1969 Formula One season
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| 1969 FIA Formula One World Championship season | |
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The 1969 Formula One season was the 20th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 1, 1969, and ended on October 19 after eleven races.
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[edit] Season summary
Matra withdrew their works team from the 1969 championship and focused on their partnership with Ken Tyrrell. Stewart won the 1969 title easily with the new Matra MS80, which corrected most of the weaknesses of the MS10. Stewart's title was the first won by a French chassis, and the only one won by a chassis built in France. It was a spectacular achievement from a constructor that had only entered Formula One the previous year, but it had little impact on the French general public because the British contribution was too large to fulfill nationalistic pride.
Jacky Ickx had a strong second half to the season for Brabham, winning in Germany and Canada, after Jack Brabham was sidelined by a testing accident.[1] Ickx finished second in the drivers' championship, with 37 points to Jackie Stewart's 63.
After several incidents in which wings, struts, or the suspension (to which they were attached) collapsed, wings were banned from Monaco 1969. They were reintroduced later in the season but were to be restricted in size and height, and attached directly to the chassis in a fixed position.
1969 also saw a brief resurgence of interest in four wheel drive following a number of wet races the previous year. Four such cars were entered for the British Grand Prix, including Cosworth’s only Formula One car, and Johnny Servoz-Gavin became the one and only driver to score a point with a 4WD, finishing sixth with the Matra MS84 at the Canadian Grand Prix. Wide tyres and downforce quickly proved to be superior means of increasing grip, and the technology was largely abandoned, although Lotus continued to experiment with the idea for a few more years. Bruce McLaren described the handling of his M9 as being like trying to sign an autograph while someone was jogging his elbow; Cosworth discovered that their car handled better the more drive went to the rear wheels.
[edit] Season review
[edit] 1969 Constructors Championship final standings
| Place | Constructor | Chassis | Engine | Tyre | Points | Wins | Podiums | Poles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Matra-Ford |
MS10 MS80 MS84 |
Ford Cosworth | 66 | 6 | 10 | 2 | |
| 2 |  Brabham-Ford |
BT26A | Ford Cosworth DFV | 49 | 2 | 9 | 4 | |
| 3 | Lotus-Ford |
49B 63 |
Ford Cosworth DFV | 47 | 2 | 7 | 5 | |
| 4 | McLaren-Ford |
M7A M7B M7C M9A |
Ford Cosworth DFV | 38 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 5 |  Ferrari |
312/69 | Ferrari 255C | 7 | 1 | |||
| 6 | BRM |
P133 P138 P139 |
BRM P142 | 7 | 1 | |||
| 7 | Cooper-Maserati |
T86B | Maserati Tipo 10/F1 | |||||
| 8 | Brabham-Repco |
BT20 BT24 |
Repco 740 | |||||
| 9 | Brabham-Climax |
BT23B | Climax FPF | |||||
| 10 |  Eagle-Climax |
T1G | Climax FPF |
[edit] 1969 Drivers Championship final standings
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