Team and driver changes

• After his success in the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Chris Amon was offered a seat at the Ferrari F1 team. It would be the New Zealander's first full-time F1 drive since 1964.
• Pedro Rodríguez was signed by Cooper, after 1964 champion John Surtees moved to Honda. Honda's 1966 drivers Richie Ginther and Ronnie Bucknum left the sport.
• 1962 champion Graham Hill moved from BRM to Lotus, replacing Peter Arundell. Mike Spence was hired as his replacement at BRM, having gained experience with their V8 engine at Reg Parnell's privateer team.

Calendar changes

• The South African Grand Prix returned to the calendar but it was held at the Kyalami Circuit instead of the Prince George Circuit.
• The Dutch Grand Prix was brought forward from mid July to early June, ahead of the Belgian and French Grand Prix.
• The French Grand Prix was moved to the Bugatti version of the Circuit de la Sarthe, replacing Reims-Gueux.
• The British Grand Prix was moved from Brands Hatch to Silverstone, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits.
• The Canadian Grand Prix was hosted for the first time, at Mosport Park near Toronto.

Rounds 1 to 4

Coming down from his third World Championship in 1966, Jack Brabham started this year off as well, with a pole position at the South African Grand Prix. Teammate Denny Hulme started second and two-time World Champion Jim Clark lined up in third in his Lotus. Hulme took the lead at the start, while Clark fell back to sixth. In a race of attrition, the crowd saw Rhodesian driver John Love take the lead. When he had to stop for extra fuel, however, it was Pedro Rodríguez who won in his Cooper. Love finished second, ahead of John Surtees in a Honda. Hulme and Brabham finished several laps down but still in the points, since there were just six classified finishers in total.^[4]

From 1967 to 1969, there was four months between the first and second race of the championship, and most teams would usually run the first race with old designs, or not even participate. This year, Ferrari, McLaren and Matra started their year with the Monaco Grand Prix. Lotus had planned to run revolutionary new Cosworths, but they were not ready in time. Jack Brabham scored pole position like in South Africa, but again lost the lead at the start, this time to long-time Ferrari driver Lorenzo Bandini. Before long, Hulme took over at the front and increased his lead to 15 seconds. Desperately trying to get closer, Bandini struck the barrier in the chicane at the harbour front and mounted the straw bales. The car landed upside down and exploded in flames. Bandini would succumbed to his injuries three days later. Hulme won the race, one lap ahead of Graham Hill (Lotus) and two ahead of Chris Amon (Ferrari). Like in the first race, there were just six finishers.^[5]

When Lotus could finally run the new Cosworth engines in the Dutch Grand Prix, their pace was significantly better than before and Hill snatched pole position. A surprising Dan Gurney in the Eagle started second, reigning champion Brabham in third. After drivers had to avoid a wandering marshal on the grid, the positions at the front remained rather the same, until Gurney made a pit stop. Hill's engine suddenly seized on lap 11, but teammate Clark was charging, getting up to second on lap 15 and taking the lead from Brabham on the next lap. He kept increasing his lead with a second per lap and easily won, ahead of the teammates Brabham and Hulme. Behind them finished the three Ferraris.^[6]

Qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix ended up with quite the same drivers at the front, except Brabham could only manage seventh. Clark, Gurney and Hill occupied the front row. Clark was the only one of the three with a good start, however. During the first lap, Mike Parkes crashed his Ferrari and was thrown out. He broke a leg and wrist and would not return to Formula One. At the front of the field, Clark was followed by Stewart (BRM) and Amon (Ferrari), before Amon fell back and Gurney took third. Then, Clark had to pit to change a spark plug and Stewart ran into trouble with his gearbox, and Gurney took the lead. After setting a new lap record, the American driver won, over a minute ahead of Stewart and Amon.^[7]

Four different winners led to a close fight at the top of the Drivers' Championship. Denny Hulme (Brabham) was first with 16 points, ahead of Pedro Rodríguez (Cooper) and Chris Amon (Ferrari) with 11. In the battle for the Manufacturers' Cup, Brabham had scored 18 points, ahead of Cooper (14) and Ferrari (11).

