Sir Jackie Stewart

Realized this man doesn't have his own thread yet, so thought i'd give him one!

Jackie Stewart started his F1 career at Owen Racing Organistion (BRM to you and I) in 1965 and raced alongside Graham Hill thats year. On his debut he scored his first World Championship point in South Africa coming in 6th. The very same year he went on to win his first F1 Grand Prix Race in Monza going head to head with Graham Hill for the win. Stewart ended his rookie season in F1 finishing in 3rd place of the Championship.

In 1966, Stewarts BRM team went through a tough season ending up with 2 designed cars to fight for the championship. Stewart did win one race this season at the opening round in Monaco. Jackie went on to finish the season 7th in the championship and claim 14 points. This year also almost see Jackie win the Indianapolis 500.

In 1967 season Stewart spent his final year with the BRM team after they slipped further down the F1 pecking order. Stewart could only finish 9th in the championship on 10 points this season.

In 1968, Stewart switched to the Matra International F1 team. In his debut season for the team he won 3 races in Germany, Holland and the USA. That season he went on to become runner up finishing on 36 point and finishing behind the new Champion Graham Hill.

In 1969, Stewart went on to claim his maiden F1 title with the Matra team. He won races in Kyalami, Montjuic, Zandvoort, Sliverstone, and Monza. Stewart went on to finish up with 63 points.

In 1970, Jackie moved over to Tyrrell. That year he went on to finish 5th in the Championship finishing on 25 points, but the World Champions season wasn't all that disappointing he did go on to win a race in Spain.

In 1971, Stewart regained the title he'd lost in 1970. He continued to driver for the Tyrrell team winning races in Spain, Monaco, France, Great Britian, Germany and Canada. Stewart finished on a total of 62 points.

In 1972, Stewart lost his title to Emerson Fittipladi, finishing second in the Championship on 45 points. Stewart won races in Argentina, France, Canada and the USA that year too.

In 1973, Stewart ended his F1 career after becoming a 3 times world champion. Stewart finished the year on 71 points, winning races in South Africa, Belguim, Monaco, Holland and Germany. But after seeing his teammate Francios Cevert killed in a crash at the US Grand Prix Jackie decided enough was enough and quit F1.

After leaving F1 Jackie went on to become a Consultant for Ford Motor company while bringing safety on in F1. Stewart also went on to do commentary work in America commetating on Nascar and the Indianoplis 500.

In 1997, Stewart and his son Paul went on to form their F1 team called Stewart F1 signing drivers like Rubens Barrichello. The team won one race with Johnny Herbert winning the European GP in 1999 at the Nurgburgring. In 2000 Stewart sold his team to Jaguar, which became Red Bull in 2005.

For me Stewart is probably the best ever driver to come out of Great Britain and will always be the quick speaking Scot. But his willingness to keep safety in F1 going is an amazement at his age.

How do you think Stewart stacks up against other F1 champions?

I also apologise for the long thread but thought i'd do some proper research on Stewart.

 

[siffert_fan]

Stewart was one of the all-time greats, although not the equal of Clark (nor has anyone else been IMO). His virtuosity in the rain at Holland and Germany in1968 had to be seen to be believed, although he did have a huge advantage in tyres.
He also scored first wins for three marques--March, Matra and Tyrrell, although all three times, they were Tyrrell teams. But for anyone to manage a win in the brick that was the March 701 speaks volumes.

Another time where his greatness showed was his Can Am performance in the POS known as the Lola T260 (one of the UGLIEST racers of all time). It was fast in a straight line but horrible in the turns, yet Jackie challenged for the championship in it!

His continual pressing for safety improvements over the years has undoubtedly been responsible for saving many drivers lives.
The sport would have been much the poorer if Jackie hadn't graced it with his presence.

 

[FB]

He does have the most appalling dress sense of anyone in the pit lane though. He even makes EJ look smart.

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

He does have the most appalling dress sense of anyone in the pit lane though. He even makes EJ look smart.

.

 

[gethinceri]

T260 ugly? I can't agree.
Huge fan of JYS for many reasons, not least his resolve and determination to improve things for others. Read his autobiography, it adds a bit more detail to Hammy's excellent post.

 

[Slyboogy]

He does have the most appalling dress sense of anyone in the pit lane though. He even makes EJ look smart.

