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Stirling Moss, a bold and speed-loving Englishman considered the best Formula One driver to ever win the world championship, is dead. He was 90 years old.
A national treasure, affectionately known as “Mr. Motor Racing”, was brave and fiercely competitive. Moss’s bald taste for adventure saw him push the cars to the limit.
“If you’re not trying to win at all costs,” he said, “what are you doing there?”
His often reckless attitude took its toll on his slim body. His career ended early, at age 31, after a horrible accident that left him in a coma for a month in April 1962.
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By then, Moss had won 16 of the 66 F1 races in which he participated and established a reputation as a technically excellent and versatile driver in many racing categories.
Charles Coates / Getty Images
Sir Stirling Moss sitting in his Mercedes in 2015.
Arguably his greatest achievement was victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia, a 1600km race through Italy, for almost half an hour over Juan Manuel Fangio, the great Argentinean who was the idol, teammate and rival of Moss.
However, it did not follow an F1 title, a parody for many in motorsports. Moss finished second in the drivers’ championship four times (1955-58) and third on three occasions.
In 1958, Moss lost to Ferrari ‘s Mike Hawthorn by one point despite winning four races against his rival. In 1959, Moss’ car failed during the final race in Florida, leading and again with a shot at winning the title.
“I hope I continue to be described as the best driver to ever win the world championship, but it really doesn’t matter,” Moss once said. “The most important thing for me was to earn the respect of the other drivers and I think I did it.”
AP
In this July 6, 1961 file photo, Stirling Moss, behind the wheel of the revolutionary new Ferguson race car, drifts away from mechanics as he takes out the green racer for some practice laps in Silverstone, England.
When his resolve to drive exclusively for English teams declined, Moss raced towards Maserati, Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz, joining Fangio in a star lineup. In all, Moss competed in 107 different types of cars and had a record of 212 wins in the 375 competitive races he finished.
Moss was born in 1929 into a racing family. Her father Alfred competed in the Indianapolis 500; her mother, Aileen, was the English women’s champion in 1936. Young Moss learned her trade during a racing boom in England after World War II.
His knowledge of racing cars was second to none and he took his profession to the extreme, experimenting and risking his own safety in the process.
Clive Mason / Getty Images
Racing driver Sir Stirling Moss died at age 90.
He broke both legs and damaged his spine in an accident in 1960. Worse still was the accident in Goodwood, England, two years later, when he collided with a dirt bench at 160 km / h without a seat belt while competing in the Glover Formula One Trophy.
It took 45 minutes to remove it from the remains. He suffered brain injuries and the left side of his body was partially paralyzed for six months. With his eyesight and reflexes also permanently damaged, Moss stopped competing.
“I knew if I didn’t get out, it would kill me and maybe someone else,” Moss said.
Later, Moss became a successful businessman, selling property and designing appliances outside his state-of-the-art central London home and working as a consultant for car manufacturers. He received the knighthood in 1999.
In 2010, he broke both ankles and hurt his back in a three-story fall from an elevator shaft at his home.
“His body still has the same resistance to injury that he had in his career days,” said a statement on his website.
