Jochen Rindt won the 1970 World Drivers’ Championship after winning five races for Lotus.
Rindt dominated the middle and late part of the 1970 season, winning in the Netherlands, France, Britain, Germany and Austria. His victories in the Lotus 72 made him the clear championship leader, but he was killed during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on 5 September 1970.
Rindt’s points advantage was large enough that no rival could surpass his total after the remaining races. He therefore became Formula 1’s only posthumous World Drivers’ Champion, a distinction that remains unique in the championship’s history.
Emerson Fittipaldi won the United States Grand Prix for Lotus and helped secure the title for Rindt. Rindt’s five victories are also sometimes confused with the six wins recorded by Jacky Ickx that season, but Ickx finished second in the championship.