Revolution 9 - Lotus 49 #blogpost

From 1961 to 1965, Formula 1 had found itself in danger of losing it’s illustrious title as ‘The pinnacle of motorsport’ when the governing body the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile had (for some unknown reason) reduced maximum engine capacity from 2.5L to a dimminutive 1.5L capacity, which had in essence demoted the sport to Formula 2 specifications. As the threat of ‘lesser’ sportscars and endurance prototypes becoming faster than F1 cars looked more and more like a reality, something drastic had to be done. The FIA had come up with a solution that would stamp out the threat altogether: double maximum displacement from 1.5L to 3.0L and watch the lightweight open wheel missiles race away into the sunset. This plan had a catch however, no-one notified the teams in time for them to make the adequate adaptions for the new regulations, which threw the sport into a feeding frenzy as everyone struggled to adapt to the new rules fast enough to stay competitve.

Colin Chapman’s Team Lotus was one of those teams. Lotus had been a successful team in the 1.5L era winning 19 races, 2 drivers championships (1963, 1965) and 1 constructors championship (1965) while using Coventry Climax powerplants: the 1.5L FWMV V8, but with the imposing new 3.0L formula for 1966, and only the outdated 1.5L powerplants on offer, Lotus reached out to Coventry Climax to create a new 3.0L powerplant for 1966, which resulted in a 16 cylinder behemoth fashioned from two flat 8s joined at their individual crankshafts, using a common central spur gear. The titanic engine suffered from severe internal vibration issues which could not be remedied. The failure eventually resulted in Coventry Climax parting ways with Lotus and leaving motorsport altogether.

With no engine, Colin Chapman looked to the 5 other options available for a powerplant: Ferrari and Maserati’s respective V12s, the (Brabham exclusive) Repco Holden V8, Dan Gurney’s incoming Weslake V12 and the eventual winner: British Racing Motors’ P75 H16 (two 1.5L flat 8 cylinder engines stacked on top of each other). The BRM was chosen mostly so Chapman would avoid the shame associated with powering his [quintessentially] British team with an Italian engine. The BRM engine was heavy, unreliable and liked to explode, but it worked well enough for one win (1966 US Grand Prix) in the back of Jim Clark’s Lotus 43.

In late 1966 and the 3.0L formula was by now implemented, engine manufacturers now had enough time to properly develop a new engine. Lotus began the search for an alternative to the BRM ‘anchor’ that was performing well below expectations, despite it’s high power output [for 1966 Formula 1] of 395 hp.

Chapman approached Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth of Cosworth, both of which were former Team Lotus engineers, to build a new 3.0L powerplant for the team to use in 1967. The pair promised they would deliver an engine that could put Chapman’s marque back at the top of the sport, if they were provided with a budget of £100,000, a sum which Lotus could not present. With Lotus searching for the funds, they approached both David Brown of Aston Martin, and American automotive giant Ford, who supplied engines for Lotus’ entries in the United States Auto Club sanctioned Indianapolis 500. The Anglo-American partnership had seen Indianapolis glory in 1965 with Jim Clark (GBR) driving a Lotus 38 which was powered by a 4.1L Ford V8.

Both endevours initially went without success, until Chapman approached Ford of Great Britain’s public relations chief and former automotive journalist Walter Hayes. Chapman and Hayes had established a close working relationship in the early 1960s. When Hayes joined Ford in 1962, the pair had organised a collaboration between the two companies which resulted in the [Ford] Lotus Cortina, introduced in 1963.

Hayes had organised for Chapman to meet with Harley Copp, who was a British based American engineer who had been heavily involved in Ford’s entry into NASCAR in the 1950s. Hayes and Copp eventually developed a plan, backed by Ford UK’s chairman Stanley Glenn and approved by Ford’s head office in Detroit, Michigan. The plan involved two stages:
Stage 1: Develop a 1.6L twin-cam 4 cylinder for Formula 2
Stage 2: Develop a 3.0L V8 for Formula 1

Resulting from Ford’s involvement, the Cosworth Four Valve Type A 116E was created in two different versions. A 1.6L inline 4 intended for Formula 2, and a destroked 1.5L 116E, two of which would be joined at the crank to create a 90 degree V8: the Double Four Valve.

Unfortunately for Lotus, the new engine wasn’t ready in time for the first round of 1967, meaning that the (seemingly obsolete) BRM powered Lotus 43 would have to be used until the new engine would be ready, and a new chassis built specifically for the new engine.

Round 1 of 1967 would be held at Kyalami in South Africa, now with a vast majority of the field powered by the new 3L engines. The field now featured a Maserati V12 (Cooper), Honda V12 (Honda) and the proven Recpo V8 (Brabham), the rest of the field made mostly of underfunded privateers would field the same BRM engine as the Lotus 43, or outdated but bored out 1.5L engines which were commonly the Climax and BRM V8s. Ferrari would not compete. Jim Clark would qualify 3rd behind the Brabham-Repcos of Jack Brabham (AUS) (1st) and Denny Hulme (NZL) (2nd), and teammate Graham Hill (GBR) (who would occupy the team’s second seat at the specific request of Ford and Hayes) would qualify a distant 15th (of 18 starters). Unsurprisingly, the 43 continued it’s old ways during the race. Hill would crash out on lap 6, while Clark would retire on lap 22 with engine failure. Ironically, a third Lotus: the Lotus 25 of Piers Courage (GBR) fielded by small privateer firm Reg Parnell Racing which was powered by an outdated BRM V8 would complete 51 laps before retiring with fuel injection issues. The race was won by the Cooper-Maserati of Pedro Rodriguez (MEX), which would also be Cooper Cars’ final Grand Prix win before their eventual decline and departure from Formula 1 in 1969 following Monaco.

