Sir Stirling Moss: A life in the fast lane
According to his own records, Sir Stirling Moss competed in 416 races over the course of a racing career spanning 15 years, and finished in the top four on 307 occasions. He celebrated victory in 194 races, clocking up 16 Grand Prix wins in 66 starts for Mercedes-Benz and other manufacturers between 1955 and 1961. And yet somehow he never became Formula 1 World Champion.
The son of a dentist form London’s West End, Moss grew up surrounded by horsepower in the most literal sense - his family were heavily involved in equestrianism. However, the 16-year-old Sterling invested the money he won in riding competitions not in a horse, but a racing car. Although his father Alfred had himself been an amateur racing driver and finished 16th in the Indianapolis 500 in 1924, he decided to take away his son’s car and gave him a bicycle instead - not much of a swap for the aspiring young track star.
In 1953, his ambition to be a racing driver undiminished, Moss got in contact with Alfred Neubauer. However, the Mercedes director of motorsport advised him to gather a bit more experience of grand-prix racing and then they could talk again. This led Moss to sign for the Maserati racing team in 1954. In the Italian Grand Prix in Monza he seized his chance, leaving the rest of the field in his wake. It was only a ruptured oil line which deprived him of victory, Juan Manuel Fangio capitalising on his misfortune to take the win for Mercedes-Benz. Moss’ performance, though, earned him an invitation back to Untertürkheim. His contract as a Mercedes works driver covered the period from January 1 to December 12, 1955. The Argentinean Fangio now found himself in the company of another talented foreign driver in the Mercedes team.
The 1955 Mille Miglia is universally considered to be one of the greatest races of all time. At 7.22 ，a.m. on Sunday May 1, 1955, Stirling Moss and co-driver Denis Jenkinson roared away from the starting line in Brescia in their number-722 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR racing sports car. At 5.29 p.m., precisely ten hours, seven minutes and 48 seconds later, they crossed the finish line, having covered the 1600-kilometre route at an average speed of 157.65 km/h - a figure unmatched by anybody since.
Although Stirling Moss was never crowned Formula 1 World Champion, he came tantalisingly close on a number of occasions. Four years in a row between 1955 and 1958 he finished runner-up - three times behind Fangio. On the fourth occasion, in 1958, he was beaten by fellow countryman Mike Hawthorn by just a single point.
Stirling Moss’ record with Mercedes:
| 1954 Argentinean GP | Did not finish |
| 1955 Buenos Aires GP | 2nd |
| 1955 Mille Miglia | 1st |
| 1955 Monaco GP | Did not finish |
| 1955 Eifelrennen | 2nd |
| 1955 Belgian GP | 2nd |
| 1955 Dutch GP | 2nd |
| 1955 British GP | 1st |
| 1955 Swedish GP | 2nd |
| 1955 Argentine GP | 4th |
| 1955 Tourist Trophpy | 1st |
| 1955 Italian GP, Monza | Did not finish |
| 1955 Targa Florio | 1st |
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