Late F1 Legend Commemorated

A new stamp is to be issued on 11th June in Austria to commemorate the late Formula One legend Karl Jochen Rindt who died racing in 1970.

Born in 1942, Rindt worked his way through the ranks of motor sport, winning the Le Mans 24 Hour race in 1965 before graduating to Formula One with Brabham and then Lotus.

He was contesting the 1970 Formula One Championship with Ferrari's Jacky Ickx and had already decided to retire from the sport at the end of the season. Having been beaten by Ickx at his home Grand Prix at the Osterreichring the pressure was now on to win at Monza to secure the Championship.

During the Saturday practice session on 5th September, Rindt’s Lotus veered sharply into the Parabolica under heavy breaking, lost it's front end and was catapulted back onto the track. Rindt died having sustained serous chest and neck injuries.

Rindt's Lotus teammate Emerson Fittipaldi went on to beat Jacky Ickx at the US Grand Prix which confirmed Rindt as the sport's first, and to this date only posthumous champion.