The 1970 Formula One season was the 24th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's Formula One motor racing. It featured the 21st World Championship of Drivers, the 13th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and three non-championship races open to Formula One cars. The World Championship was contested over thirteen races between 7 March and 25 October.
Jochen Rindt, driving for Lotus, won his first Drivers' Championship, although he died during the race weekend at Monza, four races before the end of the season. He had earned enough championship points that no other driver managed to surpass his total. It is the only season to date in which the Drivers' Championship has been awarded posthumously. Jacky Ickx, driving for Ferrari, finished the season strongly but ended up five points short. His teammate Clay Regazzoni placed third, scoring his first win at Monza, but this was not enough for the Maranello-based outfit to overturn the early deficit they had in the Manufacturers' Cup, which Lotus clinched by a 7-point margin.
Bruce McLaren, founder and owner of the famous McLaren team, died on 2 June while testing his McLaren M8D Can-Am car at Goodwood Circuit. Piers Courage, driver for Frank Williams's team, was killed during the Dutch Grand Prix on 21 June.
Three-time World Champion Jack Brabham retired at the end of the year.
Teams and drivers The following teams and drivers competed in the 1970 World Championship.
Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre Driver Rounds Tyrrell Racing Organisation Tyrrell-Ford 001 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Jackie Stewart 11–13 March-Ford 701 1–10 Johnny Servoz-Gavin 1–3 François Cevert 5–13 Équipe Matra Elf Matra MS120 Matra MS12 3.0 V12 Jean-Pierre Beltoise All Henri Pescarolo All Bruce McLaren Motor Racing McLaren-Ford M14A Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Bruce McLaren 1–3 Denny Hulme 1–3, 6–13 Peter Gethin 5, 8–13 Dan Gurney 5–7 McLaren-Alfa Romeo M7DM14D Alfa Romeo T33 3.0 V8 Andrea de Adamich 2–3, 5–12 Nanni Galli 10 Team Surtees McLaren-Ford M7C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 John Surtees 1–3, 5 Surtees-Ford TS7 7–13 Derek Bell 12 STP Corporation March-Ford 701 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Mario Andretti 1–2, 7–9 Gold Leaf Team Lotus Garvey Team Lotus World Wide Racing Lotus-Ford 49C72B72C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Jochen Rindt 1–10 John Miles 1–10 Alex Soler-Roig 2, 4, 6 Emerson Fittipaldi 7–10, 12–13 Reine Wisell 12–13 Rob Walker Racing Team Brooke Bond Oxo Racing with Rob Walker Lotus-Ford 49C72C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Graham Hill 1–8, 10–13 Motor Racing Developments Auto Motor und Sport Brabham-Ford BT33 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Jack Brabham All Rolf Stommelen All March Engineering March-Ford 701 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Chris Amon All Jo Siffert All Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 312B Ferrari 001 3.0 F12 Jacky Ickx All Ignazio Giunti 4, 6, 9–10 Clay Regazzoni 5, 7–13 Owen Racing Organisation Yardley Team BRM BRM P153P139 BRM P142 3.0 V12 Jackie Oliver All Pedro Rodríguez All George Eaton 1–3, 5–7, 9–12 Peter Westbury 12 Frank Williams Racing Cars De Tomaso-Ford 505/38 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Piers Courage 1–5 Brian Redman 7–8 Tim Schenken 9–12 Team Gunston Lotus-Ford 49 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 John Love 1 Brabham-Ford BT26A Peter de Klerk 1 Scuderia Scribante Lotus-Ford 49C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Dave Charlton 1 Antique Automobiles Racing Team Colin Crabbe Racing March-Ford 701 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Ronnie Peterson 3–8, 10–12 Tom Wheatcroft Racing Brabham-Ford BT26A Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Derek Bell 4 Silvio Moser Racing Team Bellasi-Ford F1 70 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Silvio Moser 5–6, 8–10 Pete Lovely Volkswagen Inc. Lotus-Ford 49B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Pete Lovely 5–7, 12 Hubert Hahne March-Ford 701 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Hubert Hahne 8 Ecurie Bonnier McLaren-Ford M7C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Jo Bonnier 10, 12 Gus Hutchison Brabham-Ford BT26A Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Gus Hutchison 12
Team and driver changes Matra had split with Ken Tyrrell and entered the season under French licence. The MS120 was powered by Matra's own V12 engine. Tyrrell entered two Cosworth-provided March 701's, before introducing the Tyrrell 001 later in the year, the first chassis designed by the Tyrrell team. Reigning champion Jackie Stewart and his teammate Johnny Servoz-Gavin both moved to Tyrrell, while their third teammate Jean-Pierre Beltoise stayed with Matra. He was joined by Henri Pescarolo, for his first full-time drive. champion Graham Hill was moved out of Team Lotus by team boss Colin Chapman and placed at the Rob Walker Racing Team. Walker's 1969 driver Jo Siffert found a new home at March. There he was joined by Chris Amon, who had left Ferrari half-way through last season, disappointed by the performance of their engine. 1969 runner-up Jacky Ickx returned to Ferrari, having spent one year at Brabham. Ferrari's switch from a V12 to a flat-12 engine gave the Belgian hopes of new success. His place at Brabham was taken up by debutant Rolf Stommelen. Ex-Ferrari driver Pedro Rodríguez was signed by BRM. champion John Surtees had driven for BRM in 1969, but left to set up his own team. He entered and drove a McLaren M7C before debuting his self-designed Surtees TS7 half-way through the year. Andrea de Adamich, sports car driver for Alfa Romeo, was signed by McLaren to drive a third car powered by an Alfa Romeo V8. Frank Williams had run a privatised Brabham BT26C in 1969, but collaborated with Italian car manufacturer De Tomaso. This resulted in the De Tomaso 505/38, which was uncompetitive and never managed to be classified in a championship race.
