Karl Jochen Rindt (German: [ˈjɔxn̩ ˈʁɪnt]; 18 April 1942 – 5 September 1970) was a racing driver who competed under the Austrian flag in Formula One from 1964 to 1970. Rindt won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1970 with Lotus, and remains the only driver to have won the World Drivers' Championship posthumously, following his death at the Italian Grand Prix; he won six Grands Prix across seven seasons. In endurance racing, Rindt won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1965 with NART.
Born in Germany and raised in Austria, Rindt started motor racing in 1961. Switching to single-seaters in 1963, he was successful in both Formula Junior and Formula Two. In 1964, Rindt made his debut in Formula One at the Austrian Grand Prix, before securing a full drive with Cooper for 1965. After mixed results with the team, he moved to Brabham for 1968 and then Lotus in 1969. It was at Lotus that Rindt found a competitive car, although he was often concerned about the safety of the notoriously unreliable Lotus vehicles. He won his first Formula One race at the 1969 United States Grand Prix. During the 1970 season, mainly racing the revolutionary Lotus 72, he won five of the first nine races. In practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, he spun into the guardrails after a failure on his car's brake shaft, and a poorly installed crash barrier gave way. Rindt was pronounced dead while on the way to hospital. As his closest competitor Jacky Ickx was unable to score sufficient points in the remaining races of the season, Rindt was awarded the World Championship posthumously. Rindt left behind his wife, Nina, and a daughter, Natasha.
Overall, Rindt competed in 62 Grands Prix, winning six and achieving 13 podium finishes. He was also successful in sports car racing, winning the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans paired with Masten Gregory in a Ferrari 250LM. Rindt was a popular figure in Austria and his success resulted in increased interest in motorsport and Formula One in particular. He hosted a monthly television show titled Motorama and set up a successful exhibition of racing cars in Vienna. During his time in Formula One, he was involved alongside Jackie Stewart in a campaign to improve safety in Formula One.
Jochen Rindt was born on 18 April 1942 in Mainz, Germany, to an Austrian mother and German father. His mother had been a successful tennis player in her youth and, like her father, studied law. Rindt's parents owned a spice mill in Mainz, which he later inherited. They were killed in a bombing raid in Hamburg during the Second World War when he was 15 months old, after which he was raised by his maternal grandparents in Graz, Austria. Although his grandfather chose to retain Rindt's German citizenship, for his entire career he drove under an Austrian racing licence. In an interview, he described his heritage as a "terrible mixture" and, when asked if he felt more Austrian or German, said that he felt "like a European". Rindt had one half-brother, Uwe, through his mother.
Rindt's childhood friends and his brother described him as a "laddish child" who often performed tricks to amuse others. While on a skiing holiday, he broke his femoral neck, leading to several surgeries that left one leg four centimetres (1.6 in) shorter than the other. As a result of this, Rindt limped slightly for the rest of his life. At the age of sixteen, he received a moped and started racing his friends on motocross tracks. His time in school was troubled and he was excluded from schools several times. He said:
In the end I got thrown out and went to England to learn English. I learned to drive while I was in England but I was too young to get a licence. When I went back home I broke my leg skiing but I decided I was more than capable of driving myself – even though I had one leg in plaster. I actually drove without a licence for 18 months and then got caught the day before I was eligible to collect it.
Rindt's chances of obtaining a licence were put into further jeopardy because he had collected eight recorded misdemeanours with the police during his youth. In 1960, he received his first car, an old Volkswagen Beetle. His interest in motorsport greatly increased when he visited the 1961 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring with school friends, including fellow future Formula One driver Helmut Marko.
Rindt drove his first race at the Flugplatzrennen in 1961, in his grandmother's Simca Montlhéry. After missing the official application period, he only entered after a friendly high-ranking motorsport functionary from Graz intervened on his behalf. During the race, he was black flagged for his dangerous driving style and therefore disqualified; he did not immediately return to the pit lane as he was unaware of the regulations. Rindt entered several rallies with his Simca but did not achieve good results. It was only when he was provided with a race-prepared Alfa Romeo GT 1300 at cost price and with free servicing by a local dealer that he became more successful. In the Alfa Romeo, he achieved eight victories.
In 1963, Rindt switched to Formula Junior with the assistance of Kurt Bardi Barry, a wealthy owner of a travel agency and one of Austria's leading drivers at the time; Barry gave him his one-year-old Cooper T67 and the two men formed a partnership, driving to races together. Rindt was fastest in practice for his first race in Vallelunga, a race won by Barry, and took victory in his second at Cesenatico. In the race, Rindt had taken advantage of an accident in the early stages. While most drivers slowed for the incoming ambulance, he raced ahead between the straw barriers and the parked medical vehicle to take the lead. At the time, he was notorious for his dangerous style, almost crashing into the spectators at a race in the streets of Budapest.
Rindt was highly successful in Formula Two racing, amassing a total of 29 victories. He once again entered the series in partnership with Barry, driving Brabham cars. The engines provided by Cosworth were slower and inconsistent in performance; Rindt responded to his reduced pace by declaring: "Then I just brake two metres later." He entered his first F2 race in April 1964 at the Preis von Wien at Aspern, retiring from both heats. The international motor racing world first took notice of him on 18 May 1964, when Rindt won the London Trophy race at the Crystal Palace circuit in a Brabham BT10 ahead of Graham Hill.
Like many other drivers at the time, Rindt continued to race in Formula Two races alongside his duties in Formula One; his last F2 appearance was the Festspielpreis der Salzburg in August 1970. In 1967, he dominated Formula Two, winning nine races in his Brabham BT23. As an experienced Formula One driver, he was graded "A", meaning his results did not count towards the championship, and the title went to Jacky Ickx. Still, his performances led him to be called "king of Formula 2" by the racing press. He had a long-standing relationship with Roy Winkelmann, and drove with his team until it closed at the end of 1969.
Along with single-seater racing, Rindt took up sports car racing in the mid-1960s. Rindt started at the 24 Hours of Le Mans a total of four times. At his debut in 1964, sharing a Ferrari 250LM with David Piper, the car retired too early for Rindt even to take the wheel.
Rindt's best result came the following year at the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans. Sharing the drive of a Ferrari 250LM with American Masten Gregory for the North American Racing Team, Rindt won the event. Neither driver was happy to race in a seemingly uncompetitive car. A 1998 article in Motor Sport stated that neither appeared to show much interest in the race, but instead it was "more a case of 'hope it breaks soon' so they could draw their money and split". At the start, the drivers had to run to their cars; Rindt entered with a forward roll that allowed him to get his foot on the throttle instantly and take an early lead. The pair experienced considerable trouble in the early part of the race; the car did not restart during Gregory's first pit stop. Later, the engine failed partially and Gregory brought the car into the pits on only six of twelve cylinders. At this point, Rindt had already changed back into his civilian clothes, expecting their race to be over. After thirty minutes of repairs, the car restarted and Rindt and Gregory agreed to drive the rest of the event "flat out", at full speed and with the accompanying risk. Rindt drove most of the night, advancing from 18th to third position by dawn. Gregory persuaded Rindt to let him drive the closing part of the race, suspecting that his young teammate might not drive moderately enough to nurse the car to the finish. Jacky Ickx later recalled that the two had driven "like maniacs". Even so, the car survived, handing the pair what Ickx called an "unexpected victory".