Stirling looks back at the controversial move by Michael Schumacher in Hungary and looks forward to the Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Monza, where back in 1958 he suffered a near death experience behind the wheel of the Eldorado Special.
I'm quite aware that Formula One has changed since my day but one thing that is never excusable is dirty driving. I was appalled to watch Michael Schumacher nearly drive Rubens Barrichello into the wall at the Hungarian Grand Prix and the photos show that he got within inches of causing a major accident.
He was punished with a 10-place grid penalty in Belgium, but for me that only proves that the FIA has got no teeth. In my view he should have been banned for a year, maybe more. If somebody had been coming out of the pits it could have been an enormous shunt and that kind of risk is inexcusable.
The irony is that the improvement in safety in our sport has created a devil-may-care attitude among some of the drivers. Schumacher was willing to push Barrichello into a wall at 180mph, but I can't believe that if you gave him a loaded gun he would consider shooting him. There is an underlying assumption that things will be OK, and for the most part they will be nowadays, but we are still talking about a concrete wall and a car travelling at very fast speeds.
To read Stirling's complete ESPN F1 blog, which includes his near death experience in the Eldorado Special at Monza in 1958, featured in the video below, click here
Comments
Memories of Stirling Moss in New Zealand.
Very interesting comments about dangerous driving, and dangerous drivers. The respect given to other drivers in Stirling's day, (and for the reasons given by Stirling), can be seen today in motorcycle racing. Talk about "sitting on the edge of your seat" when watching these super racers, within inches of each other, and rarely do we see accidents in these extremely "tight" situations. ie noone "riding" another competitor into a wall for example. There seems to be a certain amount camaraderie amongst these racers, not seen in 4-wheeled racing.
As a youngster in the late '50's, I went to a couple of NZ Grand Prix, held at Ardmore, just outside Auckland, New Zealand. Many of the top GP drivers turned up to these races, including Stirling, Jack Brabham, and many others, pitting their skills against the "local yokels"!Old Ferrari,s, Maserati's, Lycoming Special( a NZ homebuilt sports/racing car that won every every sports/racing/hillclimb etc etc event in NZ over its illustrious career), together with the latest F1 models, Cooper Climax, Lola etc. At the end of the main straight( where these little sewing machine(Climax) engines completed blitzed the old V12's of the past era), there was "clover-leaf" requiring some 5 turns to negotiate. Stirling Moss would slide his way around the clover leaf, and if we were allowed to get any closer the the edge of the track, and dared put our big toes on the very outer edge of the last corner, Stirling would have "trimmed" your toenails every time he went round! And on that last corner, the car was completely, and utterly accurately lined up for the next straight! Every lap was exactly the same. Noone else could do this. He was absolutely amazing! Then he would jump into some sports car and do the same. The last race I saw, (1960?), it poured with rain, the first lap was very slow, the cars could hardly be seen from aside the track, water being sucked into those 4 carburettor inlets sticking out the side of the Cosworth motor, steam pouring out the exhausts, but when the speed eventually crept up, and eventually to full speed on a very wet track, Stirling absolutely "blitzed" everyone!
On the way back to Auckland city after the racing was over(all 4 lanes one direction only!) everyone trying to be Stirling Moss(including me!), but I could see one small Triumph Herald coming up behind me at a great rate, there was no way I could compete so pulled over slightly, and guess who "shot through"? Stirling Moss with 3 of the other drivers, clearly really enjoying themselves. So I am very pleased to be able to say that even I have been overtaken by the great Stirling Moss!
Dirty Racing
Well said,especially nasty when you thing how much support he has had off Rubens over the years.
PS. Thanks for signing my picture.
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