by Gauk
Mon, Nov 28, 2016 9:06 PM

Sir John Young "Jackie" Stewart, OBE (born 11 June 1939) is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.

Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships, and twice runner-up, over those nine seasons. He also competed in Can-Am. In 2009 he was ranked fifth of the fifty greatest Formula One drivers of all time by journalist Kevin Eason who wrote: "He has not only emerged as a great driver, but one of the greatest figures of motor racing."

Sir Jackie Stewart
OBE

Jackie Stewart at the 2014 WEC Silverstone round.jpg

Stewart at the 2014 6 Hours of Silverstone

Born John Young Stewart
11 June 1939 (age 77)
Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality United Kingdom British
Active years 1965 – 1973
Teams BRM, Matra, March, Tyrrell
Entries 100 (99 starts)
Championships 3 (1969, 1971, 1973)
Wins 27
Podiums 43
Career points 359 (360)
Pole positions 17
Fastest laps 15
First entry 1965 South African Grand Prix
First win 1965 Italian Grand Prix
Last win 1973 German Grand Prix
Last entry 1973 United States Grand Prix(did not start)

In the United States, he worked as a color commentator on television broadcasts at the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500 and the Monaco Grand Prixfrom 1971 to 1986. In 1976, Stewart was a play-by-play announcer for ABC Sports for the 1976 Winter and 1976 Summer Olympics, and he served as host of the Indianapolis 500 coverage for ABC's Wide World of Sports and ABC Sports, from 1982 to 1984. He has also been a spokesman for Ford, Rolex and Moët.

Between 1997 and 1999, in partnership with his son, Paul, he was team principal of the Stewart Grand Prix Formula One racing team.

Early life

Stewart was born in Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, a village 15 miles west of Glasgow. Stewart's family were Austin, later Jaguar, car dealers and had built up a successful business. His father had been an amateur motorcycle racer, and his brother Jimmy was a racing driver with a growing local reputation who drove for Ecurie Ecosse and competed in the 1953 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Jackie attended Hartfield primary school in the nearby town of Dumbarton, and moved to Dumbarton Academy at the age of 12. He experienced learning difficulties owing to undiagnosed dyslexia, and due to the condition not being understood or even widely known about at the time, he was regularly berated and humiliated by teachers and peers alike for being "dumb" and "thick". Stewart was unable to continue his secondary education past the age of 16, and began working in his father's garage as an apprentice mechanic. He was not actually diagnosed with dyslexia until 1980, when his oldest son Mark was diagnosed with the condition. On learning that dyslexia can be genetically passed on, and seeing very similar symptoms with his son that he had experienced himself as a child, Stewart asked if he could be tested, and was diagnosed with the disorder, by which time he was 41 years old. He has said: "When you've got dyslexia and you find something you're good at, you put more into it than anyone else; you can't think the way of the clever folk, so you're always thinking out of the box."

At the age of 13 he had won a clay pigeon shooting competition and then went on to become a prize-winning member of the Scottish shooting team, competing in the United Kingdom and abroad. He won the British, Irish, Welsh and Scottish skeet shooting championships and twice won the "Coupe de Nations" European championship. He competed for a place in the British trap shootingteam for the 1960 Summer Olympics, but finished third behind Joseph Wheater and Brett Huthart.

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. For 1961, Filer provided a Marcos, in which Stewart scored four wins, and competed once in Filer's Aston DB4GT. In 1962, to decide if he was ready to become a professional driver, tested a Jaguar E-type at Oulton Park, matching Roy Salvadori's times in a similar car the year before. He won two races, his first in England, in the E-type, and David Murray of Ecurie Ecosse offered him a ride in the Tojeiro EE Mk2, then their Cooper T49, in which he won at Goodwood. For 1963, he earned fourteen wins, a second, and two thirds, with six retirements.

In 1964, he again signed with Ecurie Ecosse. Ken Tyrrell, then running the Formula Junior team for the Cooper Car Company, heard of the young Scotsman from Goodwood's track manager and called up Jimmy Stewart to see if his younger brother was interested in a tryout. Jackie came down for the test at Goodwood, taking over a new, and very competitive, Formula Three T72-BMC which Bruce McLaren was testing. Soon Stewart was bettering McLaren's times, causing McLaren to return to the track for some quicker laps. Again, Stewart was quicker, and Tyrrell offered Stewart a spot on the team.