Rounds 5 to 7

For the French Grand Prix, the front row consisted of 1962 champion Graham Hill (Lotus), triple World Champion Jack Brabham (Brabham) and winner of the last race, Dan Gurney (Eagle). But after just 5 laps, it was fourth-starting Jim Clark who led the field. Before the race reached half distance, however, both Lotuses had retired. The Cosworth engines deemed fast but unreliable. After Gurney retired as well with a fuel leak, which left Brabham and his teammate Hulme to finish first and second. Jackie Stewart finished third in his BRM, a lap down on the leader. For the third time this year, there were just six classified finishers.^[8]

The British Grand Prix was run at Silverstone and saw the green-and-yellow Lotuses (Clark ahead of Hill) qualifying in front of the green-and-gold Brabhams (Brabham ahead of Hulme). The Lotus duo gained a big lead over the rest, before Hill took the lead on lap 26. When a screw in his suspension failed, however, he had to pit on lap 55, and his engine seized ten laps later. Clark took a comfortable win, ahead of Hulme and Amon, the Ferrari driver having passed Brabham four laps from the end.^[9]

During practice for the German Grand Prix, Hill crashed and wrote off his Lotus, while escaping uninjured. Clark clinched pole position, ahead of Hulme and Formula Two driver Jacky Ickx. (Traditionally, the F2 race would be run at the same time as the Grand Prix. F2 drivers would not be eligible to score points for the F1 championship.) At the start, Clark and Hulme led away, with Bruce McLaren stealing third. On lap 3, Clark's right-rear wheel was deflating slowly and he had to back off. Dan Gurney inherited the lead after McLaren retired with an oil leak. The American set a new lap record, despite an extra chicane having been added to the circuit, and increased his lead over Hulme to over 40 seconds. On lap 13, however, his Eagle's drive shaft broke and cut through an oil pipe, handing Hulme a lucky victory, ahead of teammate Brabham and Ferrari driver Amon.^[10]

In the Drivers' Championship, Denny Hulme (Brabham) was leading with 37 points, ahead of Jack Brabham (Brabham) with 25 points and Jim Clark (Lotus) and Chris Amon (Ferrari) in a shared third place with 19 points. Brabham was leading the championship for the Manufacturers' Cup with 42 points, ahead of Coopper with 21 and Lotus and Ferrari in a shared third place with 19 points.

Rounds 8 to 11

The Canadian Grand Prix was on the championship calendar for the first time and was supposed to be a one-off in celebration of Canada's 100 years of independence, but the popularity of the event would result in F1 returning to Mosport Park seven more years and the Canadian GP still being featured on the calendar today. Jim Clark (Lotus) qualified on pole position, ahead of teammate Graham Hill and championship leader Denny Hulme (Brabham). It had been a rainy night, but a clear morning, which led to most of the Goodyear runners starting on intermediate tyres, while most of the Firestone started on dries. During the warm-up lap, the rain returned and it caused a treacherous first lap, with the Goodyear times at an advantage. Hulme took the lead off of Clark, and Bruce McLaren got by the pole-sitter into second place. The track was now drying and around a quarter of the race, the dry-runners regained their advantage. Clark retook second place and began to catch Hulme at over a second a lap. On lap 58, he was there and immediately went by into the lead, but right at that moment, the rain returned. Clark's engine got soaked and cut out, while Hulme desperatly needed clean goggles so chose to pit. This left Jack Brabham, second in the championship, free to win the race, over a minute ahead of teammate Hulme and at least a lap ahead of the race. Dan Gurney finished third in the Eagle.^[11]

Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix was disrupted by rain, but the result was not surprising: Clark scored his fifth pole position of the year, ahead of Brabham and McLaren. Hulme started in sixth. The marshal starting the race used a different procedure to what the drivers were used to, which led to half of the grid essentially doing a false start, but no penalties were issued. Brabham took the lead before Gurney grabbed it later in the lap, while Hill and Clark followed them. On lap 3, Clark was already back in the lead, but then suffered a slow puncture. With the pole-sitter in the pits and Gurney's engine having broken, as it had done so many times, it was Hulme who took over the lead. Brabham and Hill formed a close trio with him and the lead swapped hands a couple of times. Clark had a lost a full lap with his pit stop, but managed to unlap himself with two thirds of the race still to go, and quickly set a new lap record. Hulme retired with an overheating engine and Hill took advantage from Clark's slipstream to open up the gap to Brabham at two seconds per lap, until on lap 58, his engine exploded. His rivals' retirements, topped with his maniacal pace, brought Clark up to second place, with leader Brabham in his sights and Honda driver John Surtees in third place, the 1964 champion this time being the one to benefit from Clark's tow. On lap 60, Clark grabbed the lead and gained a three-second advantage, until he dramatically ran out of fuel. Surtees took the lead and was side-by-side with Brabham going into the last corner. Brabham dove to the inside but slid wide. Surtees crossed back and took the flag with a margin of just 0.2 seconds. It would be Honda's last win until 2006. Clark coasted over the line in third place.^[12]

The Brabham duo (Hulme and Brabham) were leading the championship but the Lotus duo (Hill and Clark) that occupied the first row for the United States Grand Prix. Gurney had started beside them, took second place at the start and even started pressuring the leader. After just 24 laps, however, the home hero retired with a broken suspension, but the Lotuses were showing better pace anyway. Clark took over the lead when Hill suffered issues with his clutch. This gave Ferrari driver Chris Amon a chance for second place, but his engine ran out of oil with 12 laps to go. Clark would take a comfortable victory, but two laps from the end, his right-rear suspension broke. By slowing down and managing to keep the car on track, Hill could not catch up in time, and Clark took the chequered flag. One could say it was the summary of the season: the Lotuses were unreliable and finished less than half of the races, but if they did, they were so fast that they lapped the rest of the field. This time, it was Hulme who finished in third, a lap down.^[13]

Going into the final race, the Mexican Grand Prix, Hulme had a lead of five points in the standings, so if Brabham wanted to do anything about it, he needed to win and for his teammate to finish fifth or lower. Clark started again on pole position, with Brabham and Hulme down in fifth and sixth, respectively. Hill shortly took the lead, but Clark grabbed it back and grew his advantage to seven seconds. Hulme was comfortably hanging back six seconds behind Brabham. Hill retired when his drive shaft broke and had damaged his engine, and the race settled down. Clark set a new lap record and lapped everyone but Brabham in second. Hulme finished third, enough to win the title.^[14]

Denny Hulme (Brabham, 51 points) won his first and only championship, ahead of teammate Jack Brabham (46) and Jim Clark (Lotus, 41). Hulme is the only champion to date from New Zealand, and the first of two drivers to win the title without achieving a pole position in the season. Only Niki Lauda would repeat this feat in 1984. The Brabham team (63 points) also won the Manufacturers' Cup, ahead of Lotus (44) and Cooper (28).

Grands Prix

More information Round, Grand Prix ...

Round	Grand Prix	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning constructor	Tyre	Report
1	South African Grand Prix	Jack Brabham	Denny Hulme	Pedro Rodríguez	Cooper-Maserati	F	Report
2	Monaco Grand Prix	Jack Brabham	Jim Clark	Denny Hulme	Brabham-Repco	G	Report
3	Dutch Grand Prix	Graham Hill	Jim Clark	Jim Clark	Lotus-Ford	F	Report
4	Belgian Grand Prix	Jim Clark	Dan Gurney	Dan Gurney	Eagle-Weslake	G	Report
5	French Grand Prix	Graham Hill	Graham Hill	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	G	Report
6	British Grand Prix	Jim Clark	Denny Hulme	Jim Clark	Lotus-Ford	F	Report
7	German Grand Prix	Jim Clark	Dan Gurney	Denny Hulme	Brabham-Repco	G	Report
8	Canadian Grand Prix	Jim Clark	Jim Clark	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	G	Report
9	Italian Grand Prix	Jim Clark	Jim Clark	John Surtees	Honda	F	Report
10	United States Grand Prix	Graham Hill	Graham Hill	Jim Clark	Lotus-Ford	F	Report
11	Mexican Grand Prix	Jim Clark	Jim Clark	Jim Clark	Lotus-Ford	F	Report

