Date October 19, 1969 | Course length 5.000 km (3.107 mi) | |
 | ||
Course Permanent racing facility Distance 65 laps, 325.000 km (201.946 mi) | ||
The 1969 Gran Premio de Mexico (Mexican Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City on October 19, 1969, two weeks after the United States GP. This was the 11th and final round of the 1969 Formula One season. The 65-lap race was won by McLaren driver Denny Hulme after he started from fourth position. Jacky Ickx finished second for the Brabham team and his teammate Jack Brabham came in third.
Contents
Entry
A total of 17 F1 cars were entered for this event, the last of the season. Team Lotus had had mixed fortunes at Watkins Glen, although Jochen Rindt had won the race, his team mate Graham Hill had broken both legs in an accident. At this event, Lotus decided not to replace him. However they did run a second car, a Lotus 63 developmental car with four wheel drive for John Miles, as Mario Andretti was busy winning the Dan Gurney 200 at Pacific Raceways, USA.
The rest of the field was unchanged, with only one Ferrari 312 entered by NART for local hero, Pedro Rodríguez.
Qualifying
The Motor Racing Developments Ltd team proved to be very fast in Mexico, as they dominated qualifying in their Brabham-Cosworth BT26A. Jack Brabham secured pole position, for the team, averaging a speed of 96.087 mph. Next fastest was his team-mate, Jacky Ickx. The 1969 World Champion, Jackie Stewart was third fastest in his Matra-Cosworth MS80, who shared the second row with the McLaren-Cosworth M7A of Denny Hulme. A pair of Lotus 49s were on row three, with Jo Siffert ahead of Jochen Rindt.
Race
The race was held over 65 laps of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, however, for the second consecutive race, Bruce McLaren failed to make the start. Off the 16 remaining cars, Jackie Stewart made the best start, leading with the Brabhams of Jacky Ickx and Jack Brabham in chase. Jochen Rindt was in fourth, but has Denny Hulme close behind. By the end of the second lap, Hulme was ahead, while Ickx was putting pressure on Stewart. By lap six, Ickx was through, and Hulme passed Brabham to take third. Clearly, Hulme was a man on the move, overtaking Stewart on the next lap, and set about chasing down Ickx. On lap 10, the McLaren was ahead. Meanwhile, Stewart’s Matra had dropped behind Brabham, and this is how the top four remained throughout the remainder of the race. Rindt ran fifth early on in the race, but bent his suspension on a curb, leading to his retirement, so fifth went to Jean-Pierre Beltoise, with Jackie Oliver finishing in sixth in the BRM P139, albeit two laps adrift.
Hulme won in a time of 1hr 54.08.8mins., averaging a speed of 99.618 mph, and was a just 2.56 seconds ahead of Ickx.