The next round of 1967 would be held on the illustrious and dangerous streets of Monaco. Lotus not wanting to use the troublesome 43, would instead revive the (as far as the rules were concerned) prehistoric Lotus 33, the same chassis that Jim Clark would win the 1965 world championship in winning 5 of the 10 races that season. Interestingly, the two Team Lotus fielded cars would be using two different engines but still outdated 1.5L units that had been bored to within an inch of their lives to try and make more power, a Climax engine (Clark) and a BRM engine (Hill). Clark would qualify 5th and Hill 8th, both still outpaced by the Brabhams of Brabham (pole) and Hulme (4th), the Ferrari of Lorenzo Bandini (ITA)(2nd) and John Surtees’ (GBR) Honda (3rd). The race would be chaotic right from the start, with Jack Brabham’s Repco V8 blowing up almost immediately, spinning in front of Bruce McLaren (NZL) and Jo Siffert (SUI) who would collide trying to avoid the spin, and trailing oil from Mirabeau to the port and causing Clark to use an escape road following a spin on the oil dumping him to last place. Clark would begin a charge to the front despite his underpowered car until a broken shock absorber ended his drive on lap 43. The race would be won by Denny Hulme, being his first win on the high profile circuit, and incredibly Graham Hill would finish 2nd despite his lack of power and outdated design. Unfortunately however, the race would be marred by tragedy, on lap 82 Lorenzo Bandini would clip the straw bales used as barriers at the chicane exiting the tunnel and hit an exposed mooring head. His Ferrari would overturn and burst into flames, trapping him inside the burning wreckage. The rescue effort was very slow taking several minutes before the fire was extinguished, and the rescue was not assisted by a helicopter that was instead carrying TV cameras, hovering at low altitude above the burning wreckage, fanning the flames and further lengthening the rescue effort. Once extracted, Bandini was rushed to hospital but would succumb to his injuries 3 days later. This accident would both accelerate development of fire ret@rdant clothing for drivers and marshals, and would be the last time the Monaco GP would be run in a 100 lap format and the last time a TV helicopter would fly over a burning car.

The new car and engine would be debuted at the 3rd round, the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

The new car: the 49, featured stressed-member construction like the 43 and 38 (indycar) before it, using the engine as an integral structural element, bolting it to the car’s cockpit monocoque, thereby increasing structural rigidity and massively reducing weight by eliminating the need for an engine subframe. The 49 was built solely for the DFV, designed by esteemed aircraft and racecar designer Maurice Philippe, in the most simplistic way possible, and kept as light as possible, relying primarily on aluminium for the construction. The engine was attached to the monocoque with just 2 bolts spaced 9 inches apart and reinforced cam covers that featured additional connections, meaning the Cosworth engine and ZF 5DS-12 5-speed gearbox would support the entire rear axle with noting more than 2 bolts and a pair of connections to the head covers connecting the engine to the front half of the chassis. In all, the new engine produced 415hp, in a car that tipped the scales at 501kg (wet, without driver). resulting in an insane power to weight ratio of almost 830hp per tonne.

The new car would impress in qualifying, with Graham Hill securing pole position over Dan Gurney’s (USA) powerful Eagle-Weslake fielded by his own All American Racers team (2nd) and Jack Brabham (3rd), Jim Clark would qualify in 8th. Come race day, Lotus would demonstrate their prowess almost immediately, despite using a brand new and largely untested chassis and engine combination. Jim Clark would set the fastest lap of the race and win by a margin of 23.6 seconds over Jack Brabham. With a mostly successful debut behind them, Lotus could make their way back to the top of the F1 circus.

The next round, would be held in Belgium, at the fast, flowing Spa-Francorchamps and the Lotus impressed right from the start, with Clark winning pole over Dan Gurney in 2nd and Hill would qualify 3rd. Clark would lead comfortably for the first 11 laps (while Hill would retire on lap 3 with a clutch issue) accumulating a 20 second lead over Dan Gurney’s Eagle and [fellow Scotsman] BRM’s Jackie Stewart (GBR) until he had to pit for a plug change because of an ignition issue caused by bad spark plugs. The stop cost Clark 40 seconds and his chance at victory. Dan Gurney’s Eagle was found to be one of the fastest cars Grand Prix racing had ever seen once it was out in the clean air, despite it’s engine making less than 400hp, it’s lightweight magnesium and titanium construction, coupled to it’s advanced aerodynamic profile, set a new lap record and was recorded down the back-straight at an astonishing speed of 196mph . Jackie Stewart had since suffered a gearbox problem and was forced to surrender the lead with 8 laps to go, meaning that Gurney could race away into the distance and secure Eagle’s maiden (and only) Formula 1 victory. Clark would finish in the final points scoring position (6th). As well as the incredible speed of the Eagle, the race would be remembered for the dramatic first lap accident of Ferrari’s Mike Parkes (GBR), who lost control on spilled oil from the BRM of Stewart at the exit of Blanchimont. He would break both of his legs and never raced Formula 1 again.

The next round would be the French GP, held at Le Mans, the very same place that the Ford GT40 MkIV, driven by Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt (USA) had won the 24 Hours of Le Mans less than a month prior. The pair would become the only all-american team (american chassis, engine, car, team and drivers) to win the famous race in it’s entire history. The difference in venue this time being the race was held on the shorter Bugatti circuit (4.4km) as opposed to the much longer La Sarthe layout (13.5km) used for the 24 hour event. Hill would qualify on pole beating out Brabham and Gurney, whilst Clark would start 4th. The race would be unkind to both Lotus cars, both retiring with a broken crown wheel and pinion (differential): Hill on lap 13, Clark on lap 23. The race would also best double defending winner (previous F1 race and that year’s Le Mans victor) Dan Gurney, as his Eagle would suffer a broken fuel line ending his bid to win Le Mans in all-American cars in the same year. The race would feature a Brabham 1-2 finish, with the race won by Brabham and Hulme finishing 2nd. The Brabham team would be in ‘the right place at the right time’, as every car that could have challenged them for the win would suffer a mechanical problem while positioned in front of the two Brabhams, gifting them the positions.

