With the iconic British Grand Prix taking place at the breath-taking Silverstone race track in July, a weekend of excitement, speed and drama is guaranteed for anyone who’s got their hands on tickets. British former World Champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will compete with current number one, Sebastian Vettel for the right to take the top spot on the podium in the UK, and whilst Hamilton and Button can certainly be called legends in the making, there’s a whole host of old school F1 racers from the UK who should never be forgotten. Read on for an insight into the careers of some of our favourites…
Jim Clark
A driver who paid the ultimate price in a sport which he truly loved, Jim Clark won 25 races and secured 33 pole position starts in his eight-year career, before dying in a racing accident in 1968.
Clark had been taking place in a Formula Two race in Hockenheim, Germany, when his car veered off the track, crashing into trees and causing him to suffer a broken neck and fractured skull. Ironically, his accident record prior to this had been impressive- just three incidents in eight years of racing.
The Englishman was famed for being able to drive a huge variety of types of car- racing in competitions from the British Touring Car Championship to NASCAR to Le Mans. Some of his most impressive drives came when he was under immense pressure; in 1963 in Belgium he won the Grand Prix having started eighth on the grid and in harsh weather conditions, while in 1967 he fought his way back to first place after losing an entire lap on the rest of the field because of a flat tyre. Though he eventually crossed the line in third due to a lack of fuel, his fight back was simply remarkable.
James Hunt
James Hunt made his debut into the world of Formula One in 1973 and raced competitively for six years.
He’s famed for being one of the cheapest ever World Champions and in fact was only signed to race for McLaren at the eleventh hour when an urgent replacement was needed for Emerson Fittipaldi, who deferred to his brother’s outfit. Despite not being their first choice for driver, he won the World Championship in 1976 by one point following a dramatic season during which he was involved in countless disqualifications and reinstatements. The next few seasons were less successful for Hunt and the death of his friend Ronnie Peterson in the 1978 Grand Prix had a profound effect on him and his desire to race, partly causing him to retire half way thought the 1979 season.
If his driving skills don’t make him worthy of legend status, then his refusal to sign a clause in his contract which forced him to wear suits to official events does! Hunt often met big wigs and world leaders wearing jeans, a T-shirt and no shoes!
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Mansell is still to this day the most successful British Formula One driver of all time thanks to the impressive 31 race wins he secured in his 15-season career. The Brit retired from F1 as champion in 1992 and switched to competing in the CART Indy Car World Series, winning the CART title in his debut season and becoming the only person to be both F1 and CART champion at the same time.
Mansell is still fourth overall on the Formula One race winners list behind Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, and Ayrton Senna and remains highly regarded by his peers and industry insiders; long time Formula One commentator Murray Walker lists him in his top 10 Formula One drivers of all time and he secured the ninth spot in the Times Online’s 50 greatest F1 drivers of all time.
Today, Nigel has switched the racetrack for the golf course; he bought Woodbury Park golf course in 1994 and hosts many a prestigious golf event including the Nigel Mansell Classic PGA European Seniors Tour. He’s also the president of UK Youth, a charity that provides tools to build the self-esteem of young people and help them develop skills and knowledge needed for work.
Sir Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Moss OBE is without a doubt a contender for the greatest all-round racing driver of all time- despite the fact that he failed to win a single championship in his ten-year F1 career. He started racing at the age of just 18 and, as was the norm in his era, would compete in a number of different Formulae races in one day, meaning that by the time he retired from the sport, he had raced in over 80 different makes of car.
In 1955 Moss was signed by Mercedes-Benz and became part of the “Silver Arrows” team, partnering the World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio. Whilst much of that year was spent in Fangio’s shadow, Moss did claim a famous win in the British Grand Prix and also the 1,000 mile Mille Miglia road race. However, a brush with death following a crash at Goodwood in 1962 brought his racing career to an abrupt end; Moss was left in coma for one month and was partially paralysed for six months and felt that he couldn’t perform to the same level on his return.
However, even to this day the legend is heavily involved in the sport, racing historic cars and even presenting Lewis Hamilton with the 2nd place trophy at 2010’s British Grand Prix.
Sir Jackie Stewart
Sir Jackie Stewart makes our legends list for two very good reasons, the first being his spectacular driving talent which saw him win World Drivers’ Championships in 1969, 1971 and 1973. The Flying Scot, as he’s affectionately known, clocked up 99 race starts during an eight year Formula One career which saw him break countless records: the most wins by a Formula One driver (a record which was broken by Alain Prost in 1987 after Stewart had held it for 14 years), the most wins by a British Formula One driver (this was broken by Nigel Mansell in 1992) and the only driver to have won the championship driving for a French marque (although Fernando Alonso broke this record in 2005).
The second reason for his legend-worthiness is the lasting impact he’s had on the safety of F1 racing. Following an accident during the Belgian Grand Prix of 1966, during which he was left stranded in his car for almost an hour because marshals didn’t have the correct equipment to free him, Stewart campaigned for better safety and is today credited with the introduction of full-face helmets, drivers’ seatbelts, medical teams, safety barriers and bigger run-off areas at tricky corners.
Since retirement from the sport, Stewart has worked as a consultant for Ford and a race commentator, owned his own race team with son Paul, won the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year award and been knighted.
If you fancy catching a glimpse of Hamilton or Button- British drivers who are bound to appear in racing legend lists in the future- British Grand Prix tickets for this year’s event and more sports tickets are available at www.getmein.com.
Article by Sophie Coley
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