Stirling Moss
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| Nation: |
 Great Britain
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| Automobile world championship | |||||||||
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| First start: | 1951 Swiss Grand Prix | ||||||||
| Last start: | 1961 USA Grand Prix | ||||||||
| Constructors | |||||||||
| 1951–1952 HWM • 1952 ERA • 1952–1953 Connaught • 1952 Cooper • 1954 Equipe Moss • 1954 Maserati • 1955 Mercedes-Benz • 1956–1957 Maserati • 1957–1958 Vanwall • 1959–1961 Rob Walker Racing Team | |||||||||
| statistics | |||||||||
| World Cup balance: | Vice World Champion ( 1955 , 1956 , 1957 , 1958 ) | ||||||||
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| World Cup points : | 186.5 | ||||||||
| Podiums : | 24 | ||||||||
| Leadership laps : | 1,181 over 6,369.0 km | ||||||||
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss , OBE (born September 17, 1929 in London , England ; † April 12, 2020 there ) was a British automobile racing driver . Between 1951 and 1961 he competed in the highest automotive motorsport class ( Formula 1 ) and, with four vice world championships and 16 Grand Prix victories, is considered the most successful driver among those who never became world champions.
Life
A family who loves motorsports
Stirling Moss was born into a family who loved motorsports. His father Alfred Moss , originally a dentist, competed in Brooklands , the center of motor sport in Britain before World War II , and in Indianapolis , where he finished 16th in the 500 mile race in 1924 . His mother Aileen Moss competed in trial races in the 1930s. And his younger sister Pat Moss (1934-2008, married to Saab - Rally -Legende Erik Carlsson ), denied in the 1950s and 1960s, successful sports car racing and rallies.
The beginnings - Formula 3 and sports cars
In 1948 he began his racing career in a Cooper - Formula 3 -vans, and in 1949 he celebrated his first international success in Formula 3 races at Zandvoort and on Lake Garda . In 1950 he started with a Jaguar XK and won his first sports car race with the RAC Tourist Trophy in Dundrod ( Northern Ireland ) .
1951 to 1953 - The varied years
In the years 1951 to 1953 Moss was seen in a variety of cars of various classes, Formula 1 as well as Formula 2 or sports cars. However, his patriotism made him content with only British models. At HWM he contested his first rounds at the Automobile World Championship ( his first appearance ended with an eighth place at the Swiss Grand Prix in 1951 ), and he also won some Formula 1 races in Great Britain that were not part of the World Championship . He won sports car races on Jaguar and Frazer-Nash , and competed in three races for the 1952 World Automobile Championship on Connaught , ERA and HWM . In the 1953 season he caused a sensation with Cooper , but it wasn't enough for points.
1954 - Intermezzo with Maserati
In the 1954 Formula 1 season , he jumped beyond his shadow and was signed by the Italian Maserati team. In addition to victories in smaller races in Great Britain ( Aintree , Oulton Park and Goodwood ), it was enough to take third place in the Belgian Grand Prix on the international stage . Better results were prevented by the unreliability of his vehicle, after all, his performances were so good that Mercedes - racing manager Alfred Neubauer noticed him and invited him to contract negotiations.
The Mercedes year 1955
Alfred Neubauer had prepared himself extremely carefully for the negotiations, researched Moss' entire racing career and offered a salary that was higher than Moss could have dreamed of. During test drives in Hockenheim in December 1954, Moss finally decided on the best vehicle of the era. With Juan Manuel Fangio , Moss had probably the best driver as a team-mate at Mercedes, and together they dominated the 1955 Automobile World Championship . Moss only won one race, the Great Britain Grand Prix . With two second places it was enough for second place in the world championship. However, his victories at the Mille Miglia , where he set the course record this year , and at the Targa Florio in the same year are legendary . A possible victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans was prevented by the withdrawal of the Mercedes team after the fatal accident of his teammate Pierre Levegh , in which more than 80 spectators died .