Following France was a trip back home for Lotus: Silverstone. The British GP. The Brits would not disappoint in qualifying, with both Lotus’ locking out the front row (Clark pole, Hill 2nd), and Clark winning the race, followed by Hulme and the Ferrari of Chris Amon (NZL). Unfortunately for the home crowd, Hill would again retire (for the 4th straight race out of 6), this time with another engine issue caused by the unknown nature of the DFV, despite it’s winning capabilities as proven by Clark at Zandvoort and Silverstone

The next race, the German Grand Prix held at the Nürburgring would be F1’s biggest, when F2 cars would be entered to race alongside the much more powerful and much faster F1 cars in an attempt to drive up vehicle attendence numbers. A huge grid of 26 cars (16 F1, 10 F2, but one of the F2 cars, A Lola-BMW driven by Hubert Hahne (GER) has a 2L engine, so it was entered as F1 bringing the tally up to 17 F1, 9 F2) would enter the event, and one F2 car, the Matra-Ford MS5 of Jacky Ickx (BEL) would qualify an astonishing 3rd place despite a severe lack of power compared to all the cars around him, but because he was driving an F2 car, he would have to start behind the slowest F1 car: the Brabham BT20 of Guy Ligier (FRA). Clark would start on pole ahead of Hulme (2nd) and Jackie Stewart (3rd), Hill would qualify a lowly 13th after a mistake on his single flying lap. The Nürburgring was a daunting 22.8km strip of asphalt with a total of 160 corners in one lap, meaning that qualifying would only consist of 2 sighting laps and one flying lap as proven by Jim Clark’s pole time: a lengthy 8:04.1. The race would, like France, be a race of attrition with only 11 cars finishing the race. Jim Clark would suffer suspension failure on lap 4 (of 15), with Hill also retiring with suspension failure on lap 8. The race would be won by Denny Hulme and second taken by Jack Brabham, Brabham’s second 1-2 finish of the season.

The 8th race, the Canadian GP held at Mosport Park, would feature a third Team Lotus 49, fielded in part by privateer firm Comstock Racing, driven by Eppie Wietzes (CAN). Lotus would once again lock out the front row, Clark starting on pole and Hill 2nd, with Hulme and Chris Amon following the two. Wietzes, making his F1 debut would struggle to adapt to the car and would start 16th. The race would again see the Lotus cars plagued by reliability issues as Jim Clark would retire with ignition issues on lap 69 despite setting the fastest lap time that fell within 1s of his qualifying time, and Wietzes would suffer wet electrics and pull over, only to be assisted by a marshal, and disqualified as a result. Incredibly, Graham Hill’s car stayed running, and well enough to finish 4th, his second finish of a very down season. Unfortunately for Lotus, Brabham would finish 1-2 again, for the third time that season. Jack Brabham would beat out Hulme and Gurney for his second win of the season.

Next would be ‘The Temple of Speed’, Monza in Italy. Jim Clark would win pole for the 5th time that season beating out Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren’s BRM V12 powered McLaren M5A. Hill would start 8th. Clark would start strong and lead the first 12 laps before picking up a puncture and losing an entire lap while he limped his Lotus back to the pits and had his tires changed. What followed would be considered one of his greatest drives of his career as he would spend 48 laps scything through the field, and retaking the lead on lap 60 (of 68), only to have his fuel pump give up on the final lap, allowing John Surtees’ Honda RA300 and Brabham past to finish 1st and 2nd, the former winning by less than a car length, Clark would coast home in 3rd. Hill would yet again fail to finish, with his engine giving up on lap 58.

The penultimate GP was to follow: The United States GP held at Watkins Glen. Following a dark and lightly snowy practice, Lotus would once again lock out the front row: Hill taking pole and Clark starting 2nd, and Dan Gurney, racing his home GP, would start 3rd. A local privateer, Moisés Solana (MEX) would be driving a Team Lotus sanctioned 49, and start 7th. Hill would lead most of the first 63 (of 108) laps before reliability problems would strike once again when his clutch momentarily froze, allowing Clark to overtake him for the lead. Hill’s clutch wasn’t done yet though as it would yet again and as he struggled to shift, Chris Amon’s Ferrari would take second place (lap 67) until the Ferrari would run out of fuel (lap 96). Clark seemed guaranteed to win until on lap 106 when a support on his right rear suspension snapped, causing the wheel to sag inwards. He nursed the car to the finish to take victory and his 3rd win of the season, Hill would finish in 2nd securing a Lotus 1-2 finish. Denny Hulme’s Brabham would be nursed home in 3rd starving for fuel. Meanwhile Solana would finish 18th and last suffering an ignition issue on lap 7.

The final GP of the season would be held at Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca (now Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez) in Mexico City. With the championship standings as they were (Hulme leading Brabham by 5 points. Clark (3rd) was 10 points down on Brabham and out of contention), Hulme would need to finish 4th or better to be champion, while Brabham would have to win, with Hulme finishing 5th or lower to successfully defend his championship. Clark would once again take pole (his 6th of 1967 and Lotus’ 9th, taking pole in every race it was entered in). Chris Amon starting from 2nd, and Dan Gurney starting 3rd. Hill would start 4th and a returning Solana starting 9th. Solana would suffer suspension failure on lap 12, being closely followed by Hill who would suffer a broken half shaft on lap 14. Reliability issues also plagued Clark as his clutch would be frozen for a vast majority of the race, but that didn’t stop him from driving to his 4th win of the season. Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme would finish 2nd and 3rd. Hulme would win the 1967 championship over his teammate by 5 points.

Lotus would finish 1967 with 2nd place in the constructors championship (behind Brabham). Clark finished 3rd (behind the two Brabham drivers), Hill finished 7th.

