The last hurrah for former British F1 superpower BRM

Having tasted drivers' and constructors' success in 1962, the BRM Formula 1 team had fallen on hard times by the end of the decade. But the arrival of fresh faces and new cars gave it one more boost as the 1970s began.

Things were not looking good for BRM in 1969. The team that had scored a Formula 1 world title double in 1962 had slumped to fifth in the constructors’ championship in 1968, and hadn’t won a points-paying grand prix since the Monaco GP in 1966. And things were getting worse.

BRM had the services of 1964 world champion John Surtees and rising star Jackie Oliver, and had finally discarded the troublesome H16 engine in favour of a V12, but the squad’s P138 and P139 were a long way behind the pacesetting Matra MS80 of Jackie Stewart.

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Author Kevin Turner

Kevin Turner is Autosport’s Chief Editor. While studying History at the University of York, Kevin began covering UK club events as a freelance reporter for Autosport and Motorsport News. He joined the Autosport staff as Editorial Assistant on the magazine in 2006, winning what is now known as the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award. He became National Editor in 2008 and over the next few seasons covered a range of international events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as the British Touring Car Championship and British GT. Kevin became Features Editor before switching to edit Motorsport News in 2014.

He returned to Autosport in 2016 to become editor of the magazine, a dream job that is still part of his role.

He became Chief Editor in 2020, helping to plan content for autosport.com and Autosport’s podcast as well as seeing the magazine through the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin also led work on the special publication celebrating 70 years of Autosport and has been a judge on the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, formerly known as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, since 2008. He lives in Fleet with his wife and two children.