Jochen Rindt was born in Germany during World War II. His parents were killed in a bombing raid and he was taken by his grandparents to live in Austria. His Formula One breakthrough came with a one-off drive for Brabham at the 1964 Austrian Grand Prix. He impressed enough to secure a seat with Cooper for the 1965 season and though the car was uncompetitive he managed to secure three podium finishes in 1966. He joined Brabham in 1968 but fared worse when the unreliable car only finished two of twelve races. Abandoning the team for Lotus, Rindt won his first race in 1969, and dominated in 1970 when he was given the Lotus 72, winning four races consecutively. That year, two friends of Rindt, Bruce McLaren and Piers Courage, died while testing and racing respectively. He told his wife that he would retire from the sport if he became world champion, though he never managed to fulfil his promise. While taking part in a practice session for the 1970 Italian Grand Prix, the front right brakeshaft on Rindt's car failed, sending him into the barriers and killing him. Lotus withdrew from the race and brought in Emerson Fittipaldi to fill the vacant seat at the final grand prix in the United States. Fittipaldi won the race, helping to maintain Rindt's lead in the championship. Rindt was crowned as the only posthumous world champion in the history of Formula One.