1970 Mexican Grand Prix

1970 Mexican Grand Prix
The Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca
Race details
Date	October 25, 1970
Official name	Mexican Grand Prix
Location	Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca, Mexico City, Mexico
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.000 km (3.107 miles)
Distance	65 laps, 325.000 km (201.946 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari
Time	1:41.86
Fastest lap
Driver	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari
Time	1:43.11 on lap 46
Podium
First	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari
Second	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari
Third	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1970 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca in Mexico City on October 25, 1970. It was race 13 of 13 in both the 1970 World Championship of Drivers and the 1970 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 65-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx after he started from third position. His teammate Clay Regazzoni finished second and McLaren driver Denny Hulme came in third.

Ickx was not able to close the points gap to the late Jochen Rindt in the final races of the season, and as a result, Rindt became the only driver ever to win the championship posthumously.

Qualifying

Qualifying classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap	Grid
1	4	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	1:41.86	—	1
2	1	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	1:41.88	+0.02	2
3	3	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:42.41	+0.55	3
4	15	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Ford	1:43.57	+1.71	4
5	12	Chris Amon	March-Ford	1:43.71	+1.85	5
6	6	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	1:43.82	+1.96	6
7	19	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	1:44.01	+2.15	7
8	14	Graham Hill	Lotus-Ford	1:44.13	+2.27	8
9	2	François Cevert	March-Ford	1:44.21	+2.35	9
10	9	Peter Gethin	McLaren-Ford	1:44.46	+2.60	10
11	7	Henri Pescarolo	Matra	1:44.55	+2.69	11
12	23	Reine Wisell	Lotus-Ford	1:44.59	+2.73	12
13	20	Jackie Oliver	BRM	1:44.70	+2.84	13
14	8	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	1:44.95	+3.09	14
15	17	John Surtees	Surtees-Ford	1:45.03	+3.17	15
16	11	Jo Siffert	March-Ford	1:46.15	+4.29	16
17	16	Rolf Stommelen	Brabham-Ford	1:46.30	+4.44	17
18	24	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	1:48.13	+6.27	18
Source: [1]

Race

The race was originally scheduled to start at 2:30pm but the crowd of 200,000 was difficult to control and almost forced the cancellation of the race. They were crammed in front of the guard-rails, sat at the trackside and ran across the track itself. Despite appeals from Jackie Stewart and local hero Pedro Rodríguez they still remained troublesome. It cause the start to be delayed to 4:00pm.

From the start, Jacky Ickx led from Stewart and Clay Regazzoni, but dropped back with steering column trouble. Later, a collision with a dog which had escaped onto the track damaged Stewart's suspension and forced his retirement, leaving the Ferraris dominant in first and second. Jack Brabham retired from third place in his final Grand Prix when the engine blew on lap 53. The Ferraris romped home with Ickx leading Regazzoni and Denny Hulme claiming the third podium spot.

The crowd control issues led to the Mexican Grand Prix being dropped from the 1971 calendar. It returned to the Formula One calendar fifteen years later in 1986.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	65	1:53:28.36	3	9
2	4	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	65	+24.64	1	6
3	8	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	65	+45.97	14	4
4	12	Chris Amon	March-Ford	65	+47.05	5	3
5	6	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	65	+50.11	6	2
6	19	Pedro Rodriguez	BRM	65	+1:24.76	7	1
7	20	Jackie Oliver	BRM	64	+1 Lap	13
8	17	John Surtees	Surtees-Ford	64	+1 Lap	15
9	7	Henri Pescarolo	Matra	61	+4 Laps	11
NC	23	Reine Wisell	Lotus-Ford	56	Not Classified	12
Ret	15	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Ford	52	Engine	4
Ret	1	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	33	Suspension	2
Ret	9	Peter Gethin	McLaren-Ford	27	Engine	10
Ret	16	Rolf Stommelen	Brabham-Ford	15	Fuel System	17
Ret	2	François Cevert	March-Ford	8	Engine	9
Ret	14	Graham Hill	Lotus-Ford	4	Overheating	8
Ret	11	Jo Siffert	March-Ford	3	Engine	16
Ret	24	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	1	Engine	18
Source: [2]

Notes

• This was the 10th podium finish for a Swiss driver.
• This was the 50th fastest lap set by a Ferrari (as a constructor and as an engine supplier); a record.
• This race marked the 126th Grand Prix start for Jack Brabham; a record that would be broken by Graham Hill at the 1971 Monaco Grand Prix.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jochen Rindt 45 2 Jacky Ickx 40 3 Clay Regazzoni 33 2 4 Denny Hulme 27 1 5 Jackie Stewart 25 Source: [3]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Lotus-Ford 59 2 Ferrari 52 (55) 3 March-Ford 48 4 Brabham-Ford 35 5 McLaren-Ford 35 Source: [3]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 6 results from the first 7 rounds and the best 5 results from the last 6 rounds counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

1. "Mexico 1970 - Qualification • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
2. "1970 Mexican Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
3. "Mexico 1970 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.

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