Following the German GP, something had occurred to Walter Hayes, the Ford UK exec: Lotus were consistently strong with their brand new (albeit slightly problematic, but the issues would be solved with time) engine, there was almost no competition to the team. The only engines available to non-factory teams were the Maserati 9/F1 V12 which was unreliable, the notoriously complicated and heavy, BRM P75 H16 and the relatively new but unreliable BRM P142 V12. Factory teams had access to the powerful but unreliable Weslake 58 V12 (All American Racers), the overweight Honda RA273E (Honda), the underpowered Ferrari 242 V12 (Ferrari) and the only real competitor, but nearing the end of it’s developmental life: the Repco 860 V8 (Brabham). Ford only planned to supply the DFV to Lotus, but Hayes had feared that the company’s reputation would be damaged if Lotus continued to perform as they were against seemingly ‘lesser competition’.

In August 1967, Lotus’ exclusive use of the DFV was revoked, and Hayes would initially offer the engine to French team Matra for the start of 1968 with factory backing. Following 1967, the engine became available to all teams for a sum of £7,500, and what followed was what could be considered a ‘golden age’ as any privateer with the funds could buy the engine and either build a new chassis or buy a disused one from a bigger team and be legible to challenge for wins at the top level of motorsport.

The start of 1968 at Kyalami would see only the pair of 49s, of Clark and Hill and the newly factory backed Matra MS9 of Jackie Stewart powered by Ford engines. For Lotus it was business as usual with a front row lockout: Clark claiming pole and Hill starting 2nd. Jackie Stewart would make use of the new power of the DFV and qualify 3rd. Lotus would pick up where they left off in the latter half of 1967 with Clark winning over Hill who finished 2nd, Jochen Rindt (AUT) (Denny Hulme’s replacement at Brabham following a move to McLaren) would finish 3rd.

Unfortunately, disaster would strike for Team Lotus. Jim Clark would lost control of his Lotus 48 (Formula 2 car) in a non-championship race at the Hockenheimring in West Germany between rounds 1 and 2 of the F1 calendar. The car slid into the trees and he would break his neck and fracture his skull. He died before reaching the hospital

The racing community would be deeply affected by the death of Clark. His close friends and fellow drivers Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Dan Gurney, John Surtees, Chris Amon and Jack Brabham were all personally affected. People from across the globe attended his funeral, where Colin Chapman publicly said that he’d lost his best friend.

Further disaster would strike before the second round of the F1 season: The Spanish GP at Jarama. Jim Clark’s projected replacement Mike Spence (GBR) had been killed during practice for the Indianapolis 500 just 5 days before the GP. Lotus turned to Jackie Oliver (GBR) but failed to set up a car in time. Lotus would also sign a sponsorship deal with John Player & Sons tobacco who had chosen to advertise their Gold Leaf brand on the cars, leading to them to be painted in red, white and gold, which resembled the packet of the product. An incredibly close qualifying session would see the top 7 starters separated by less than 1 second. Chris Amon would put his Ferrari 312 on pole, followed by the BRM P133 of Pedro Rodriguez and defending champion Denny Hulme’s McLaren M7A which was now powered by the DFV. The race would be won by Hill, his first since the 1965 United States GP whilst driving for the factory BRM team (Owen Racing Organisation). Hulme would finish 2nd and Brian Redman (GBR) would finish 3rd in his Cooper-BRM T86B. Despite the tragedy that befell the team between rounds, on track the season could not be going better for Lotus with a 1-2 finish in round 1 and a win in round 2.

Round 3 at Monaco would see the introduction of a new development of the Lotus 49: the 49B. B spec for the car included a wedge shaped rear wing and two small front wings. The new car would be driven solely by Graham Hill, Jackie Oliver would drive the standard 49. Hill would take pole in qualifying followed by the Matra MS10 of Johnny Servoz-Gavin (FRA) and Jo Siffert driving a decommissioned 49 for privateer Rob Walker Racing. Jackie Oliver, making his F1 deubt, would qualify 13th. Following Lorenzo Bandini’s fatal accident a year prior, the race would be shortened from 100 laps to 80 laps and the harbor chicane being tightened to lower the speeds of the cars as they exit the tunnel. The race would prove to be a race of attrition as Siffert and Bruce McLaren would both crash on the chicane on lap 1 and both be taken out of the race. Servoz-Gavin would break a halfshaft on lap 3. Both Brabhams of Jack Brabham and Rindt would suffer suspension failure and crash respectively on laps 7 and 8. Dan Gurney’s engine would blow up on lap 9. Jean-Pierre Beltoise’s (Matra V12 powered) Matra would crash at relatively the same time as Oliver’s differential gave up on lap 11. The BRM of Piers Courage would suffer chassis damage on lap 12 and his teammate Pedro Rodriguez would crash on lap 16, and finally John Surtees’ Honda’s gearbox would fail on lap 16. Only 5 cars would see the finish line, led by Graham Hill who would win his 2nd race straight and Lotus’ 3rd (of 3) in 1968. Despite Hill breaking the lap record 3 times during the race it was Richard Attwood (GBR) who would set the fastest lap of the race, beating Hill’s qualifying time of 1:28.2 with a time of 1:28.1 on the final lap, only to finish 2 seconds behind Hill to take 2nd. The Cooper-BRM of Lucien Bianchi (BEL) would finish 3rd.

Next was the Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps. Ferrari and Brabham had now begun experimenting with wings as winglets had appeared on Chris Amon’s Ferrari and a rear wing affixed to Jack Brabham’s Brabham BT26. Amon would win pole by a margin of 4 seconds over Jackie Stewart’s Matra, Jacky Ickx would start 3rd. Hill would qualify 14th and Oliver now driving a similar 49B to Hill would start 9th. The race would end early for Hill with a broken halfshaft on lap 5 (of 28). The privateer driven Lotus 49 of Jo Siffert (SUI) would lose oil pressure on lap 25 and fail to finish, as did Oliver who’s transmission failed on lap 26 but qualified ahead of the Cooper of Lucien Bianchi who would finish 2 laps down on eventual winner Bruce McLaren, scoring the first win for McLaren Cars in Formula 1. Pedro Rodriguez would finish 2nd, Jacky Ickx would finish 3rd.