Racing career

In 1964 he drove in Formula Three for Tyrrell. His debut, in the wet at Snetterton on 15 March, was dominant; he took a 25-second lead in just two laps before coasting home to a win by 44 seconds. Within days, he was offered a Formula One ride with Cooper, but declined, preferring to gain experience under Tyrrell; he failed to win just two races (one to clutch failure, one to a spin) in becoming F3 champion.

After running John Coombs' E-type and practising in a Ferrari at Le Mans, he took a trial in an F1 Lotus 33-Climax, in which he impressed Colin Chapmanand Jim Clark. Stewart again refused a ride in F1, but went instead to the Lotus Formula Two team. In his F2 debut, he was second at the difficult Circuit Clermont-Ferrand in a Lotus 32-Cosworth.

While he signed with BRM alongside Graham Hill in 1965, a contract which netted him £4,000, his first race in an F1 car was for Lotus, as stand-in for an injured Clark, at the Rand Grand Prix in December 1964; the Lotus broke in the first heat, but he won the second. On his F1 debut in South Africa, he scored his first Championship point, finishing sixth. His first major competition victory came in the BRDC International Trophy in the late spring, and before the end of the year he won his first World Championship race at Monza, fighting wheel-to-wheel with teammate Hill's P261. Stewart finished his rookie season with three seconds, a third, a fifth, and a sixth, and third place in the World Drivers' Championship. He also piloted Tyrrell's unsuccessful F2 Cooper T75-BRM, and ran the Rover Company's revolutionary turbine car at Le Mans.

1966 saw him almost win the Indianapolis 500 on his first attempt, in John Mecom's Lola T90-Ford, 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, sidelined only by mechanical failure, won him Rookie of the Year honours despite the winner, Graham Hill, also being an Indianapolis rookie. At the start of the 1966 season, Stewart won the Australasian 8 round championship from his BRM teammate Graham Hill in 2 litre BRMs and also raced closely with his great rival and friend Jim Clark who was somewhat disadvantaged by an unreliable Lotus 39 which was let down by old Climax 2.5s.

Also, in 1966, a crash triggered his fight for improved safety in racing. On lap one of the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, when sudden rain caused many crashes, he found himself trapped in his overturned BRM, getting soaked by leaking fuel. The marshals had no tools to help him, and it took his teammate Hill and Bob Bondurant, who had also crashed nearby, to get him out after borrowing a spanner from a spectator's car. Since then, a main switch to disconnect electrics and a removable steering wheel have become standard. Also, noticing the long and slow transport to a hospital, he brought his own doctor to future races, while BRM supplied a medical truck for the benefit of all. Stewart also began keeping a spanner taped to his steering wheel. It was a poor year all around; the BRMs were unreliable, although Stewart did win the Monaco Grand Prix. Stewart had some success in other forms of racing during the year, winning the 1966 Tasman Series and the 1966 Rothmans 12 Hour International Sports Car Race.

BRM's fortunes did not improve in 1967, despite closely contesting the Tasman championship with Jim Clark who in a Lotus 33 probably raced closer and harder with Jackie than at any time in their careers. While Clark usually won, Stewart won a classic victory in the NZGP with Clark attempting to run him down in the last laps with bodywork flying off the 33. Stewart came no higher than second at Spa, though he won F2 events for Tyrrell at Karlskoga, Enna, Oulton Park, and Albi in a Matra MS5 or MS7. He also placed 2nd driving a works-entered Ferrari driving with Chris Amon at the BOAC 6 Hours at Brands Hatch, the 10th round of World Sportscar Championship at the time.

Stewart also did the 1967 National 500 NASCAR race but did not qualify for the race.

In Formula One, he switched to Tyrrell's Matra International team, where he drove a Matra MS10-Cosworth for the 1968 and 1969 seasons. Skill (and improving tyres from Dunlop) brought a win in heavy rain at Zandvoort. Another win in rain and fog at the Nürburgring, where he won by a margin of four minutes. He also won at Watkins Glen, but missed Jarama and Monaco due to an F2 injury at Jarama. His car failed at Mexico City, and so he lost the drivers' title to Hill.

In 1969, Stewart had a number of races where he completely dominated the opposition, such as winning by over 2 laps at Montjuïc, a minute at Clemont-Ferrand and more than a lap at Silverstone. With additional wins at Kyalami, Zandvoort, and Monza, Stewart became world champion in 1969 in a Matra MS80-Cosworth. 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 built in the UK, Stewart remains the only driver to win the world championship in a French-built car.

