W from the desk of…
Sir Jackie Stewart 1.
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1. This is the enamel logo we had on cessful as when they were independent in whole race. I didn’t even touch the cork, I the front of our Stewart Grand Prix cars. I believe we sold at the right time. F1 teams are like corner shops – you can’t run them like a multinational company. You can’t wait for permissions, you need to lead, you need to make quick decisions. When Ford became involved they introduced a board. The chairman of the board wouldn’t be a racing person at all. Ross Brawn took his team from the corporate environment at Honda, did his own thing with Nick Fry, and now they’re owned by Mercedes. It will be interesting to see if they’re as suc-
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2009, and only time will tell. Timing is everything in life, as is attention to detail and motivating people. It’s not about money. Stewart GP had one of the smallest budgets of any of the teams, but we had a few podiums and won a grand prix in less than three years.
2. For 42 years, I’ve been with Moet & Chandon. I was the first person to spray champagne in Formula 1. The 1969 French Grand Prix was 28 degrees. The podium bubbly had been sat there in the sun for the
just undid the wire and Whoosh! I put my thumb over the bottle – a good Scotsman doesn’t want to spill a drop – but the more pressure I applied the further it went. It was all quite by accident but, when you think about it, the perfect way to celebrate. This silver bottle holder was given to me in recognition of my triple crown.
3. We have two sons, Paul and Mark, and nine grand children. This is Dylan, the eldest of the nine. He’s 16 now, and a good rower. His godfather is King Hussein of Jordan.
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4. George Harrison was one of my best friends, and he taught my son Paul to play the guitar. He was mad about cars and racing, and he was a big influence on my life. The man had an amazing mind. All four of the boys came to the Monaco Grand Prix one year. For some reason, a lot of musicians like motor racing.
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and Mediterranean championships, and I won the British GP twice. I never won the world championship. Shooting was my life between the ages of 14 and 23, and it was brilliant preparation for F1; the ability to keep a cool head and remove emotion are skills I learned with a gun in my hands. If you miss a clay target, you never get it back.
5. I won this trophy for winning the 6. This silver ruler was given to me 1960 British Grand Prix… for clay pigeon shooting. Before Formula 1, I had won the Scottish, English, Irish, Welsh, European
by Tony Blair. Should the government do more to support motor racing in Great Britain? We are the capital for motor
L O T US R ENAU LT GP •
sport technology, and so far the government has not properly recognized this. The French government funded circuits all the way through France, and its national fuel company, Elf, developed French drivers. We had seven of them on the grid at one time. When Silverstone was really in need I couldn’t get anyone to help. Mr Blair, when he was prime minister, gave us £8 million to speed up the completion of the bypass, which was very helpful. But that’s been it. Motor sport employs 40,000 people in Britain. We’re bigger than aerospace. •
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