16 Jul Stirling Moss

Sir Stirling Moss was a British F1 driver who raced in the Formula 1 World Championship between 1951 and 1961. He won 16 Grands Prix and 16 claimed pole positions during his distinguished career and finished runner up in the Drivers World Championship in 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1958. He was a three time winner of the Monaco Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix and a double winner of both the British Grand Prix (at Aintree) and the Portuguese Grand Prix. He is often referred to as the greatest F1 driver who never won the World Championship. His career was cut short by a crash in a race at Goodwood in April 1962 which left him in a coma. He died at his home in Mayfair, London in April 2020 after a long illness.

During an interview on Beyond The Grid – The F1® Podcast that was released on 20 May 2020, a month after his death, Sir Stirling reminisced about his extraordinarily magnanimous decision to support his title rival Mike Hawthorn at the 1958 Portuguese Grand Prix when the Englishman faced exclusion from the event for rejoining the track in a dangerous manner. This astonishing act of sportsmanship almost certainly cost Sir Stirling the 1958 drivers’ title which instead went to Hawthorn by a single point but when quizzed about his choice by interviewer Mia Forbes Pirie, Sir Stirling expressed no regrets.