The Dutch Grand Prix would follow at Zandvoort, the site of the 49’s debut and first win in 1967. Qualifying would go to Amon, his 2nd ever and 2nd straight pole, followed by the Brabham of Jochen Rindt. Hill would start 3rd, Oliver would start 10th. The race would be significant to the French Matra, as not only would their driver Jackie Stewart (driving a Ford powered MS10), Jean-Pierre Beltoise (FRA) would finish 2nd in the Matra V12 powered MS11. 3rd would go to Perdro Rodriguez. The race for Lotus would be one to forget as Hill would crash out on lap 81, while Oliver would only complete 80 (of 90) laps and not be classified.

Next would be the French Grand Prix, and after 3 years touring at Clermont-Ferrand, Reims and Le Mans, the race would return to the long and dangerous Rouen Les Essarts rural street circuit in Northern France. Honda would be seen as a wildcard entry to the GP, as they had brought 2 cars. The usual V12 powered RA301, which would be driven by John Surtees, and the experimental, magnesium bodied RA302 which was powered by a brand new air-cooled V8. Honda’s main driver John Surtees (1964 world champion) refused to drive the new car (labeling it a ‘potential deathtrap’), so Jo Schessler (FRA) would be chosen to drive the car. Jackie Oliver would crash in practice at 125mph, but would walk away from the accident. His car would be heavily damaged and so he would be unable to start the race. Qualifying would see Rindt starting from pole followed by Stewart and Jacky Ickx. Hill would start 9th. Hill would be plagued by more reliability issues as he would break a halfshaft on lap 14 (of 60). Jacky Ickx would win the race, followed by Surtees and Stewart. Unfortunately Surtees’ views on the new RA302 would be proven correct as Schessler would crash on lap 2, going up a bank, overturning and catching fire. The magnesium construction of the car and the fuel tanks containing 58 laps worth of fuel contributed to the ferocity of the fire and the marshals only carrying water fire extinguishers, nothing could be done to save Schessler.

Over the course of the season, more and more cars had grown wings in an effort to make use of this new concept of ‘downforce’, which had been demonstrated in Can-Am the year prior by Jim Hall’s Chaparral 2E which featured a moveable giant rear wing. The aero craze of Formula 1 was fully realised at the British GP at Brands Hatch when most of the cars would arrive with high level wings to rival that of the Chaparral’s. Lotus would lock out the front row with Hill starting from pole, and Oliver starting 2nd. Chris Amon’s Ferrari would start 3rd and a 3rd Lotus 49B driven by Jo Siffert for Rob Walker racing would line up 4th. On lap 26 (of 80) Hill would frustratingly retire with another broken halfshaft making 3 of his last 4 races DNF because of halfshaft failures. Oliver would inherit the lead until lap 43 when he would encounter transmission issues and retire. Siffert would then lead the Ferraris of Amon and Ickx to the finish to take Rob Walker Racing’s first win in 7 years, with their last coming at the 1961 German GP when Sir Stirling Moss drove a Lotus 18 to victory.

A short visual recount of the 1968 British GP

The German GP at the fearsome Nürburgring was to follow. The events were held in foggy and wet conditions that continued all weekend. Conditions on Saturday (which was scheduled qualifying) were so bad that visibility was limited to just 10 yards, so practice was postponed until Sunday morning. Sunday saw many cars sliding off track during qualifying, and it saw F1’s youngest ever pole sitter with Ferrari’s Jacky Ickx taking pole at the age of 23. lining up behind him would be Chris Amon and Jochen Rindt. Hill and Oliver would start 4th and 13th. The race would see Jackie Stewart make use of his ‘superior’ Dunlop wet tires as he would immediately jump from 3rd to 1st and leap the first lap by 9 seconds, then lead lap 2 by 34 seconds. Stewart would drive to a win by more than 4 minutes over Graham Hill, who had spun off on lap 11, got out of the car, pushed it back onto the circuit and carried on without losing a spot to (now) 3rd placed Jochen Rindt, after inheriting the position from Amon who had spun off at the same time as Hill but had crashed in the process. Following the race, Stewart would call it a ‘teeth gritting effort’ and his greatest drive ever.

Visibility is so pathetically poor I can't even see Chris [Amon]'s car in front of me [...] I am simply driving into this great wall of spray. I pull out to pass him but the spray is dense and I'm driving blind. -Jackie Stewart - Winning is not Enough

Hill’s 2nd place was enough to keep him 4 points ahead of Stewart in the driver’s standings leading into the Italian GP, which would field 24 cars, the biggest grid of the year. A third 49B entered by Team Lotus would be driven by Mario Andretti (USA), and his USAC rival Bobby Unser (USA) would drive Richard Attwood’s BRM. The pair would set fast times in practice, and intended to fly back to the US to compete in a USAC Silver Crown race, the Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The pair were in danger of violating theAutomobile Club d’Italia’s 24 hour rule, which forbade any participating driver from participating in any event 24 hours prior to the start of the GP. The pair left for Indiana and did not return. Qualifying would see John Surtees on pole followed by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon. Hill would start 5th, Oliver starting 11th. Hill’s string of bad luck would continue when a wheel would fall off his car on lap 10 (of 68), Oliver would drop out on lap 38 with a transmission issue. The race would be won by Denny Hulme’s McLaren, followed by Johnny Servoz-Gavin’s Matra and Jacky Ickx’s Ferrari.

