German Grand Prix 1968

Nürburgring — 4 August 1968

The daunting Nürburgring was at its most capricious in August 1968, with mist and torrential rain rendering the track treacherous and visibility virtually non-existent. Driving with a broken wrist, Jackie Stewart set his Matra-Ford in 6th on the starting grid, but moved past pole sitter Jackie Ickx’s Ferrari and into an 8s lead by the end of the first 14-mile, 187-turn lap. After another lap he led by 25s, and nearly a minute after five laps. At the finish, Stewart won by an amazing 4m 3.2s, giving him time to to climb out of the car and accept congratulations before the others even came into sight. Stewart thought it was not his greatest race — which he believed was the 1973 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where Stewart unlapped himself on the entire field — saying later that “I can’t remember doing more than one balls-out lap of the ‘Ring than I had to. It gave you amazing satisfaction, but anyone who says he loved it is either a liar or wasn’t going fast enough!” But like Fangio’s drive 11 years earlier, Stewart’s 1968 performance at Nürburgring proved that this devilishly difficult circuit brought out the best in the best Formula One drivers of all time. Classifications.