For 1970, Matra insisted on using their own V12 engines, while Tyrrell and Stewart wanted to keep the Cosworths as well as the good connection to Ford. As a consequence, the Tyrrell team bought a chassis from March Engineering; Stewart took the March 701-Cosworth to wins at the Daily Mail Race of Champions and Jarama, but was soon overcome by Lotus' new 72. The new Tyrrell 001-Cosworth, appearing in August, suffered problems, but Stewart saw better days for it in 1971, and stayed on. Tyrrell continued to be sponsored by French fuel company Elf, and Stewart raced in a car painted French Racing Blue for many years. Stewart also continued to race sporadically in Formula Two, winning at Crystal Palace and placing at Thruxton. A projected Le Mans appearance, to co-drive the 4.5 litre Porsche 917K with Steve McQueen, did not come off, for McQueen's inability to get insurance. He also raced Can-Am, in the revolutionary Chaparral 2J. Stewart achieved pole position in 2 events, ahead of the dominant McLarens, but the chronic unreliability of the 2J prevented Stewart from finishing any races.

Stewart went on to win the Formula One world championship in 1971 using the Tyrrell 003-Cosworth, winning Spain, Monaco, France, Britain, Germany, and Canada. He also did a full season in Can-Am, driving a Carl Haas sponsored Lola T260-Chevrolet. and again in 1973. During the 1971 Can-Am series, Stewart was the only driver able to challenge the McLarens driven by Dennis Hulme and Peter Revson. Stewart won 2 races; at Mont Tremblant and Mid Ohio. Stewart finished 3rd in the 1971 Can-Am Drivers Championship. The stress of racing year round, and on several continents eventually caused medical problems for Stewart. During the 1972 Grand Prix season he missed the Belgian Grand Prix at Nivelles due to gastritis, and had to cancel plans to drive a Can-Am McLaren, but won the Argentine, French, U.S., and Canadian Grands Prix, to come second to Emerson Fittipaldi in the drivers' standings. Stewart also competed in a Ford Capri RS2600 in the European Touring Car Championship, with F1 teammate François Cevert and other F1 pilots, at a time where the competition between Ford and BMW was at a height. Stewart shared a Capri with F1 Tyrrell teammate François Cevert in the 1972 6 hours of Paul Ricard, finishing second. He also received an OBE.

Entering the 1973 season, Stewart had decided to retire. He nevertheless won at South Africa, Belgium, Monaco, the Netherlands, and Austria. His last (and then record-setting) 27th victory came at the Nürburgring with a 1–2 for Tyrrell. "Nothing gave me more satisfaction than to win at the Nürburgring and yet, I was always afraid." Stewart later said. "When I left home for the German Grand Prix I always used to pause at the end of the driveway and take a long look back. I was never sure I'd come home again." 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 Grand Prix. Nevertheless, Stewart still won the drivers' championship for the year.

Stewart held the record for most wins by a Formula One driver (27) for 14 years until Alain Prost won the 1987 Portuguese Grand Prix, and the record for most wins by a British Formula One driver for 19 years until Nigel Mansell won the 1992 British Grand Prix.

Racing safety advocate

During one particularly dangerous period of Stewart's F1 career, a driver who raced for five years had a two-thirds chance of being killed in a crash.

At Spa-Francorchamps in 1966, Stewart ran off the track while driving at 165 mph (266 km/h) in heavy rain, and crashed into a telephone pole and a shed before coming to rest in a farmer's outbuilding. His steering column pinned his leg, while ruptured fuel tanks emptied their contents into the cockpit. There were no track crews to extricate him, nor were proper tools available. There were no doctors or medical facilities at the track, and Stewart was put in the bed of a pickup truck, remaining there until an ambulance arrived. He was first taken to the track's first aid centre, where he waited on a stretcher, which was placed on a floor strewn with cigarette ends and other rubbish. Finally, another ambulance crew picked him up, but the ambulance driver got lost driving to a hospital in Liège. Ultimately, a private jet flew Stewart back to the UK for treatment.

After his crash at Spa, Stewart became an outspoken advocate for auto racing safety. Later, he explained, "If I have any legacy to leave the sport I hope it will be seen to be an area of safety because when I arrived in Grand Prix racing so-called precautions and safety measures were diabolical."

Stewart continued, commenting on his crash at Spa:

I lay trapped in the car for twenty-five minutes, unable to be moved. Graham and Bob Bondurant got me out using the spanners from a spectator's toolkit. There were no doctors and there was nowhere to put me. They in fact put me in the back of a van. Eventually an ambulance took me to a first aid spot near the control tower and I was left on a stretcher, on the floor, surrounded by cigarette ends. I was put into an ambulance with a police escort and the police escort lost the ambulance, and the ambulance didn't know how to get to Liège. At the time they thought I had a spinal injury. As it turned out, I wasn't seriously injured, but they didn't know that.

