By Peter M. DeLorenzo
Detroit. Racing a car, motorcycle or anything with some sort of power is a pursuit like no other. It is a passionate endeavor requiring an obsessive single-mindedness that consumes the people involved to a degree that outsiders find hard to understand. Ask any driver who has competed at the top level, and they will tell you that there is nothing half-assed about what they do, because the focus required is almost incomprehensible. Drivers talk about being in "the zone" - a strange state of mind that takes over their entire being while they're racing - when the faster they go the more things seem to slow down for them. They're aware of everything around them, but at the same time their focus on the task at hand is impenetrable, because anything less can result in a mistake that will likely have severe consequences. Racers are indeed a rare breed, willing to sacrifice everything for the pursuit of what they love to do, to the detriment of everything else. These racers have left an indelible mark on the sport. Drivers who were fierce competitors, flawed heroes and incredible, gifted talents. Their legacies are what make the sport of motor racing so fascinating. In the next few issues of "Fumes" I will recall some of my favorites. This week, we present Sir Stirling Moss, another all-time great.
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Gifted and brilliant behind the wheel, Sir Stirling Crauford Moss was a spectacular force who became the quintessential definition of a British Grand Prix driver. Known as "the greatest driver never to win a World Championship," Moss finished second four times and third three times in the F1 standings between 1955 and 1961. Moss won sixteen times in 66 starts, driving in various machines including Cooper, HWM, Lotus, Maserati, Mercedes Benz and Vanwall.
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Stirling Moss famously won the Mille Miglia (with co-driver and auto journalist Denis Jenkinson) in 1955, completing the race distance in ten hours and seven minutes. It is considered one of the epic drives in motorsports history. Moss admitted afterward that he had been given a "magic pill" by Juan Manuel Fangio before the race. Although he didn't know what was in it specifically, Dexedrine and Benzedrine were commonly used in rallies and long-distance events, and Moss said, "The object was simply to keep awake, like wartime bomber crews."
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Stirling Moss had many outstanding races driving for the factory Aston Martin sports car team (this image is from 1957). He won the 1958 12 Hours of Sebring driving an Aston Martin DBR1, and recorded three consecutive wins in the Nurburgring 1000 km race in 1958, 1959 and 1960. (The first two of those wins were in Aston Martin DBR1s; the last was in a Maserati Tipo 61 "birdcage" co-driven by Dan Gurney.)
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Monaco Grand Prix, May 14, 1961. Among the many brilliant drives delivered by Stirling Moss, the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix stands out. Moss, driving a relatively under-powered Lotus 19/21 Climax for Rob Walker's R.R.C Walker Racing Team, won by 3.6-seconds, stunning the factory V6-powered Ferrari 156 "sharknose" entries.
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Start of the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix. Stirling Moss (No. 20 R.R.C. Walker Racing Team Lotus 18/19 Climax) starts from the pole, with Richie Ginther (No. 36 Scuderia Ferrari 156) right next to him. Jim Clark (No. 28 Lotus 21 Climax) qualified third, Graham Hill (No. 18 Owen Racing Organization BRM P48/57 Climax) fourth, Phil Hill (No. 38 Scuderia Ferrari 156) fifth and Wolfgang von Trips (No. 40 Scuderia Ferrari 156) sixth. The vaunted Ferrari "shark nose" entries were supposed to dominate the race with their V6 power, but it was not to be. Moss not only captured the pole, he set the fastest lap of the race on his way to the win.
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Stirling Moss's victory in the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix is considered to be one for the ages. He finished 3.6 seconds ahead of Richie Ginther (No. 36 Scuderia Ferrari 156), and 41.3 seconds ahead of Phil Hill (No. 38 Scuderia Ferrari 156), who finished third. Watch highlights from the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix here.
(Photo by Bernard Cahier/The Cahier Archive)
Stirling Moss was on the top of the motorsports world after his victory in the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix.
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Stirling Moss also won the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix in the No. 28 R.R.C. Walker Racing Team Lotus 18 Climax, after starting from the pole. Only four cars finished that particularly chaotic race.
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Stirling Moss was part of the heavily-favored factory Mercedes-Benz team for the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix. Moss would be in the No. 6 Mercedes-Benz W196, Juan Manuel Fangio would be in the No. 2 Mercedes-Benz W196, and Andre Simon would be in the No. 4 Mercedes-Benz W196. Fangio captured the pole with a lap of 1:41.1, but Alberto Ascari started right next to him in the No. 26 Scuderia Lancia D50 with an identical time! Stirling Moss qualified third with a 1:41.2. The Mercedes-Benz team cars encountered myriad problems and didn't finish. The race was won by Maurice Trintignant in the No. 44 Scuderia Ferrari 625, followed by Eugenio Castellotti (No. 30 Scuderia Lancia D50) and Jean Behra (No. 34 Officine Alfieri Maserati 250F). Stirling Moss also won the 1956 Monaco Grand Prix driving a factory Officine Alfieri Maserati 250F.
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Aintree, England, July 16, 1955. Start of the 1955 British Grand Prix, the sixth race of the 1955 Formula One season, with Stirling Moss (No. 12 Mercedes-Benz W196) and Juan Manuel Fangio (No. 10 Mercedes-Benz W196) streaking away. Other entries for the factory Mercedes-Benz team included the No. 14 W196 for Karl Kling and the No. 50 W196 for Piero Taruffi. It was a momentous race for the factory Mercedes-Benz team as its drivers swept the top four positions with Moss winning followed by Fangio, Kling and Taruffi. With his win, Stirling Moss became the first Briton to win a British Grand Prix. Ironically enough, it would prove to be the penultimate round of the year, because after the disaster at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June, the French, German, Swiss and Spanish Grands Prix were all cancelled.
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Italian Grand Prix, Monza, September 11, 1955. Stirling Moss at speed on the banking in his No. 16 Mercedes-Benz 196R. The race was run on a 10-kilometer circuit comprised of a road course and a banked portion - the "Monza Wall" - which was notoriously rough and wreaked havoc on suspensions and tires. Moss qualified second to teammate Juan Manuel Fangio (No. 18 Mercedes-Benz 196R) as the Mercedes-Benz team showed up with the "streamliner" configuration on its cars. The race was won by newly-crowned World Champion Fangio, followed by his other Mercedes-Benz teammate, Piero Taruffi (No. 14 Mercedes-Benz 196R). Moss suffered a blown engine. It would be the last race for the 1955 F1 season after the Le Mans disaster, and it would be the last F1 race for a Mercedes-Benz chassis for more than 50 years.
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Sir Stirling's spectacular driving career came to an end after he crashed his Lotus heavily in the Glover Trophy race at Goodwood, on April 23, 1962. The accident put him in a coma for a month, and the left side of his body was paralyzed for six months. Moss participated in a private test session the following year at Goodwood in a Lotus 19, and even though he lapped a few tenths of a second slower than before his accident, he felt in his heart that it just wasn't there for him, and he retired from driving. Moss passed away on April 12, 2020, in London, at the age of 90.
Editor's Note: You can access previous issues of AE by clicking on "Next 1 Entries" below. - WG