Mid-season changes Tyrrell driver Johnny Servoz-Gavin retired from the sport three races into the 1970 season. His seat was taken up by François Cevert. After the death of Bruce McLaren, new team leader Teddy Mayer signed British driver Peter Gethin. Veteran Dan Gurney also drove three races for the McLaren team. Ferrari expanded their operations from one to three cars, promoting their successful sports car driver Ignazio Giunti and hiring Clay Regazzoni. The Swiss would also continue to drive in Formula Two and would go on to win the F2 championship. Piers Courage was killed in the Dutch Grand Prix. Frank Williams hired Brian Redman and then Tim Schenken. John Miles quit the sport after Jochen Rindt's accident. Besides everything, this left Lotus team owner Colin Chapman without drivers. He hired Emerson Fittipaldi, at the time a promising F2 driver, and Reine Wisell, another debutant but with wide experience under his belt.
Calendar Round Grand Prix Circuit Date 1 South African Grand Prix Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Midrand 7 March 2 Spanish Grand Prix Circuito Permanente del Jarama, Madrid 19 April 3 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo 10 May 4 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot 7 June 5 Dutch Grand Prix Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort 21 June 6 French Grand Prix Circuit de Charade, Clermont-Ferrand 5 July 7 British Grand Prix Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown 18 July 8 German Grand Prix Hockenheimring, Hockenheim 2 August 9 Austrian Grand Prix Österreichring, Spielberg 16 August 10 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza 6 September 11 Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Mont-Tremblant 20 September 12 United States Grand Prix Watkins Glen International, New York 4 October 13 Mexican Grand Prix Autódromo Magdalena Mixhuca, Mexico City 25 October
Calendar changes The Belgian Grand Prix returned after major safety changes had been made to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Drivers had boycotted the race because of the extreme dangers. After a one-off Austrian Grand Prix in , the event returned to the calendar and was held at the newly built Österreichring. The Spanish Grand Prix was moved from Montjuïc to Jarama, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits. Likewise, the British Grand Prix was moved from Silverstone to Brands Hatch and the Canadian Grand Prix was moved from Mosport Park to Circuit Mont-Tremblant. The German Grand Prix was originally to be held at the Nürburgring but the drivers refused to race unless major safety changes were made to it. The circuit's owners responded negatively to a list of changes requested by the drivers, so the Hockenheimring was found as host for the race in 1970.
Regulation changes
Technical regulations A "safety bladder" was introduced around the fuel tanks to reduce the risk of fires. The maximum displacement for compressed engines, turbo engines for example, was reduced from to . The maximum displacement for naturally aspirated engines remained at . The minimum weight was raised from to .
Sporting and event regulations The starting order of the race would usually be decided by the drivers' fastest time during any of the practice sessions. However, in some cases, only ten "chosen" drivers would be guaranteed a place on the grid, in the order of their best time. The remaining drivers had to earn their entry in a 30-minute qualifying session: the fastest drivers in that session would be allowed to start the race and would be placed on the grid in the order of their original best practice time. This resulted in drivers not qualifying for a race despite going faster in practice than others who did qualify. This system was introduced shortly before the second race of the season, leading to protests among teams and drivers.
Drivers would have to complete at least five laps in practice to be allowed to race.
The FIA published some considerations on circuit design and announced that all circuits would have to pass their inspections: Run-off areas should be at least wide. Double guardrails were now the standard. The use of strawbales was banned. Spectators placed at least behind the fencing. The pit lane should be separated from the track by a barrier. Furthermore, regulations were set on track width, track surface and maximum gradient change.
Championship report Rounds 1 to 5
As it had been since , the championship commenced in South Africa. Reigning champion Jackie Stewart, driving a privatised March 701 for Tyrrell Racing, set the fastest lap, before Chris Amon, driving the same car but for the March works team, set the exact same time, a 1:19.3. Three-time World Champion Jack Brabham joined them on the first row. At the start, Stewart and Brabham had the best initial start, until Jochen Rindt, who started in fourth, made a charge round the outside of the first corner. But he hit the front of Amon's car and then crashed into Brabham. Stewart was the only frontrunner unharmed and was now leading Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver, who started fifth and twelfth, respectively. By lap 6, however, Brabham was back into second place, and the McLarens of Denny Hulme and Bruce McLaren were third and fourth. Brabham took the lead on lap 20, Hulme went past Stewart on lap 38 into second, and it was only thanks to Bruce McLaren's engine failure that the Scot finished on the podium.