The 1970 Formula One season was a sad one, the death of Jochen Rindt at the Italian Grand Prix resulting in the first posthumous world champion. The year ended in turmoil with a chaotic Mexican Grand Prix which posed serious questions about the control of both humans and animals.
There were only 18 starters for the 65 laps of the Mexico City track as the organisers, on a limited budget, still adhered to the practice of paying starting money rather than allocating prize money according to finishing order. At 44, Jack Brabham had announced that this would be his final race but he showed no sign of easing up and made fourth fastest on the grid behind Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari), Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell), and Jacky Ickx in the second Ferrari. As expected, race day was warm and sunny, but what nobody had anticipated was that a crowd of around 200,000 would turn up to watch an essentially meaningless race. As the start time drew nearer, the spectators became increasingly unruly and began tearing down safety fences and barriers to obtain a trackside view. Soon rows and rows of them were standing, tightly packed, on the very edge of the circuit. When it was announced that the start would be delayed so that the crowd could be moved back, bottles were thrown on to the track in protest.
The race might well have been called off but for the very real fear that a cancellation would have provoked a full-scale riot, so instead Stewart and Mexican driver Pedro Rodriguez toured the circuit, appealing to the crowd to move back a little behind the barriers. Even this extremely reasonable request had little effect, but, after the broken bottles had been swept up, the drivers came out for an inspection lap. Although some still harboured reservations, the situation was thought to be just about under control and the race was quickly started – well over an hour late.
Regazzoni led into the first turn but by the end of the second lap he had been overtaken by both Ickx and Stewart. On lap 14 Stewart’s steering column worked loose, and the resultant pit stop cost him almost exactly one lap and relegated him to last but one place. Stewart rejoined the race right behind third-placed Brabham on the road and wasted no time in unlapping himself from both Brabham and Regazzoni. At half-distance Ickx was 15 seconds ahead of Regazzoni, who in turn led Brabham by another 12 seconds. Having worked his way up to tenth, Stewart then fell foul of a marauding Mexican dog which ran on to the track in front of the Tyrrell and bent the car’s front suspension. A forlorn Stewart had no option but to retire.
Brabham kept plugging away in typical fashion until on lap 53 his engine blew up to deny him the farewell for which he had been hoping. The two Ferraris were now out on their own and Ickx came home the best part of a minute ahead of Regazzoni, with Denny Hulme’s McLaren back in third.
Over the closing laps the crowd had once again pushed forward to the edge of the track, and no sooner had Ickx taken the chequered flag than they swarmed all over the circuit, forcing the remaining cars to slow right down in order to avoid any number of accidents.
The repercussions of the crowd behaviour were severe. The International Sporting Commission cancelled the 1971 Mexican Grand Prix when it was unable to obtain a guarantee from the organisers that there would be no repeat of the 1970 farce, and it turned out to be another 15 years before the event was finally restored to the motor-racing calendar.