Oi! I love his hat...leave the hat out of this...

 

[Slyboogy]

In 1971, Stewart regained the title he'd lost in 1970. He continued to driver for the Tyrrell team winning races in Spain, Monaco, France, Great Britian, Germany and Canada. Stewart finished on a total of 62 points.

So 60 out of his 62 points where race wins?

I think he's very underrated and retired a little earlier than he should have.

 

[FB]

9 points for a win back then Sly. 6 wins, a 2nd and a 5th were where he scored his points.

 

[Slyboogy]

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

So 60 out of his 62 points where race wins?

I think he's very underrated and retired a little earlier than he should have.

Like FB points out, you got 9 points for race wins back then.

I do however agree that Jackie Stewart did retire from F1 a tad to early. But you can't really blame him for quitting when he did, he'd just seen his mate and teammate at the time killed and he really did think that if that could happen he'd be killed aswell if he carried on.

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Who agree's with me, Jackie deserves his own movie! He's a living legend .

 

[gethinceri]

How young you are!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068178/
One of the best motor racing movies.
I know it's not quite what you mean but if you haven't seen it give it a look.

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Thanks gethinceri and FYI i'm only 24 so i didn't know about that.

 

[gethinceri]

Very difficult to get hold of Hammy, and I've only seen it the once on the telly. If you can track down a copy on DVD I'll give you double what you pay for it!

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

gethinceri

Your on mate .

 

[Kewee]

gethinceri.....
HammydiRestarules.....

They've got the title wrong, it's actually called "Weekend of a Champion". Roman Polanski is about to re-release it digitally remastered. He and Sir Jackie have been back to Monaco to film some additional footage for the new release. An absolute must buy when It comes out. The most historical and best film of a Grand Prix weekend ever filmed.

 

[gethinceri]

Looking forward to buying it. It's not often that IMDb is wrong.

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Kewee

Thanks very much for that information, will certainly keep my eyes out to look for that.

 

[GermanF1]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jackie-Stew...QNSP/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1337727444&sr=8-4

There is also this documentary, which I think is amazing! Watch it guys!!

 

[Kewee]

Yours is a very good posting HammydiRestarules. It's very difficult to add more to it but I'll try, though you've covered so much of Sir Jackie's career. Your statistics are spot on but there's always ifs and buts with any drivers career. Normally they're best ignored but in Sir Jackie's case they're worth considering. He raced in 1972 with a bleeding ulcer, serious enough to keep him out of one GP on his doctors advice. It undoubtably compromised most of his season but he was still able to achieve runner-up in the championship. I don't mean to downgrade Fittipaldi's title, but without Stewarts health issues that year it is highly likely he would have retired as a four time champion with three titles being back to back. As great as Fangio was it's worth noting that one of his five titles was achieved when he was handed his teammates car after his own failed. That's where the ifs and buts come in. Had the regulations been the same in Fangio's years as they were in Stewarts, and had Sir Jackie not had health issues in 1972 they would very likely have both won four titles.

There are another couple of factors I always consider when Sir Jackie is mentioned. His career covered an era when Formula One was at its most dangerous. Cars were becoming faster, tracks were unchanged, often without armco, and cars had no survival cells, and although he led the drive to make the sport safer it didn't slow him down one bit. Very few drivers in the sports history have made fast and smooth look so effortless, he truly was wonderful to watch. The second point to consider is how level the playing field was during Sir Jackie's championship years. Aerodynamics played a much smaller role in the late 60's early 70's than they do now and although not all, the majority of the cars were Cosworth powered. The greatest advantage came from the drivers input, in car setup and on track. A driver and his team could set up a car to make it easier to drive but they rarely, if at all found a technological advantage of any significance.

There was a very good biographical book called "Faster" by Peter Manso. It told Jackie's story of the 1970 season, a year he lost so many friends including Jochen Rindt. Unfortunately I think it's out of print at present but if you ever see it in a second hand bookshop buy it quick, regardless of its condition. It's an amazing read, very tragic but it gives a huge insight into the emotional difficulties he faced that year. To those who feel he retired too soon, be thankful. He's alive and able to offer comments on the sport we all love.
Sir Jackie wasn't just great, he was one of the giants of the sport an should be remembered that way.