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Jackie Stewart: 43 years retired

Published on 23 Sep 2016 20:30
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By: Fergal Walsh

On this day 43 years ago, Sir Jackie Stewart took to a Formula One racing track for the last time. The Scotsman enjoyed a glittering career in Formula One, winning three world drivers' titles.

Stewart made his début in 1965 driving for BRM and finished third in the driver standings. He won his maiden race at the Italian Grand Prix that year, beating team mate Graham Hill.

Stewart's 1966 season was a disaster in a BRM that was massively unreliable. At the Belgian Grand Prix of that year, his car was tipped over on lap one and he was soaked in fuel that leaked from his car. Marshals had no equipment to help him so two other drivers including team-mate Hill helped him emerge from the car.

The incident was a defining moment in Stewart's career, as he is credited for spearheading driver safety improvements in the years following the incident.

His 1967 season was even worse and he only finished two races (2nd in Belgium and 3rd in France) in the entire season.

He then confirmed that he would be transferring to Ken Tyrell's Matra International team for the 1968 season and immediately enjoyed more success. He took three wins and scored points regularly but lost the championship in the final round to Hill.

Stewart won his first ever world drivers championship in 1969 after winning six races and scoring 63 points. It was a relatively smooth season and he won the championship by 26 points.

The team had a major overhaul for 1970 and became Tyrell after they purchased their chassis from March Engineering. The car suffered problems and Stewart finished the season in fifth despite winning a race and taking four podiums.

Stewart's good fortune would return for the 1971 season in which he would claim his second world title. The car was reportedly much nicer to drive and was far more reliable. In 1972 he took four wins but was no match for the Lotus 72 of Emerson Fittipaldi who won the title by 16 points.

Entering the 1973 season, Stewart announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season. He managed to go out on a high by winning his third world championship, winning five races and taking eight podiums. At the final race of the season he decided not to take part as his good friend and team mate Francois Cervert was killed in a crash during practice.

Along with his speed and driving brilliance, Stewart is also remembered for being an important figure for improving driver safety.

"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," he said.

Stewart insisted on full face safety helmets, secure seat belts, and heavily upgraded barriers. He wanted track owners to improve and modernize their tracks by placing barriers around tracks to prevent incidents like the fatal crash of Jim Clark in a Formula Two race at Hockenheim in 1968.

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