Sir Jackie Stewart OBE

This popular driver is unique in mixing his three Formula 1 World Championship wins in 1969, ’71 and ’73 with his relentless campaigning to improve driver safety. His one-man crusade made the sport much safer. Jackie was born in Dumbartonshire, Scotland in 1939, leaving school at 15 (he later discovered he was severely dyslexic) and switching his passion from clay pigeon to saloon and sports car racing. Team founder Ken Tyrrell spotted his talent and in 1963 the ‘Flying Scot’ won seven Formula 3 races in a row. After joining BRM Jackie won his first two grand prix but he was back with Tyrrell in 1968 when he shifted to F1 and the golden partnership saw 27 wins until Stewart retired in 1973. From then on and having lost several friends in appalling accidents that could have been prevented, his safety crusade gathered urgent pace: he was instrumental in the introduction of full-face helmets and seatbelts for drivers, a properly equipped medical unit that travelled to the races, and safety barriers and greater run-off areas at dangerous corners to protect spectators and drivers. The opposition he encountered seems amazing in retrospect but, as Jackie recalled: “Not many of these critics had ever crashed at 150mph.” The death toll and lethal nature of many grand prix circuits was vastly reduced as a result.