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me I still like to remember Stirling Moss considering the nature of his trade. “Speed is quiet,” he said, and that summed up his approach. His passion was the art of driving and absolutely made him one of the greats. He drove using his instincts and, although the facts may say that he never won a world championship, in terms of the legendary names in the sport, he is the best with Jim Clark and Juan Manuel Fangio, with Jackie Stewart and Lewis Hamilton.
Furthermore, Stirling will always be remembered as a true athlete. He had very strong views on what was right and what was wrong in terms of how you behave both on and off the track. In that way, it was a throwback to an era when the ideas of being generous in defeat, chivalrous and wanting to win fair and square were common.
I got to know him during my career, although I don’t remember the first time we met, when Stirling arrived at my christening. My father Graham Hill managed to persuade him to come and he was there with Bruce McLaren, Taffy von Tripps, Tony Brooks, and the whole gang.
We shared the same birthday, and after becoming an F1 driver, our paths often crossed. As part of the British Racing Drivers Club, he was very supportive of the work we were doing there. Saying someone is a living legend is an overused phrase, but it really was. He could give us racing stories in the good old days, when it was absolutely deadly.
During my career, I was very aware of his important comments, his opinions on my own performance. A name like Stirling even commenting on what you’re doing is almost always good, unless, of course, he didn’t think it had been very impressive. Being Stirling, he was not afraid to give his opinion. He was very direct, career informed, and very conscientious, but never unnecessarily negative, and always a charming guy, great company.
As time went by, I got to know him even better through the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the British Grand Prix, the BRDC and even Sports Personality of the Year. I was once given the job of looking after Stirling, walking him up and down the stairs at Sports Personality, and he was still as fighter as ever, even when he was a little shaky.
It illustrated his determination, his commitment to launch himself into life as he had to compete. He devoted himself 100% to being a racing driver, he was not a dilettante or part time. He was a serious and professional racing driver. Stirling was one of the first people in motorsport to be in high demand, and he ran his own affairs and his business. He was the first true megastar pilot in this country and created the model for everyone who came after him. Stirling sparked interest in others who became world champions. In fact, all racing drivers have a lot to thank Stirling for making driving a race.
After his accident at Goodwood in 1962, when he discovered that he could no longer drive instinctively, Stirling was honest in calling him one day. That personified his attitude towards racing. I would rather not have driven than lacking that feeling of being one with the car and being on the edge.
In this way he was very much like Ayrton Senna and many of the greats. A driver of the pants seat, in tune with his senses who managed to deal with fear, to put it aside intellectually. But he was also smart enough to realize that once that magic was gone, it shouldn’t be anymore.
During his time on the track, of course, he became a favorite with the British public, through his performances as a driver and as a winner. He gave Britain what they wanted, symbolized hope for the future with an elegant personality. He then went on to polish that image of a British sports gentleman, and even after retiring it was great to give people the racing driver they wanted. Stirling always delivered the legend.
There is great sadness at his death, but a quote from Stirling that I enjoy from a book written about him in 1963 still moves me today: “I got a lot out of motor racing, but I also put a lot in, I do it I feel like I gave it all but my life “.
Stirling was at heart a motorsport fan, a sports fan, and a driving lover.
• Damon Hill is a former British driver who competed in Formula One between 1992 and 1999, winning the Drivers’ Championship in 1996.