The eternal second - 1956 to 1958
At the end of 1955, Mercedes announced its withdrawal from motorsport, and Moss drove again for Maserati in the 1956 World Cup . Two wins ( Monaco , Italy ) brought him again second place in the world championship - behind Fangio. For the next two years Moss drove for Vanwall ; a title on a British team had been his dream. Three victories in 1957 ( Great Britain , Pescara and Italy ) again ensured second place behind Fangio. In 1958 he won four races, his rival Mike Hawthorn in a Ferrari only one. Hawthorn had five second places and became world champion by one point. However, Moss always remained a gentleman: When Hawthorn was to be disqualified after the Portuguese Grand Prix , Moss stood up for him. He later said: “If I hadn't stood up for him like that, I'd be champion now. But I would do it again anytime, because it was fair. ”Actions like this helped make Moss the favorite kid of the English press, while the cool Hawthorn never matched his popularity despite a World Cup title.
Cooper and Lotus - 1959 to 1961
In the 1959 season, Moss drove again for Cooper , which had just revolutionized Formula 1 with the mid-engine concept . He couldn't quite keep up with his team-mate Jack Brabham , two wins ( Portugal , Italy ) were enough for third place in the world championship. In the 1960 and 1961 seasons he mainly drove for Rob Walker's Lotus private team . Both years he finished with third place in the world championship. The Lotus was still inferior to the Coopers and Ferraris , Moss' class was evident in the "driver's tracks", where it was less about a powerful engine than about driving qualities. Monaco in 1960 and 1961 and the Nürburgring in 1961 were among the great successes of the Briton. In addition, he also tried new vehicles: with the all-wheel drive Ferguson , he won a race in Oulton Park that was not part of the World Championship . Moss was named Sportsman of the Year in Great Britain in 1961.
The end of your career - the accident at Goodwood
On April 23, 1962, Stirling Moss' career ended in an accident in Goodwood. In the Glover Trophy , a national Formula 1 race, he was fourth and struggled with transmission problems . For Moss there was no reason to back off, he always drove to the limit and even reached the fastest race lap before he went off the track and crashed into an earth wall. The cause of the accident could never be clarified; Moss couldn't remember the accident. He suffered broken bones and brain trauma , was in a coma and was initially paralyzed on one side. It took Stirling Moss over a year to recover. In May 1963 he returned to Goodwood for testing purposes. Although he achieved competitive lap times, he announced his retirement. According to his own statement, Moss no longer had the ease, the ease of driving.
After the racing career
Stirling Moss became a successful businessman. He was often seen at historic races and other motorsport events. In 1999 he was raised to the nobility by Queen Elizabeth II as a Knight Bachelor and received the addition of Sir . Moss had previously been appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) .
In retrospect, Stirling Moss can probably be counted among the best racing drivers of the 20th century who could handle a wide variety of vehicle types. He won Formula 1 races with vehicles from five different manufacturers ( Mercedes-Benz , Maserati , Vanwall , Cooper , Lotus , plus a race on Ferguson that was not part of the World Cup ) as well as numerous sports car races. Among other things, he won in the Maserati "Birdcage" with Dan Gurney as a partner in the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring in 1960.
After Jack Brabham's death on May 19, 2014, Stirling Moss was the oldest living Grand Prix winner. He died in April 2020 at the age of 90 in the presence of his wife, Lady Susie Moss, at his home in London.
statistics
Statistics in the automobile world championship
Grand Prix victories
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general overview
Single results
| season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 |
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| 1951 |
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| 1952 |
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| DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | |||||||
| 1953 |
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| 9 | DNF | DNA | 6th | 13 | |||||||
| 1954 |
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| 3 | DNF | DNF | DNF | 10 | DNF | ||||||
| 1955 |
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| 4th | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | DNF | ||||||
| 1956 |
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| DNF | 1 | 3 | 5 | DNF | 2 | 1 | |||||
| 1957 |
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| 8th | DNF | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 1958 |
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| 1 | DNF | 1 | DNF | 2 | DNF | DNF | 1 | DNF | 1 | ||
| 1959 |
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| DNF | DNF | DSQ | 2 | DNF | 1 | 1 | DNF | ||||
| 1960 |
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| 3 | 1 | 4th | DNS | DSQ | 1 | ||||||
| 1961 |
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| 1 | 4th | 8th | DNF | DNF | 1 | DNF | DNF |
| Legend | ||
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| colour | abbreviation | meaning |
| gold | - | victory |
| silver | - | 2nd place |
| bronze | - | 3rd place |
| green | - | Placement in the points |
| blue | - | Classified outside the point ranks |
| violet | DNF | Race not finished (did not finish) |
| NC | not classified | |
| red | DNQ | did not qualify |
| DNPQ | failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify) | |
| black | DSQ | disqualified |
| White | DNS | not at the start (did not start) |
| WD | withdrawn | |
| Light Blue | PO | only participated in the training (practiced only) |
| TD | Friday test driver | |
| without | DNP | did not participate in the training (did not practice) |
| INJ | injured or sick | |
| EX | excluded | |
| DNA | did not arrive | |
| C. | Race canceled | |
| no participation in the World Cup | ||
| other | P / bold | Pole position |
| SR / italic | Fastest race lap | |
| * | not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered |
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| () | Streak results | |
| underlined | Leader in the overall standings | |
Le Mans results
| year | team | vehicle | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
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| 1951 |
Stirling Moss
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Jaguar XK-120C |
Jack Fairman
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failure | no oil pressure |
| 1952 |
Jaguar Ltd.