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World Drivers' Championship standings

Championship points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the first six finishers in each round. Only the best five results from the first six races and the best four results from the last five races could be retained by each driver.^[15]

More information Pos., Driver ...

Pos. Driver RSA MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER CAN ITA USA MEX Pts.[16] 1 Denny Hulme 4 1 3 Ret 2 2 1 2 Ret 3 3 51 2 Jack Brabham 6 Ret 2 Ret 1 4 2 1 2 (5) 2 46 (48) 3 Jim Clark Ret Ret 1 6 Ret 1 Ret Ret 3 1 1 41 4 John Surtees 3 Ret Ret Ret 6 4 1 Ret 4 20 5 Chris Amon 3 4 3 Ret 3 3 6 7 Ret 9 20 6 Pedro Rodríguez 1 5 Ret 9 6 5 11 6 15 7 Graham Hill Ret 2 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 4 Ret 2 Ret 15 8 Dan Gurney Ret Ret Ret 1 Ret Ret Ret 3 Ret Ret Ret 13 9 Jackie Stewart Ret Ret Ret 2 3 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 10 10 Mike Spence Ret 6 8 5 Ret Ret Ret 5 5 Ret 5 9 11 John Love 2 6 12 Jo Siffert Ret Ret 10 7 4 Ret Ret DNS Ret 4 12 6 13 Jochen Rindt Ret Ret Ret 4 Ret Ret Ret Ret 4 Ret 6 14 Bruce McLaren 4 Ret Ret Ret Ret 7 Ret Ret Ret 3 15 Jo Bonnier Ret Ret Ret 6 8 Ret 6 10 3 16 Chris Irwin 7 Ret 5 7 9 Ret Ret Ret Ret 2 17 Bob Anderson 5 DNQ 9 8 Ret Ret 2 18 Mike Parkes 5 Ret 2 19 Guy Ligier 10 NC 10 8 Ret Ret 11 1 20 Ludovico Scarfiotti 6 NC Ret 1 21 Jacky Ickx Ret1 6 Ret 1 — Jean-Pierre Beltoise DNQ 7 7 0 — David Hobbs 8 101 9 0 — Jonathan Williams 8 0 — Alan Rees 9 71 0 — Richard Attwood 10 0 — Mike Fisher 11 DNS 0 — Dave Charlton NC 0 — Luki Botha NC 0 — Al Pease NC 0 — Piers Courage Ret Ret DNS 0 — Moisés Solana Ret Ret 0 — Sam Tingle Ret 0 — Lorenzo Bandini† Ret† 0 — Johnny Servoz-Gavin Ret 0 — Silvio Moser Ret 0 — Hubert Hahne Ret 0 — Giancarlo Baghetti Ret 0 — Eppie Wietzes DSQ 0 — Tom Jones DNQ 0 — Richie Ginther DNQ 0 Drivers ineligible for Formula One points, because they drove with Formula Two cars — Jackie Oliver 5 — Brian Hart NC — Kurt Ahrens Jr. Ret — Jo Schlesser Ret — Gerhard Mitter Ret — Brian Redman DNS Pos. Driver RSA MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER CAN ITA USA MEX Pts.

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Other points position Blue Other classified position Not classified, finished (NC) Purple Not classified, retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrawn (WD) Did not enter (cell empty) Text formatting Meaning Bold Pole position Italics Fastest lap

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• ¹ – Ineligible for Formula One points, because they drove with Formula Two cars.