Formula 1 Pays Tribute to the Legend Stirling Moss

Formula 1 stars paid tribute to the passing of British motorsport legend Sir Stirling Moss, who died on April 12, 2020, at the age of 90. The tribute took place during a memorial service in London.

Nearly 2,000 people attended Westminster Monastery to honor Stirling Moss, one of the most famous drivers in the world. The crowd was led by his compatriots, former world champions Nigel Mansell (1992) and Damon Hill (1996), as well as Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

Scottish racing legend Jackie Stewart, a three-time Formula 1 world champion, praised Stirling Moss, highlighting that Moss’s qualities were incomparable to any other driver.

“He led amazingly, presented himself wonderfully, and was just an amazing character,” Stewart remarked. “I don’t think that in the history of sports there has been a person so beloved, and still so beloved.”

Stewart added, “It is wonderful for Britain to have such a famous British person. He will never be forgotten.”

Sir Stirling Moss gained international fame, despite never winning the Formula 1 World Championship. He finished as the runner-up four times between 1955 and 1958, earning him the title of the “uncrowned champion.” Moss was widely regarded as one of the pioneering drivers during the 1950s and early 1960s, a period when racers competed in various automotive competitions.

The late Enzo Ferrari, founder of the Italian team Ferrari, once described Stirling Moss as “one of the greatest drivers in the world.” Additionally, Juan Manuel Fangio, the late five-time world champion from Argentina who partnered with Moss at Mercedes, praised Moss by saying that he “is the best of his time.”

Moss’s career on the racetrack came to an end on April 24, 1962, when he was involved in a serious accident at the Goodwood Circuit in southern England during the Grand Prix, reaching speeds of 161 km/h. The accident nearly took his life, as he spent 32 days in a coma and was partially paralyzed for six months.

After the accident, Stirling Moss attempted to make a comeback to racing but acknowledged that he had lost his edge. He announced his retirement from top-tier racing at the age of 32. Throughout his career, he achieved a record number of victories in races, totaling 212 wins, including 16 Grand Prix wins in Formula 1, out of 529 races over 15 seasons.

One of the most iconic victories of Moss’s career came at the 1955 Mille Miglia, where he raced across 1,000 miles of open Italian roads at an average speed of 97.96 mph, completing the race in 10 hours, 7 minutes, and 48 seconds. The Mercedes car that propelled him to victory in that race was displayed outside Westminster Abbey during his memorial service.

For decades after his retirement, British police officers were said to use the phrase “Who do you think you are, Stirling Moss?” when stopping speeding drivers. Even Jackie Stewart, the Formula 1 world champion in 1969, 1971, and 1973, encountered this saying.

Stewart recounted an incident when he was stopped by a police officer after winning the world championship. He said, “I had just won the world championship, and I was driving fast because I was late for something, and a policeman stopped me.”

He continued, “I stopped and opened the window, and he said to me, ‘Who do you think you are, Stirling Moss? And you had just won the world championship.'”

Stewart added, “He asked to see my driver’s license. I said I was Jackie Stewart, and I saw a smile on his face… but I don’t think we’ll ever see this again, a man respected like that.”