British motorsport legend Sir Stirling Moss is dead. “He died the way he lived and looked wonderful,” said his wife, Lady Susie Moss, to the Daily Mail newspaper: “In the end, he just fell asleep. He has the Eyes closed and that’s it. “
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Stirling Craufurd Moss is considered by many to be the best Formula 1 driver who never became world champion. Four times Moss was second in the World Cup, three times third. The Briton had 16 Grand Prix successes, winning more races than 17 of the 33 world champions to date. He took part in 529 races in various classes and won 212 times.
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Stirling was always close to fulfilling his dream. In 1958, he had to hand over the title to his compatriot Mike Hawthorn – because he had campaigned for his opponent when he was disqualified after second place at the Portuguese Grand Prix. “I would do it again anytime because it was fair,” Moss said at the time.
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In 1962, Moss had a serious accident on the Goodwood circuit. He suffered numerous fractures and brain damage and was now in a coma. A year later, his racing career ended on exactly the same route: Moss drove a Lotus in the rain on an empty course. After 30 minutes he got out of the car and said, “I’m not responding quickly enough.”
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Moss, who was knighted in 2000, could not stop racing until old age. But he did not want to trade with the younger generation. “We just had a lot more fun,” said Moss once: “When the racing flag fell, we were tough and fought against each other. Otherwise, we were friends. We did it for the fun of it.”
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In December 2016, Moss suffered a severe breast infection, and in January 2018 he declared his withdrawal from the public. His wife attended his 90th birthday celebrations in September 2019 without him. Sir Stirling Moss died on Easter Sunday at the age of 90 in his home in London.
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