I realised that if this was the best we had there was something sadly wrong: things wrong with the race track, the cars, the medical side, the fire-fighting, and the emergency crews. There were also grass banks that were launch pads, things you went straight into, trees that were unprotected and so on. Young people today just wouldn't understand it. It was ridiculous.

In response, Stewart campaigned with Louis Stanley (BRM team boss) for improved emergency services and better safety barriers around race tracks. "We were racing at circuits where there were no crash barriers in front of the pits, and fuel was lying about in churns in the pit lane. A car could easily crash into the pits at any time. It was ridiculous." As a stop-gap measure, Stewart hired a private doctor to be at all his races, and taped a spanner to the steering shaft of his BRM in case it would be needed again. Stewart pressed for mandatory seat belt usage and full-face helmets for drivers, which have become unthinkable omissions for modern races. Likewise, he pressed track owners to modernize their tracks, including organizing driver boycotts of races at Spa-Francorchamps in 1969, the Nürburgring in 1970, and Zandvoort in 1972 until barriers, run-off areas, fire crews, and medical facilities were improved.

Some drivers and press members believed the safety improvements for which Stewart advocated detracted from the sport, while track owners and race organizers balked at the extra costs. "I would have been a much more popular World Champion if I had always said what people wanted to hear. I might have been dead, but definitely more popular.", Stewart later said.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 WDC Points
1965 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P261 BRM V8 RSA
6
MON
3
BEL
2
FRA
2
GBR
5
NED
2
GER
Ret
ITA
1
USA
Ret
MEX
Ret
          3rd 33 (34)
1966 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P261 BRM V8 MON
1
BEL
Ret
FRA GBR
Ret
NED
4
GER
5
                  7th 14
BRM P83 BRM H16             ITA
Ret
USA
Ret
MEX
Ret
           
1967 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P83 BRM H16 RSA
Ret
  NED
Ret
BEL
2
  GBR
Ret
                  9th 10
BRM P261 BRM V8   MON
Ret
    FRA
3
                   
BRM P115 BRM H16             GER
Ret
CAN
Ret
ITA
Ret
USA
Ret
MEX
Ret
       
1968 Matra International Matra MS9 Ford Cosworth DFV RSA
Ret
ESP MON                         2nd 36
Matra MS10       BEL
4
NED
1
FRA
3
GBR
6
GER
1
ITA
Ret
CAN
6
USA
1
MEX
7
     
1969 Matra International Matra MS10 Ford Cosworth DFV RSA
1
                            1st 63
Matra MS80   ESP
1
MON
Ret
NED
1
FRA
1
GBR
1
GER
2
ITA
1
CAN
Ret
USA
Ret
MEX
4
       
1970 Tyrrell Racing Organisation March 701 Ford Cosworth DFV RSA
3
ESP
1
MON
Ret
BEL
Ret
NED
2
FRA
9
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
AUT
Ret
ITA
2
          5th 25
Tyrrell 001                     CAN
Ret
USA
Ret
MEX
Ret
   
1971 Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 001 Ford Cosworth DFV RSA
2
                            1st 62
Tyrrell 003   ESP
1
MON
1
NED
11
FRA
1
GBR
1
GER
1
AUT
Ret
ITA
Ret
CAN
1
USA
5
       
1972 Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 003 Ford Cosworth DFV ARG
1
RSA
Ret
ESP
Ret
    FRA
1
GBR
2
GER
11
              2nd 45
Tyrrell 004       MON
4
BEL                    
Tyrrell 005                 AUT
7
ITA
Ret
CAN
1
USA
1
     
1973 Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 005 Ford Cosworth DFV ARG
3
BRA
2
                          1st 71
Tyrrell 006     RSA
1
ESP
Ret
BEL
1
MON
1
SWE
5
FRA
4
GBR
10
NED
1
GER
1
AUT
2
ITA
4
CAN
5
USA
DNS

Non-Championship Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1964 Team Lotus Lotus 33 Climax V8 DMT NWT SYR AIN INT SOL MED RAN
17
1965 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P261 BRM V8 ROC
2
SYR SMT
10
INT
1
MED RAN    
1966 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P261 BRM V8 RSA SYR INT OUL
Ret
       
1967 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P83 BRM V8 ROC SPC
Ret
INT
Ret
SYR        
Matra International Matra MS7 Ford Cosworth DFV         OUL
2
ESP
DNS
   