The North American leg which would close the season was to follow with the first race at Circuit Mont-Tremblant in Canada. Like the year prior, Lotus would field a 3rd car in all 3 North American races driven by local drivers, starting with Bill Brack (CAN) for Canada. Qualifying would go to Jochen Rindt in the Brabham, followed by Amon and Jo Siffert’s Lotus. Hill would start 5th, Oliver 9th, and Brack 20th. Brack’s race would end prematurely as he would break a halfshaft on lap 18 (of 90), Oliver finishing on lap 32 also with a halfshaft failure, but Hill would finish the race in 4th keeping his championship hopes alive. The podium would be a McLaren 1-2 finish as Hulme would lead Bruce McLaren, followed by Pedro Rodriguez. Hulme’s win would see him with 33 points, tied with Hill for the championship lead.

The 11th round (of 12) of the F1 circus would go to Watkins Glen for the United States GP. Mario Andretti and Bobby Unser would return to drive for Lotus and BRM respectively. Andretti, who would be making his F1 debut, would put his Lotus on pole over Jackie Stewart’s Matra and Graham Hill starting 3rd. Jackie Oliver would start 16th. Come race day Oliver’s starter motor would cause issues and cause him to miss the race. Stewart would get a good start and drive away from the pack, meanwhile Andretti would begin to open out a gap to third placed Amon when his car’s nosecone cracked which caused the front wing to drag on the track. He continued until lap 13 (of 108) when he pitted to have it repaired where he would drop to 13th before later retiring on lap 32 with a broken clutch. Hill meanwhile would finish the race in second behind Stewart. Surtees would finish 3rd. Hill’s 2nd place would keep him ahead in the championship bid by 3 points over the Scot leading into the final round at Mexico.

Leading into the final race, 3 drivers: Graham Hill (Lotus), Denny Hulme (McLaren) and Jackie Stewart (Matra) had a chance to win. Hill (39pts) needed either: A podium finish with Stewart 2nd or lower, 4th or 5th with Hulme 2nd or lower and Stewart 3rd or lower, 6th with Hulme 2nd or lower and Stewart 4th or lower, Hulme 2nd or lower and Stewart 5th or lower. Jackie Stewart (36pts) needed to win, finish 2nd with Hulme 3rd or lower and Hill 4th or lower 3rd with Hulme 2nd or lower and Hill 6th or lower 4th with Hulme 3rd or lower and Hill 7th or lower. Denny Hulme (33pts) needed to win with Hill 4th or lower.

The 12th and final round would be held at Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca in Mexico City. Moisés Solana would return to drive the 3rd 49 for Team Lotus in his home GP. Qualifying would go to the 4th Lotus entered in the event, driven by Jo Siffert for Rob Walker Racing (who were having a great season for a privateer firm). Chris Amon would line up 2nd, Hill in 3rd. Solana would start 11th, Oliver 14th. One of Hill’s title rivals Denny Hulme would suffer broken suspension on lap 10 (of 65) leaving only Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill to contend for the title Solana’s race would end early on lap 11 when his wing would break and send him off track, unhurt but out of the race. Siffert would continue to impress as he would best his qualifying time (1:45.22) by almost a full second and set the fastest lap (1:44.23)of the race on lap 52. The race would be won by Hill, his 3rd of the season. He would be followed by Bruce McLaren and Oliver, who would score his first podium. Fortunately for Hill, Stewart would suffer a number of problems with his Matra and finish the race in 7th. Lotus would win the constructor’s championship by 13 points over McLaren, and Graham Hill would win his second F1 world championship, which he would dedicate to his late teammate and friend, Jim Clark

Lotus would see a driver change in the gap between 1968 and 1969. Graham Hill would stay with the team for a 3rd season, while Jochen Rindt, who previously signed with Brabham in 1968, would sign for Lotus and take the seat previously belonging to Jackie Oliver, who would sign for BRM after his displacement.

The first round of 1969 would return to Kyalami for the South African GP. The field of 18 would feature 12 cars powered by the DFV, seemingly unphased by it’s questionable reliability. Jack Brabham would take pole, followed by Rindt and Denny Hulme. Hill would start 7th, and Mario Andretti would return to drive a 3rd Team Lotus 49B, he would start 6th. Andretti would be the first of the Team Lotus fielded entrants to drop out, he would suffer a gearbox issue on lap 31 (of 80). Rindt would be the next to go when his fuel pump died on lap 44. Jackie Stewart would go on to win, followed by Hill and Hulme.

The Spanish Grand Prix at the Montjuïc street circuit was to follow. Only 2 Team Lotus cars would enter the race as Andretti was only racing part time. Rindt would take pole followed by Chris Amon’s Ferrari 312 and Hill. The Montjuïc circuit was regarded as a highly dangerous circuit, and was thus proven by both Lotus cars as they would both suffer high speed accidents caused by wing support breakages (Hill lap 8 (of 90), Rindt lap 19,). Both drivers would survive the accidents but not without injury. Hill would break both legs and Rindt would break his nose. The race would be won by Jackie Stewart, behind the wheel of the brand new Matra MS80 by 2 laps over 2nd placed Bruce McLaren (only 2 races in history have seen a winning margin of 2 laps. The only other time being the 1995 Australian Grand Prix. Jean-Pierre Beltoise would finish 3rd in a similar Matra MS80 to Jackie Stewart’s. The Spanish GP would be the final race of the high-wing era in the aftermath of the Lotus accidents.

Following Rindt’s accident at Montjuïc and his public criticism of the high wings and Lotus boss Colin Chapman he would miss the the round: the Monaco GP, his car would be driven by Richard Attwood. The whole grid would be devoid of the high level wings, but would keep the wings that were integrated into the bodywork on some cars, including the 49B (front wings). Graham Hill’s car would be fitted with a low level wedge shaped wing similar to the one that was used at the 1968 Monaco GP, which was won by Hill, Attwood would have to make do without the new wing. Qualifying would see Jackie Stewart on pole, followed by Chris Amon and Jean-Pierre Beltoise. Hill would start 4th, Atwood 10th. The race would be won by Hill, followed by Piers Courage driving a Frank Williams Racing entered Brabham-Ford BT26A, Jo Siffert in the Rob Walker Lotus finished 3rd. Attwood would finish the race in 4th.

