One year late, Graz celebrates one of its greatest sons. On the occasion of the 51st anniversary of death, guests came from all over the world
What does a billionaire like Bernie Ecclestone (90) do in a city where the Communists were recently voted the strongest party? What attracts a three-time Formula 1 world champion like Jackie Stewart (82) to Styria? Why is Jean Todt (75), the President of the World Automobile Federation (FIA) in Graz on a rainy October day?
They all honored a great man in sport and one of the city's greatest sons: Jochen Rindt. He entered Formula 1 in 1964 and won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1965. As a businessman, he invented the Jochen Rindt show. He was considered cosmopolitan and charismatic. In 1970, Rindt had a fatal accident in Monza, and posthumously he became Formula 1 world champion.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death, the celebrations should have taken place the previous year, Corona made it impossible. Graz is now commemorating “Jochen Rindt 50. + 1”.
The memories
A tram with the likeness of the charismatic racing driver rolls through the streets of the city, a series of photos in the Graz Museum recalls the “Myth of Rindt, Myth of Graz” until April 24th. It shows how the shy orphan grew up with the grandparents, tells of leaving, the first street race in Graz with the first parking tickets and closes with the funeral at the Graz central cemetery.
Helmut Marko, Red Bull's motorsport advisor, also remembered one of his best friends on Thursday. The “doctor”, as he is called in his environment, is more of a pragmatist and realist. But when Marko talks about Jochen Rindt, the audience hangs on his lips. “If we were to do what we did back then, we would go to jail for it”, Marko recalls the wild times in the early 1960s. “Jochen only did what was forbidden, fast and dangerous. Graz became safer when he became a racing driver. ”
After Jochen Rindt's death, Formula 1 also became gradually safer. “When you started the season as a driver in the 1970s, you never knew whether you would end it,” says Marko. “Jochen had his accident at about 300 km / h. That is comparable to Max Verstappen this year at Silverstone. Jochen was dead, Max just got out. “
The consequences
Jean Todt has also seen pilots die, the subject of safety is a special concern of the world association boss. “A lot has happened since Jochen to make cars, equipment and tracks safer,” said the Frenchman. “Take a look at which helmets Jochen or Jackie (Stewart; note) wore back then? And think of the halo. At first everyone was against it, but we were right. “
In fact, the initially controversial cockpit protection has already prevented worse, for example in the accidents of Romain Grosjean (2020 / Bahrain) and Lewis Hamilton (2021 / Monza). “Everything that can be done for safety must also be done.”
