It's a Sir Stirling Moss special on the Sky F1 Vodcast as Stewart, Brundle, Hill, Herbert and Lazenby pay tribute to F1 legend
Tuesday 14 April 2020 06:02, UK
"One of a kind". An "absolute inspiration". The "very best" .
Today on the Sky F1 Vodcast we pay tribute to the great Sir Stirling Moss, one of Formula 1's most legendary drivers, and extraordinary men.
Sir Jackie Stewart, one of Moss' dearest friends, joined Martin Brundle, Damon Hill, Johnny Herbert and Simon Lazenby for a special episode, dedicated to the British racing icon, celebrating his career and life.
"He was a giant," said Sir Jackie, a three-time F1 champion. "He was the very best of his time and an amazing man.
"Stirling Moss was so big that he didn't have to be world champion, he was still the best driver in the world."
Moss passed away on Easter Sunday aged 90, and tributes from the F1 community and beyond have flooded in for a man who, while somehow not winning an F1 title, established himself as a great on and off the track and flourished in every motorsport series he entered - securing victories in epic races such as 1955's Mille Miglia.
"An absolute inspiration," said Brundle. "We looked up to him.
"He was generous, he was out there, he was a great ambassador for motorsport in general and British motorsport.
"His achievements in single-seaters, sports cars, rally cars, was just outstanding. It was a privilege to know him."
Widely recognised as the greatest F1 driver never to win a title, Stewart insisted that Moss would have won "many" in an era dominated by Juan Manuel Fangio had he opted for different cars.
"He wanted to drive British," he explained. "He wanted to drive for a British entrant.
"If he had been driving a Maserati or a Ferrari in Formula 1 races or in Grands Prix, he would have been world champion many, many times. But these so-called 'foreign' cars... he just didn't want to do it."
Stewart added; "At that time there was only Fangio, and Fangio never drove the number of racing cars that Stirling drove. Moss did the alpine rally, he did all sorts of things.
"The modern F1 driver drives 21 Grands Prix a year, but Stirling Moss was driving 60-70 a year."
Moss, whose racing career was effectively ended by a 1962 crash at Goodwood, also drove during one of F1's most dangerous eras.
"When Stirling started his racing, it was the end of the war," Sir Jackie explained. "Everything was very open.
"He was a brave man. Of course he's had accidents and of course the cars weren't as reliable as they are today, and they're certainly not as protective as they are today.
"He survived when many others didn't."
Stewart also paid tribute to Moss, the person, particularly when referencing his infamous sportsmanship at the 1958 Portguese GP.
Moss defended the actions of rival Mike Hawthorn following a spin at the Portuguese GP, sparing Hawthorn a six-point penalty. Hawthorn went on to beat Moss to the title by a single point.
"That's a gentleman behaving like a gentleman," said Stewart. "I don't know who else would have done that.
"He was a one of a kind. There was no one else like him. The whole world is celebrating his life, and he would have loved that."