The next GP, the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, would see the return of the wings, but in a different manner. The old, high level wings used very thin struts that were fixed to the suspension in what was perceived as the best way to gain mechanical grip. The main flaw of that idea was both the alarmingly thin struts and the thin material used for the wings was unable to deal with the high loads experienced during cornering. This often caused scary wing breakages that caused the cars to veer off the track at high speeds with no control whatsoever, which is what caused Rindt and Hill’s accidents at the Spanish GP. The wings would now be fixed to the body of the car, much smaller and much more rigid. Rindt would take pole followed by Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill. The Lotus’ questionable reliability would strike again, as Rindt would break a halfshaft on lap 16 (of 90) and Rindt would again be yet to finish a race since his team switch. Stewart would win from Jo Siffert in the plucky Rob Walker Lotus, Chris Amon would complete the podium. Hill would finish 7th.

The French Grand Prix at the Circuit de Charade was to follow, entirely made of public roads built at the base of an extinct volcano with a lap length of 5.005 miles (8.055 km) and lap times bypassing 3 minutes. The track was not lined with armco crash barriers and the track was littered with rocks creating an extremely dangerous location for racing. Qualifying would see Jackie Stewart taking pole followed by Denny Hulme and Jochen Rindt. Hill would start 8th. The French GP would see the introduction of a new Lotus, which was intended to replaced the 49 at the end of the season: the 4WD 63, driven by John Miles, who would start 12th. The race would see a Matra 1-2 at their home GP as Stewart would win from pole, followed by Jean-Pierre Beltoise. Jacky Ickx would round out the podium. Hill would finish a lap down in 6th, Rindt retired on lap 22 (of 38) with ongoing physical difficulties following his accident in Spain. Miles would finish 13th retiring on the 2nd lap with a broken fuel pump.

The British Grand Prix held at Silverstone was to follow. Rindt would take pole, followed by Stewart and Denny Hulme’s McLaren, Hill would start 12th and Miles in the 63 would start 14th. A contest between Rindt and Stewart would develop as they constantly jostled for position by slipstreaming each other, until it was noticed by Stewart that the left endplate of Rindt’s rear wing had come loose and was rubbing on the left rear wheel whenever Rindt took a right turn at high speed. Stewart signed this to Rindt as he pulled alongside, to which he noticed and promptly pitted to have fixed, effectively ruining his chances of victory. To only rub salt in the wounds, Rindt’s car wasn’t carrying enough fuel to make it to the finish, so another stop was required. Stewart would win his 5th race of the season, followed by Ickx’s Brabham and Bruce McLaren’s McLaren M7A. Because of Rindt’s 2 stops he would finish a lap down in 4th, Hill would finish 2 laps down in 7th, Miles would finish a distant 9 laps down in 10th.

The German GP at the Nürburgring would see the entrance of 12 Formula 2 cars alongside 14 F1 cars to meet the preferred 26 starters of the GP. The F2 entrants would feature 3 experimental BMW 269s, one of which was driven by Gerhard Mitter (GER). Mitter’s car would suffer a suspected suspension or steering failure and suffer a fatal accident at Schwedenkreuz in practice. Following Mitter’s accident the remaining 269s would be withdrawn from the race. Jacky Ickx would take pole followed by Stewart and Rindt. Hill would start 9th, and Mario Andretti returning to drive the 63 would start 15th. Andretti would be drop out on the first lap after a jump at Wippermann, the car’s heavy fuel load caused it to bottom out and cause an accident involving the McLaren of Vic Elford (GBR) who would flip over and land outside the track boundaries. Elford would break his arm in 3 places. Rindt would have ignition problems on lap 11 (of 14) and resume his string of DNFs. The podium was made up of Ickx, Stewart and McLaren. Hill would finish 4th.

The 8th round (of 11) would be the Italian GP at Monza and would see John Miles return to drive the troublesome 63 for Team Lotus. Rindt would take pole followed by Hulme and Stewart. Hill and Miles would start 9th and 14th respectively. Mile’s engine would let go on lap 3 (of 68) further adding to the car’s lackluster performances while Hill would break a halfshaft on lap 63. The race results would see the top 4 separated by less than 1 second leading to what is considered the closest 1-2-3-4 in F1 history. Stewart would win, followed by Rindt (+0.08s), Jean-Pierre Beltoise (+0.17s) and Bruce McLaren (+0.19).

Once again the North American leg would round out the last 3 races of the season, the first of which was the Canadian GP held at Mosport Park. Only 2 Team Lotus fielded 49s would enter unlike the two previous years of the NA leg, but the plagued 63 would continue to race until the end of the year. Ickx would take pole followed by Beltoise and Rindt. Hill would start 7th, Miles in the 63 would start 11th. An unusual disqualification would occur on lap 22 (of 90), as Al Pease (CAN) driving an Eagle-Climax T1G would be disqualified for driving too slowly. The complicated gearbox of Miles’ 63 would expire on lap 40, followed not long after by Hill who would lose his engine on lap 42. Ickx would take victory followed by teammate Jack Brabham (leading to the first Brabham 1-2 since the 1967 Canadian GP). Rindt would finish 3rd.

