Jackie Stewart
Sir John Young Stewart, MBE (born
11 June 1939 in
Milton,
West Dunbartonshire), better known as
Jackie Stewart, and nicknamed
The Flying Scot, is a
Scottish three-time
Formula One racing champion. He is well-known in the
United States as a
commentator of racing television broadcasts where his
Scottish accent made him a distinctive presence. Between 1997 and 1999 he was team principal in partnership with his son, Paul Stewart of the
Stewart Grand Prix Formula One racing team.
Jackie's early involvement with cars was in the family business, Dumbuck Garage, in Milton, where he worked as an
apprentice mechanic. His family were
Jaguar dealers and had built up a successful practice. Jackie's father had been a
motorcycle racer, and Jackie's brother
Jimmy was a racing driver with a growing local reputation. He drove for
Ecurie Ecosse and competed in the
1953 British Grand Prix, until he went off at Copse Corner in the wet. It was only natural that Jackie would soon become involved in
motor racing like his older brother.
After his brother was injured in a crash at
Le Mans the sport was discouraged by their parents and Jackie took up shooting. In
target shooting Stewart made a name for himself and almost made it to the
1960 Summer Olympics, only just missing the team.
But he took up an offer from Barry Filer, a customer of his family business, to test in a number of his cars at
Oulton Park. Stewart impressed all who were in attendance that day.
Ken Tyrrell who was running the
Formula Junior team for
Cooper heard of this young Scotsman from a track manager and called up Jimmy Stewart to see if his younger brother was interested in a tryout. Jackie came down for the test and took over a car that
Bruce McLaren was testing. McLaren at that time was already an experienced Formula One driver and the new Cooper F3 was a very competitive car in its class. Soon Stewart was besting McLaren's times, causing McLaren to return to the track for some quicker laps. Again, Stewart was faster and Tyrrell offered Stewart a spot on the team. This would be the beginning of a great partnership that would see them reach the pinnacle of the sport. But this was
1963 and Stewart still had a lot to learn.
|
Original Tyrrell of Jackie Stewart in 1973 |
In
1964 he drove in
Formula Three for Ken Tyrrell and won his first race at
Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit. Since Tyrrell did not compete in
Formula One at that time, he joined
BRM alongside
Graham Hill in
1965. His first contract netted him £4,000. On his debut in
South Africa he scored his first Championship point. Before the end of the year he won his first race at
Monza.
1966 saw him almost win the
Indianapolis 500 on his first attempt only to be denied by a broken scavenge pump while leading by over a lap with eight laps to go; however, Stewart's performance, having had the race fully in hand and sidelined only by mechanical failure, won him
Rookie of the Year honours, the only occasion to date in race history that a rookie winner (Hill, team mate at Indianapolis as well, and final leader after Stewart) was deemed surpassed in performance by another first-timer.
Also, in
1966, a crash triggered his fight for improved safety in racing. In lap one of the
1966 Belgian Grand Prix at
Spa-Francorchamps, when sudden rain caused many crashes, he found himself trapped in his BRM, getting soaked by leaking fuel. Any spark could cause a disaster. The marshals had no tools to help him, and it took his team mate Hill to get him out. Since then, a main switch for electrics and a removeable steering wheel became standard. Also, noticing the long and slow transport to a hospital, he brought his own doctor to future races, while the BRM team supplied a medical truck for the benefit of all.
In
Formula One, he switched to
Ken Tyrrell's team where he drove
Matra chassis during the
1968 and
1969 seasons. His winning drive during the rain and fog of the
1968 German Grand Prix at the
Nürburgring, where he won by a margin of four minutes, is considered as one of the finest ever, even though his rain tires were probably better than those of the competition.