1968 Matra International Matra MS10 Ford Cosworth DFV ROC
6
INT OUL
1
         
1969 Matra International Matra MS80 Ford Cosworth DFV ROC
1
    OUL
9
       
Matra MS10   INT
3
MAD          
1970 Tyrrell Racing Organisation March 701 Ford Cosworth DFV ROC
1
INT
2
           
Tyrrell 001     OUL
Ret
         
1971 Tyrrell Racing Organisation Tyrrell 001 Ford Cosworth DFV ARG ROC
2
QUE
2
         
Tyrrell 002       SPR
3
       
Tyrrell 003         INT
Ret
RIN OUL VIC
3
1972 Tyrrell Racing Organisation Tyrrell 003 Ford Cosworth DFV ROC BRA INT
DNA
OUL REP VIC    
1973 Tyrrell Racing Organisation Tyrrell 006 Ford Cosworth DFV ROC INT
1
           

Complete Tasman Series results

Year Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank Points
1966 BRM P261 PUK
2
LEV
Ret
WIG
1
TER
1
WAR
4
LAK
Ret
SAN
1
LON
1
1st 45
1967 BRM P261 PUK
1
WIG
Ret
LAK
Ret
WAR
1
SAN
Ret
LON
Ret
    2nd 18

Non-Championship Tasman Series results

Year Car 1 2
1967 BRM P261 LEV
2
TER

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1965 United Kingdom Owen Racing Organisation United Kingdom Graham Hill Rover-BRM P 2.0 284 10th 2nd

Consultant

CommentatorSubsequently, he became a consultant for Ford Motor Company while continuing to be a spokesman for safer cars and circuits in Formula One.

ABC's Wide World of Sports and NBC Sportsworld

During the period 1971 to 1986, Stewart covered F1 races, NASCAR races and Indianapolis 500 as a color commentator, and also functioned as host for the latter. Jackie was a play-by-play announcer for the Luge at the 1976 Winter Olympics and the Equestrian at the 1976 Summer Olympics (partnered with Chris Schenkel) on ABC's Wide World of Sports. He was noted for his insightful analysis, Scottish accent, and rapid delivery, which once caused Jim McKay to remark that Stewart spoke almost as fast as he drove.

Later, Stewart covered CART IndyCar races starting at Long Beach in 1987 on NBC SportsWorld, along with Paul Page. He returned in 1988, along with Charlie Jones. Stewart only covered road course and street races in his brief time at NBC. He did not return in 1989 and was replaced by Johnny Rutherford and Tom Sneva.

Australian and Canadian TV coverage

Stewart also worked on Australian and Canadian TV coverage, from the late 1987 to the mid 1990s.

Team owner

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 Barrichellofinished second. The following year, 1998, was less competitive, with no podiums and few points.

However, after Ford acquired Cosworth in July 1998, the team risked designing and building a new engine for 1999. The SF3 was consistently competitive throughout the season. The team won one race at the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring with Johnny Herbert, 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 (which became Red Bull Racing in 2005).

Stewart is also the head sports consultant/ patron for the Royal Bank of Scotland. In March 2009, he waived his fee for the year in response to the bank losing £24bn in 2008.

Honours

Stewart received Sports Illustrated magazine's 1973 "Sportsman of the Year" award, the only auto racer to win the title. In the same year he also won BBC Television's "Sports Personality Of The Year" award, and was named as ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year in which he was shared with American pro football player O.J. Simpson. 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 1998 Stewart received an honorary doctorate from Cranfield University where he later served as chairman of the steering committee for the MSc Motorsport Engineering and Management.

He was a subject of the television programme This Is Your Life in January 1970 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at Thames Television's Euston Road Studios.

In the 1971 Birthday Honours Stewart was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). In 2001 he received a knighthood, in both cases the honour was for services to motor racing.

In 2002 he became a founding patron of the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame, and an inaugural inductee.

In 2003 The World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities presented Stewart the Sport Shooting Ambassador Award. The Award goes to an outstanding individual whose efforts have promoted the shooting sports internationally.

On 27 November 2008, Stewart was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) degree from the University of St Andrews.

On 26 June 2009, Stewart was awarded the Freedom of West Dunbartonshire at a special ceremony in his hometown of Dumbarton.

In 2010, Stewart was named as a founding member of Motor Sport magazine's Hall of Fame.

On 28 January 2012, Stewart gave the starting command for the 50th Anniversary of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. He assumed the role after previously announced Grand Marshal A.J. Foyt was forced to cancel his visit due to complications from his recent knee surgery.

published by Gauk