The penultimate race was the United States GP at Watkins Glen, where it was determined that with Jackie Stewart’s 29 point championship lead over Jacky Ickx, Stewart would be crowned world champion of 1969. Mario Andretti would return for the final time that season to drive the 63 in front of his home crowd. Qualifying would see Rindt on pole, Hulme 2nd and Stewart 3rd. Hill would start 4th and Andretti’s 63 would start 13th. Unfortunately for the home crowd the 63 continued to fail as Andretti would retire on lap 3 with broken suspension following contact with Jack Brabham on lap 1. Rindt and Stewart would find themselves jostling for position a fair distance from the rest of the pack until Stewart’s engine lost oil pressure on lap 34. Disaster would strike for Hill on lap 88 as he would spin off on a patch of oil and stalled, but he would unfasten his belts, push start the car and resume racing without properly tightening his belts. During the initial spin it is believed that he had punctured a rear tire, which exploded at the end of the main straight and sent his Lotus cartwheeling up an embankment, Hill was thrown from the car and was taken to hospital. Rindt would lead almost the entire race and take his maiden victory followed by Piers Courage and John Surtees. The US GP once again featured a 1st place purse of $50,000 for the winning driver. Following the victory Rindt stated “It is just that the car held together for once, but this one makes up for all the others I have lost.” When Hill was interviewed at the hospital following his accident that left him with 2 broken legs he was asked if there was any messages he wanted passed on to his wife, to which he replied: “Just tell her I won’t be dancing for two weeks.”

The 11th and final round of 1969 would return to Mexico City at the Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca. Following Hill’s accident in the US, only 1 Team Lotus 49, driven by Rindt would be fielded alongside the 63, driven by Miles. Lotus was placed 2nd in the constructos championship, some 16 points behind Matra and only 2 above Brabham, so both cars needed to finish in the points in order for Lotus to finish 2nd. Qualifying would see Brabham on pole followed by Ickx and Stewart. Rindt starting 6th, Miles starting 11th. Unfortunately for the team, Miles would retire on lap 4 (of 65) with a dead fuel pump and Rindt retiring on lap 22 with broken suspension. Denny Hulme in the McLaren would take victory, followed by the Brabhams of Ickx and Brabham. The Brabham 2-3 placed them 2nd in the constructors championship, demoting Lotus to 3rd, 9 points clear of McLaren.

Following only 4 finishes and 6 DNFs, Rindt was extremely tempted to leave Lotus, but the speed of the car when it did work was enough to convince him to stay, meanwhile John Miles was brought back in to replace the injured Hill, who would find himself at Rob Walker Racing still driving Lotus cars.

After 7 races and only 1 finish, the 63 was axed by Lotus. Without a replacement ready a ‘C’ spec for the ageing chassis was developed. The new 49C would be used more to test for the replacement chassis, dubbed the 72.

The 49C would debut at Kyalami for the 1st round of 1970 for both Team Lotus and Rob Walker. Rindt and Miles would drive the Team Lotus cars, while Graham Hill (who would drive Brian Redman’s car) would drive for Rob Walker. Jackie Stewart (now driving for Tyrrell which had been formed out of the British wing of Matra: Matra International, run by Ken Tyrrell) would qualify on pole with the brand new DFV powered Tyrrell 001, followed by Chris Amon in a March 701 and Jack Brabham in the brand new Brabham BT33 (Brabham’s first monocoque car). Rindt would start 4th, Miles 14th, and the injured Hill (who had undergone extensive knee surgery that had left him with very limited movement) would qualify 19th. The Lotus cars would prove to be reliable enough to complete the minimum classification distance of 90%, as Rindt’s engine would suffer problems on lap 72 (of 80), but both Miles and Hill would go on to finish 5th and 6th respectively (podium was Brabham, Hulme, Stewart). Following the race Hill had to be lifted from the car as he couldn’t get out himself. Because of his condition and subsequent finishing position, he would rank it as one of his finest achievements.

The Spanish GP held at Jarama would see the debut of the new 72, but it would dissapoint initially. The car was set up with ‘anti-dive’ and ‘anti-squat’ suspension geometry which led to an unresponsive car. In qualifying Rindt would qualify 8th, while Miles wouldn’t qualify following a decision by [the] Formula One Constructors Association to limit the number of starters to just 16, meaning that 5 cars would not start the race, including Miles. Rindt would retire the 72 on lap 10 (of 90) with ignition issues. The race would be won by Stewart driving a March 701, followed by Bruce McLaren and Mario Andretti and a March.

Monaco was round 3, and Lotus would return with the 49C, as it was apparent that the 72 needed further development. FOCA’s 16 starters rule stood, and Miles again failed to qualify. Stewart would start first, followed by Chris Amon and Denny Hulme, Rindt would start 8th. Rindt would start well and climb to 3rd trailing Amon and Brabham by lap 27 (of 80). On lap 62 Amon’s suspension broke and was forced to retire, placing Rindt in 2nd, 9 seconds behind Brabham. Rindt increased his pace and was tailing Brabham by the final lap, who was doing everything to keep the Lotus behind him. On the final corner of the final lap, Brabham moved off the racing line to avoid a slow car and keep Rindt behind him, but with less traction off the racing line, Brabham locked his brakes and slid into the barriers. Rindt inherited the lead and won. Brabham managed to reverse and finish second ahead of Henri Pescarolo (FRA)’s Matra who finessed 3rd.

The Belgian GP at Circuit de Spa Francorchamps would be the 49’s final race for Team Lotus, and the sole Team Lotus 49C would be driven by Rindt, as Miles would drive an updated 72B, with the ‘anti-squat’ suspension removed. Qualifying would see Stewart on pole, Rindt 2nd and Amon 3rd. Miles would start 13th. The 49’s send off didn’t quite go to plan as Rindt would retire on lap 10 (of 28) with engine problems, meanwhile Miles’ car suffered gearbox problems and dropped out on lap 13. The race would be won by Pedro Rodriguez in a BRM P153, followed by Chris Amon and the Matra MS12 of Jean-Pierre Beltoise.

While the 49 was no longer used by Team Lotus, it continued to see use throughout 1970 appearing in 6 more races, scoring a highest finish of 4th a the German GP, driven by Emerson Fittipaldi (BRA) who would later drive full time for Team Lotus. Over the 4 years that the chassis raced from 1967-1970, for both the factory team and a multitude of privateers, the 49 entered 42 races, won 12 times, scored 23 podiums and qualified on pole 19 times. The Lotus 49 is one of F1’s all time great cars and a legend of the sport as much as the drivers themselves.