Sir Stirling Moss was simply one of the legends in the racing world to ever walk the earth. A proud British, Sir Stirling is regarded as one of the greatest F-1 drivers to race even if he didn’t win a world championship. It’s F1's loss that Sir Stirling Moss never won a world championship in his life and it all happened due to the championships points system. Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss breathed his last yesterday, 12th April 2020 after a long illness.
Sir Stirling Moss was knighted in 2000, almost 40 years after he quit racing. If there is a heaven for the greatest racing drivers in history, Sir Moss will get a place alongside Aryton Senna, Jim Clark and Juan Manuel Fangio. Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, he was four times runner-up and three times placed-third. In a career spanning a decade, he drove for Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes. Moss became the first British driver to win British Grand Prix while also being part of the first English team to win the F1 Championship. Moss won Le Mans, Mille Miglia while being 16 time F1 winner.
Sir Moss was a legend with a touch of compassion, quite evident when he argued for rival Mike Hawthorn not to be disqualified in Portuga. This decision was key to making Mike Hawthorn the first English world champion. Apart from winning F1 races, he won the gruelling Mille Miglia, a 1,000-mile race around Italy defeating Juan Manuel Fangio.
His career came to an end when he crashed at the Goodwood circuit leaving him in a coma for a month and partially paralysed for around 6 months. The crash ended his dream of joining Ferrari in 1961 but it never killed his competitive spirit. He continued to race historic cars and take part in legendery events until the old ripe age of 81. He moved away from public life in January 2018 because of the health issues.
Moss is survived by his third wife, Susie, son Elliot, and daughter Allison from an earlier marriage.