1969 German Grand Prix

The 1969 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on 3 August 1969. It was race 7 of 11 in both the 1969 World Championship of Drivers and the 1969 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. Due to the long track and few laps, Formula Two cars were again allowed to enter the race, though they were not eligible to score WC points.

The 14-lap race was won by Belgian driver Jacky Ickx, driving a works Brabham BT26-Ford. Ickx took pole position, led the final eight laps and set the fastest lap of the race. Scotland's Jackie Stewart finished second in a Matra MS80-Ford, expanding his lead in the championship, with New Zealand's Bruce McLaren third in a McLaren M7A-Ford.

Ferrari withdrew to focus on the upcoming Italian GP. Practising for BMW's 269 F2 project, Gerhard Mitter was killed at Schwedenkreuz. As a suspension or steering failure was suspected, the BMW team with Hubert Hahne and Dieter Quester withdrew from the race, as did Mitter's teammate as Porsche factory sportscar driver, Hans Herrmann, who had entered on one of the Lotus 59 of Roy Winkelmann Racing.

Mario Andretti drove the 4WD Lotus 63 for very few laps in practice. The heavy fuel load for the race made the car ground out in lap 1 after a jump at Wippermann, causing a crash that also took out Vic Elford, whose car flipped upside down and landed in the trees. Elford broke his arm in 3 places.

In the race, Jacky Ickx had a very poor start which dropped him down to 9th, but he eventually passed the entire field over 3 laps, and he and Jackie Stewart battled for 4 laps until Ickx passed Stewart under braking for the first corner, the Südkehre. Stewart held on but then gearbox problems began to slow him and he dropped away, leaving Ickx in a dominant position. Piers Courage had an accident at Breidscheid when he slipped on some oil and crashed into a ditch next to the Adenauer bridge. Luckily, he was unhurt.

Only four F1 cars finished, ahead of several F2. Two F1 received points despite being out.

This was the last Formula One race at the original bumpy Green Hell Nürburgring. In 1970, GP drivers boycotted and the German GP moved to the Hockenheimring. The Nordschleife of the Nürburgring was rebuilt and fitted with Armco barriers, and F1 signed a three year contract starting with the 1971 race.