Sir Stirling Moss: A life in Quotes
Atop the stinking pile of rubbish news that has kicked off 2020 rests what is perhaps the most heart-rending news if you’re a motorsport fan. Sir Stirling Moss has passed away after a long battle with a respiratory illness. The British motor racing icon lived to be 90 years old and is survived by his wife, Lady Susie Moss. Regarding the news of his death, she stated:
“It was one lap too many, he just closed his eyes,”
It further reinstated how Sir Stirling left this world: uncharacteristically quietly.
Stirling Moss grew up by the Thames to parents who both participated in motorsport in one form or another. Naturally, it didn’t take long for Stirling’s desire to race to be kindled. Despite his father’s wishes that young Stirling would choose a path that would lead him to dentistry, Stirling was able to convince his old man to let him spend his winnings from horse racing on a 500cc Cooper which he could race in the British F3.
Stirling made his racing debut in the British F3 as a 19-year-old in 1948. It must be noted that although a 19 isn’t exactly a young age to start driving the F3 by today’s standards, it was an extremely young age back in 1948. To put it into perspective, Stirling’s most fierce rival, Juan Manuel Fangio only began racing at 25 years of age, after serving time in the Argentinian military.
Motor racing was very much a gentlemanly sport back then and Sir Stirling was well known throughout the paddock as the gentleman. Jackie Stewart probably put it best when he said the following:
“He walked like a racing driver should walk, he talked like a racing driver, he looked like a racing driver and he set a standard that I think has been unmatched.”
Despite his exploits in formula cars, Sir Stirling first tasted victory in racing, in a sports car at the 1950 RAC Tourist Trophy behind the wheel of a borrowed Jag. He continued competing at a high level in touring car racing, rallying, and endurance racing. Inevitably, he was noticed by the Formula 1 teams and although the Mercedes-Benz team couldn’t sign him right away, the Merc team boss advised him to spring for the faster, more agile Maserati.
Despite issues with reliability, the Maserati thrust Stirling Moss into the forefront of the sport at the 1954 Italian Grand Prix he overtook both Juan Manuel Fangio and Alberto Ascari, two of the most revered drivers in F1 history. He led the race until the 68th lap when his engine gave up, but that didn’t deter Stirling. He literally pushed his car past the finish line to take 10th place. By now, Mercedes had seen enough. They knew they wanted Stirling in their car.
Fangio and Moss would become the biggest stars for Mercedes-Benz. Despite being teammates, the rivalry between the pair would result in truly memorable races. Perhaps none more memorable than the 1955 British Grand Prix when Fangio famously let Moss by so he could take victory in front of his home fans. Although, Fangio would never admit it to Moss.
This era of his career was perhaps summed up best by Sir Stirling himself. He proclaimed,
‘The best classroom of all times was about two car lengths behind Juan Manuel Fangio’.
Moss and Fangio would continue to be both bitter rivals and close friends until Fangio’s retirement in 1958.
The closest Stirling Moss came to winning the title was in 1958, when fellow Brit, Mike Hawthorn won the championship. Funnily enough, Hawthorn’s achievement was perhaps down to the quick bit of advice he received from Stirling. Hawthorn had spun and stalled his car on an uphill section at the Portuguese Grand Prix. When Stirling saw what had happened, he quickly advised Hawthorn to steer downhill, against the run of traffic and jump-start the car. Moss even defended Hawthorn when the FIA tried to penalize him for the maneuver — yet another story that spoke volumes about the gentlemanly nature of Sir Stirling.
Yes, the record books will remember Sir Stirling Moss as the best F1 driver to have never won a World Drivers’ Championship, but as you can tell, that doesn’t even come close to telling the full story. Consider this: Sir Stirling won 24.24% off all the Grands Prix he took part in. His win percentage is higher than many of today’s world champions, who had many more races per season than Stirling ever did. For example, Jack Brabham and Nelson Piquet, who were both triple world champions had a win rate of about 11.3%. Double world champions, Fernando Alonso and Mika Hakkinen had a win percentage of 10.2% and 12.4% respectively. Surely, it is unfortunate that Sir Stirling Moss had the terrible misfortune of being in F1 during the twilight of Fangio’s career and the dawn of Jim Clark’s. However, his achievements in F1 can never be summed by the number of world titles alone. The world should remember him for the fact that he redefined what was possible in motorsport. He embodied the grit and determination it took to drive the cigar-shaped high-speed death traps that competed in F1 back then, but he did so without losing even a bit of his well-mannered nature. The man puts it best himself,
“I believe that if a man wanted to walk on water, and was prepared to give up everything in life, he could do it.”
Stirling’s performances in F1 will forever be remembered by the motorsport fraternity, but the most daring and impressive victory of his career has to be the 1955 Mille Miglia: a 993-mile endurance race across Italy that Sir Stirling and his co-driver, Denis Jenkinson won with an average speed of 98 mph. He finished the race a whole half an hour faster than Fangio, who was second. To give you an idea of the magnitude of the achievement, we must refer you to the Autocar report after the race which stated,
“Imagine having an early breakfast and leaving London by car at about 7.15am, reaching Aberdeen by lunchtime, and getting back to London in time for a latish tea — with only two stops. That, on roads that are admittedly better than British roads, parallels the achievement of Stirling Moss.”
Nobody really needed any confirmation, but the Mille Miglia victory set the degree of Sir Stirling Moss’ driving genius in stone. He eventually retired from racing in 1962 after crashing his Lotus at Goodwood, leaving him partially paralyzed. That didn’t deter him from breaking his retirement numerous times in the 70s and 80s. It was in 2011, at the age of 81 when Stirling told the world that his racing career had definitely come to an end after he had scared himself during qualifying for the Le Mans Legends race. Till the very end of his career, Sir Stirling lived by his words:
“Movement is tranquility.”
Sir Stirling Moss remained the most decorated British driver in Formula 1 for 29 years, until Nigel Mansell overtook him on the charts. Aside from his 16 wins in F1, he had won the 12 hours of Sebring, come 2nd twice at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and of course, won the legendary Mille Miglia in 1955. Although, he did so while competing in a modern racing calendar that had many more races, mind you. He was knighted in the year 2000, becoming the fifth motorsport personality to receive the honour.
Perhaps the most fitting tribute to his career in motorsport is the Mercedes-Benz SLR Stirling Moss, a car inspired by the legendary 300 SLR that Stirling drove in the Mille Miglia. Just like the car it was inspired by, it has a long bonnet and a sum total of zero windshields.
Although he lived to be 90, it almost seems like Stirling Moss went too quickly, but his memory will forever remain — stitched into the sky above every race track in the world.
Rest in peace, Sir.
If you want to know more about Sir Stirling Moss, I highly recommend watching this video by Petrolicious. This video that Mercedes produced with him and Lewis Hamilton is also a treat to watch.
