lotus-Ford	1:20.2	+0.2
3	5	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	1:20.3	+0.3
4	7	Jackie Stewart	Matra-Ford	1:20.4	+0.4
5	9	Chris Amon	Ferrari	1:20.5	+0.5
6	3	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	1:20.8	+0.8
7	1	Graham Hill	Lotus-Ford	1:21.1	+1.1
8	6	Bruce McLaren	McLaren-Ford	1:21.1	+1.1
9	18	Basil van Rooyen	McLaren-Ford	1:21.8	+1.8
10	16	John Love	Lotus-Ford	1:22.1	+2.1
11	8	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra-Ford	1:22.2	+2.2
12	4	Jo Siffert	Lotus-Ford	1:22.2	+2.2
13	15	Jacky Ickx	Brabham-Ford	1:23.1	+3.1
14	11	Jackie Oliver	BRM	1:24.1	+4.1
15	12	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	1:25.2	+5.2
16	19	Peter de Klerk	Brabham-Repco	1:27.2	+7.2
17	17	Sam Tingle	Brabham-Repco	1:50.4	+30.4
EXC	10	John Surtees	BRM	1:21.8	+1.8

• Surtees's qualifying time was excluded as he had started at the back of the grid.

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	7	Jackie Stewart	Matra-Ford	80	1:50:39.1	4	9
2	1	Graham Hill	Lotus-Ford	80	+ 18.8	7	6
3	5	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	80	+ 31.8	3	4
4	4	Jo Siffert	Lotus-Ford	80	+ 49.2	12	3
5	6	Bruce McLaren	McLaren-Ford	79	+ 1 Lap	8	2
6	8	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra-Ford	78	+ 2 Laps	11	1
7	11	Jackie Oliver	BRM	77	+ 3 Laps	14
8	17	Sam Tingle	Brabham-Repco	73	+ 7 Laps	17
NC	19	Peter de Klerk	Brabham-Repco	67	+ 13 Laps	16
Ret	2	Jochen Rindt	Lotus-Ford	44	Fuel Pump	2
Ret	10	John Surtees	BRM	40	Engine	18
Ret	12	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	38	Water Leak	15
Ret	9	Chris Amon	Ferrari	34	Engine	5
Ret	14	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Ford	32	Handling	1
Ret	3	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	31	Gearbox	6
Ret	16	John Love	Lotus-Ford	31	Ignition	10
Ret	15	Jacky Ickx	Brabham-Ford	20	Ignition	13
Ret	18	Basil van Rooyen	McLaren-Ford	12	Brakes	9

Notes

• This was the 100th race for BRM as an engine supplier. In those 100 races, they had won 14 Grands Prix, achieved 56 podiums, 9 pole positions, 12 fastest laps, 2 Grand Slams, and had won 1 Driver's and 1 Constructor's World Championship.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Jackie Stewart	9
2	Graham Hill	6
3	Denny Hulme	4
4	Jo Siffert	3
5	Bruce McLaren	2
Source: [3]

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Matra-Ford	9
2	Lotus-Ford	6
3	McLaren-Ford	4
Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Further reading

• Book: Lang, Mike . Grand Prix! Vol 2 . Haynes Publishing Group . 1982 . 88–89 . 0-85429-321-3.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1969 . The Programme Covers Project . 7 July 2017.
2. Book: Hilton, Christopher . Michael Schumacher: The Whole Story . 1-84425-008-3 . Haynes Publishing . 15 . November 2006.
3. Web site: South Africa 1969 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 20 March 2019.