18th May 1969: The Race That Wouldn't Follow The Script

On 18th May 1952, Piero Taruffi won the Swiss Grand Prix at Bremgarten after a former champion's Ferrari failed — twice. On 18th May 1958, Maurice Trintignant won at Monaco after every faster car in the field broke before half distance. On 18th May 1969, Graham Hill took his record fifth Monaco victory after the championship leader, his own teammate, and the second-place Ferrari all retired mechanical failures within six laps of each other. On 18th May 1980, Carlos Reutemann inherited the Monaco lead when the dominant Didier Pironi clipped a barrier in the rain with twenty-two laps to go.Four races. Four eras. The same result each time.This episode of Chequered Past follows all four afternoons in detail — from the forest circuit at Bremgarten that no longer exists, through the darkest season in Monaco's history, to the regulatory drama of 1969 when a governing body banned an entire category of aerodynamic device mid-weekend, and on to the political turmoil of 1980 when Formula One's off-track war was as fierce as anything happening on it.Along the way: Graham Hill's debut at the circuit he would come to define. Jochen Rindt's open letter to the sport calling for wings to be banned — published five days after Monaco. The last championship race for Cooper. The first podium for Frank Williams as a constructor. And four winners who all shared one thing: they didn't win by being fastest. They won by still being there.Send us Fan MailMusic by #Mubert Music Rendering