F1 | Piero Ferrari remembers Stirling Moss: “A symbol of motorsport”

Scuderia Ferrari bids farewell to Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, one of its fiercest rivals on the track, as well as one of the strongest drivers in history, the undisputed protagonist of motor racing from 1950 to 1962. Moss passed away on Easter morning in his home in the fashionable Mayfair district of London at the age of 90. Next to him was his wife Susie.

Sports family. Stirling was born into a family where motorsport was at home. His father Alfred, a wealthy dentist, had been a good non-professional driver who could boast, among other results, a 16th place in the 500 Indianapolis 1924; her mother, Aileen, had competed in hillclimbs at the same time. Stirling, who like his sister Patricia, known as "Pat", had excelled in horse riding competitions as a teenager, had fallen in love with engines at 17, when he secretly ordered an MG and signed for it in his father's place. He got very angry at first but then, understanding his son's desire to be able to race in cars, he decided to indulge him by allowing him to compete with his BMW in covered wheel races. Shortly afterwards "Pat" also declared his love for motor sport, but while Stirling loved the track, his sister was taken by the passion for rallies which would lead her to become the strongest rally driver in history at least until the finish line on the scene of the French Michele Mouton.

Rise. Moss had begun to shine in the early 1s and made his Formula 1951 debut in the 2 Swiss Grand Prix at the wheel of an Alta-powered HWM. The results obtained in Formula 1 attracted the attention of Enzo Ferrari who decided to entrust him with one of his cars for the 1951 Formula XNUMX Bari Grand Prix. When Moss arrived in Puglia, after a journey full of hardships, he discovered that his however, the car had already been entrusted to another driver, Piero Taruffi. The affair sent the then twenty-one-year-old British driver into a rage who returned home and swore to himself that he would never drive for the Scuderia again. For the rest of his career he was in fact busy at the wheel of Mercedes, Maserati, Vanwall, BRM, Cooper and Lotus.

Rivalry. Enzo Ferrari, who rarely made mistakes in his assessments, immediately understood Moss' value and wrote about it in his book Piloti, che gente...: “My opinion on Moss is simple: he is the man I have repeatedly compared to Nuvolari. He had a desire to race, he went fast in any car, he had the great virtue of judging a car only by the chronometer, that is, by the time it allowed him to complete on a given route. I also once said about Moss that he was a driver who had a sense of the accident, and precisely in certain of his exits, as in certain historical exits of Nuvolari, I found a truly curious analogy for the epilogue that it never reached tragedy. If Moss had put reasoning before passion, he would have become world champion, being more than worthy of it.". Moss is in fact remembered by all as the strongest driver to have never won the world title: to his credit three third and four second places, in 1955, 1956 and 1957 behind Fangio, and in 1958 behind his compatriot's Ferrari Mike Hawthorn.

Rapprochement. The last part of his career saw Moss busy with the unofficial Lotus of his friend Rob Walker's team, who was also very active in covered wheel competitions. It was through this team that Moss took part in several races at the wheel of cars built by Ferrari after sporadic but successful appearances in 1957 (when he won the Nassau Trophy Race, in the Bahamas, on a 290 MM from Scuderia Temple Buell) and 1958 (when he was imposed in the Cuban GP with a 335 Sport entered by Luigi Chinetti). In 1960 Moss won the Tourist Trophy at Goodwood in a 250 GT SWB and at the wheel of that same car he also achieved success in the Redex Trophy at Brands Hatch and in the Nassau Trophy Race. In 1961 he won the British Empire Trophy, the Peco Trophy and again in Nassau and the Tourist Trophy. Successes with Ferrari and Walker's relationship with Enzo Ferrari led to a deal that would finally see Moss drive a Ferrari Formula 1 car under the banner of Walker's team in 1962. In that year the covered-wheel season got off to a flying start , with success in the Bank Holiday Trophy at Brands Hatch and the category success in the 3 Hours of Daytona at the wheel of the usual 250 GT SWB. Unfortunately the chance of seeing Moss in a Ferrari in Formula 1 never materialized as the British driver was the victim of a terrible accident during the Glover Trophy at Goodwood, while at the wheel of a Lotus, following which Moss ended up in a coma and decided, after carrying out a test in the spring of 1963, to retire from racing.

After the races. A hugely popular character, Moss has long been an icon of the United Kingdom around the world, taking part in films and TV programmes, and remaining in the scene as a commentator for a long time. Constantly hungry for victory, to the point of later admitting that he had never been able to do calculations, until the 1992 season he was the most successful British driver in history. In 2000 he was named Sir by the royal family, while a few years ago he also came to visit Maranello, where he was able to get back behind the wheel of the 250 GT SWB and had a lot of fun remembering the period in which he drove it. With Moss' death, Formula 1 and the entire world of motorsport loses one of his pillars. Rest in peace Stirling, and thank you for the duels you brought us through.

This is the memory of the vice president Piero Ferrari: "Stirling Moss is a symbol of motor racing, a character who has written indelible pages in the history of this sport. His versatility allowed him to win in many categories, from Formula 1 to endurance races on the track and major road races, setting incredible records such as that of the Mille Miglia, which has never been beaten. He never won the Formula 1 world title but that didn't stop him from becoming a legend. He was a proud and loyal opponent of Ferrari. My father said about him that he reminded him of Tazio Nuvolari for his eagerness to race, in every type of car, a characteristic that accompanied him almost to the end of his journey".