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Jaguar C-Type |
Peter Walker
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failure | Engine failure |
| 1953 |
Jaguar Cars Ltd.
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Jaguar C-Type |
Peter Walker
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Rank 2 | |
| 1954 |
Jaguar Cars Ltd.
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Jaguar D-Type |
Peter Walker
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failure | Brake defect |
| 1955 |
Daimler-Benz AG
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Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR |
Juan Manuel Fangio
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withdrawn | |
| 1956 |
Aston Martin Ltd.
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Aston Martin DB3S |
Peter Collins
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Rank 2 and class win | |
| 1957 |
Officine Alfieri Maserati
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Maserati 450S Zagato Coupe |
 Harry Schell
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failure | Power transmission |
| 1958 |
David Brown Racing Development
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Aston Martin DBR1 / 300 |
 Jack Brabham
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failure | connecting rod |
| 1959 |
David Brown Racing Dept.
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Aston Martin DBR1 / 300 |
Jack Fairman
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failure | Engine failure |
| 1961 |
North American Racing Team
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Ferrari 250 GT SWB |
Graham Hill
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failure | Leak in the water cooler |
Sebring results
| year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
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| 1954 |
Briggs Cunningham
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OSCA MT4 1450 |
Bill Lloyd
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Overall victory | |||
| 1955 |
Donald Healey Motor Co.
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Austin-Healey 100S |
Lance Macklin
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Rank 6 | |||
| 1956 |
David Brown & Sons Ltd.
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Aston Martin DB3S |
Peter Collins
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failure | Gearbox damage | ||
| 1957 |
Maserati Factory
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Maserati 300S |
Harry Schell
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Rank 2 | |||
| 1958 |
David Brown
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Aston Martin DBR1 / 300 |
Tony Brooks
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failure | differential | ||
| 1959 |
The Lister Corp.
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Lister |
Ivor Bueb
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Disqualified | |||
| 1960 |
Camoradi USA
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Maserati Tipo 61 |
Dan Gurney
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failure | Power transmission | ||
| 1961 |
Camoradi International
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Maserati Tipo 61 |
Graham Hill
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failure | Exhaust manifold | ||
| 1962 |
North American Racing Team
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Ferrari 250 TRI / 61 |
Innes Ireland
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John Fulp
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Fernand Tavano
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Disqualified |
Individual results in the sports car world championship
literature
- Robert Edwards: Stirling Moss. The Authorized Biography. Cassell et al. a., London a. a. 2001, ISBN 0-304-35904-1 .
- Stirling Moss, Doug Nye: My Cars, My Career. Stephens, Wellingborough 1987, ISBN 0-85059-925-3 .
- Jacques Vassal, Pierre Ménard : Stirling Moss. The Champion Without a Crown. Chronosports u. a., St-Sulpice et al. a. 2003, ISBN 2-84707-053-2 .
Web links
- Official Homepage (English)
- Career summary
- Appreciation of his career
- The 500 Owners Association
- Stirling Moss in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Norman Fischer: Died at the age of 90: Formula 1 world mourns Stirling Moss. Motorsport-Total.com, April 12, 2020, accessed April 12, 2020 .
- ↑ Motorsport legend Stirling Moss is dead. "Champion without a crown". spiegel.de, April 12, 2020, accessed on April 12, 2020 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Moss, Stirling |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Moss, Stirling Crauford (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British racing driver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 17, 1929 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 12, 2020 |
| Place of death | London |