Stewart became
world champion in
1969 driving a
Cosworth-powered
Matra MS80. Up until September
2005 when
Fernando Alonso in a
Renault became champion, he was the only driver to have won the championship driving for a
French marque and, as Alonso's
Renault was actually built in the UK, Stewart remains the only driver to win the world championship in a
French-built car. For the
1970 season, Matra insisted on using their own
V12 engines, while Tyrrell and Stewart wanted to keep the
Cosworth engines as well as the good connection to
Ford Motor Company. As a consequence, the Tyrrell team bought a chassis from
March Engineering, which Stewart drove with mixed success until Tyrrell built its own car later in the season. They were still sponsored by French
Elf fuel company, and Stewart raced in a car painted in French Racing Blue for many years.
Stewart went on to win the Formula One world championship in
1971 and
1973 with Tyrrell cars. In the 1972 season he missed races due to
Gastritis which was developed following frequent travelling, as Stewart also competed in the
Can Am series with a
Lola, and a
Ford Capri in the
touring car Group 2 European championship, with his F1 teamate
François Cevert and other F1 pilots, at a time where the competition between Ford and
BMW was at a climax.
His last and then record-setting 27th GP victory, came at the
1973 German Grand Prix at the
Nürburgring with a convincing 1-2 for Tyrrell. After the fatal crash of his teammate
François Cevert in practice for the
1973 United States Grand Prix at
Watkins Glen, Stewart retired one race earlier than intended and missed what would have been his 100th GP.
Subsequently he became a consultant for the
Ford Motor Company while continuing to be a spokesman for safer cars and circuits in Formula One.
Stewart covered NASCAR races and the
Indianapolis 500 on American television during the 1970's and early 1980's, and has also worked on Australian TV coverage.
In
1997 Stewart returned to Formula One, with
Stewart Grand Prix, as a team owner in partnership with his son, Paul. As the works
Ford team, their first race was the
1997 Australian Grand Prix. The only success of their first year came at the rain-affected
Monaco Grand Prix where
Rubens Barrichello finished an impressive second. Reliability was low however, with a likely 2nd place at the Nürburgring among several potential results lost.
1998 was even less competitive, with no podiums and few points.
However, after Ford acquired
Cosworth in July
1998, they risked designing and building a brand-new engine for 1999. It paid off. The SF3 was consistently competitive throughout the season. The team won one race at the
European Grand Prix at the
Nürburgring with Johnny Herbert, albeit somewhat luckily, while Barrichello took three 3rd places, pole in France, and briefly led his home race at Interlagos. The team was later bought by Ford and became
Jaguar Racing in
2000.
Stewart received
Sports Illustrated magazine's 1973 "
Sportsman of the Year" award, the only auto racer to win the title so far, and in the same year also won
BBC Television's "Sports Personality Of The Year" award. In
1990, he was inducted into the
International Motorsports Hall of Fame. In 1996, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
In
2001 Stewart received
knighthood and became a founding
patron of the
Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.
In
2003 The World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities presented Sir Jackie Stewart the Sport Shooting Ambassador Award. The Award goes to an outstanding individual whose efforts have promoted the shooting sports internationally. It was presented by British
Member of Parliament Kate Hoey, who spoke of the three major benefits of shooting â€" discipline, enjoyment and economic stimulus.
Recently, Jackie Stewart featured on the popular UK motoring show
Top Gear. He was challenged to reduce the track time of
James May by 20 seconds and managed to do it.
*
Formula One World Champion 1969 Matra*
Formula One World Champion 1971 Tyrrell*
Formula One World Champion 1973 Tyrrell*Stewart appeared in several UPS commercials in 2002 and 2003 as a consultant for Dale Jarrett to convince Jarrett to "race the Big Brown truck".
*
International Motorsports Hall of Fame, Jackie Stewart
*
Grand Prix History - Hall of Fame, Jackie Stewart
*
The Scotsman newspaper, Heritage and Culture, 'I risked my mother's wrath in order to be a driver'
*
The Herald newspaper (Glasgow), 'Sir Jackie, was not diagnosed with dyslexia until he was 42'
*
Jackie Stewart statistics
