| 1970 FIA Formula One World Championship season | |
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The 1970 Formula One season included the 21st FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 7, 1970, and ended on October 25 after thirteen races. This is the only season to date in which the World Championship title has been awarded posthumously.
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For 1970 following the agreement with Simca, Tyrrell were asked by Matra to use their V12 rather than the Cosworth. Stewart tested the Matra V12 and found it inferior to the DFV. As a large part of the Tyrrell budget was provided by Ford, and another significant element came from French state-owned petroleum company Elf, which had an agreement with Renault that precluded supporting a Simca partner, Ken Tyrrell had little alternative (due to clashing sponsorship deals) but to buy March 701 chassis as interim solution while developing his own car in secret; the first Tyrrell bore much resemblance to the MS80.
The new wedge-shaped Lotus 72 was a very innovative car featuring torsion bar suspension, hip-mounted radiators, inboard front brakes and an overhanging rear wing. The 72 originally had suspension problems, but when anti-dive and anti-squat were designed out of the suspension the car quickly showed is superiority and Lotus' new leader, the Austrian Jochen Rindt, dominated the championship until he was killed at Monza when a brake shaft broke. He took the 1970 title posthumously for Lotus. Jacky Ickx won the Austrian, Canadian and Mexican Grands Prix to come second in the drivers' championship, having re-joined Ferrari from Brabham. Had he won the United States Grand Prix instead of Brazilian up-riser Emerson Fittipaldi, Ickx would have been crowned champion.
The German Grand Prix was originally supposed to be held at the Nürburgring. Jochen Rindt, representing the GPDA (Grand Prix Driver's Association), visited the track with a list of requests to make the long and dangerous track safer, but the organizers did not comply; and during a GPDA meeting at a hotel in London after the memorial services of Piers Courage and Bruce McLaren, a vote was cast to determine whether to race there or not, and the vote went against racing at the Nürburgring and the German Grand Prix was hastily switched to Hockenheim, which had already been brought up to safety standards. [1]
1970 saw the introduction of slick tyres by Goodyear.
Triple champion Jack Brabham retired at the end of the year.
The following teams and drivers competed in the 1970 FIA World Championship.
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Points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six finishers at each round, however only the best placed car from each manufacturer was eligible to score points. The best six results from the first seven rounds and the best five results from the last six rounds were retained.
| Pos. | Manufacturer | RSA |
ESP |
MON |
BEL |
NED |
FRA |
GBR |
GER |
AUT |
ITA |
CAN |
USA |
MEX |
Pts.[3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lotus-Ford | 5 | 4 | 1 | Ret | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 | DNS | NC | 1 | NC | 59 |
| 2 | Ferrari | Ret | Ret | Ret | 4 | 3 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 52 (55) |
| 3 | March-Ford | 3 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 48 |
| 4 | Brabham-Ford | 1 | Ret | 2 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 5 | Ret | 10 | Ret | 35 |
| 5 | McLaren-Ford | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 35 | |
| 6 | BRM | 9 | Ret | 6 | 1 | 10 | 12 | Ret | Ret | 4 | Ret | 4 | 2 | 6 | 23 |
| 7 | Matra | 4 | Ret | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | Ret | 6 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 23 |
| 8 | Surtees-Ford | Ret | 9 | Ret | Ret | 5 | 6 | 8 | 3 | ||||||
| — | McLaren-Alfa Romeo | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | NC | DNS | DNQ | 12 | 8 | Ret | DNQ | 0 | |||
| — | De Tomaso-Ford | Ret | DNS | NC | Ret | Ret | DNS | DNQ | Ret | Ret | NC | Ret | 0 | ||
| — | Tyrrell-Ford | Ret | Ret | Ret | 0 | ||||||||||
| — | Bellasi-Ford | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | 0 | ||||||||
| Pos. | Manufacturer | RSA |
ESP |
MON |
BEL |
NED |
FRA |
GBR |
GER |
AUT |
ITA |
CAN |
USA |
MEX |
Pts. |
Other Formula One races held in 1970, which did not count towards the World Championship.
| Race Name | Circuit | Date | Winning driver | Constructor | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V Race of Champions | Brands Hatch | March 22 | Jackie Stewart | March-Cosworth | Report |
| XXII BRDC International Trophy | Silverstone | April 26 | Chris Amon | March-Cosworth | Report |
| XVII International Gold Cup | Oulton Park | August 22 | John Surtees | Surtees-Cosworth | Report |
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