Following a long illness Sir Stirling Moss, the finest Formula 1 driver never to win a World Championship, has died at the age of 90.
Born in London in 1929, his first professional race came in 1948 when he was just 18. Seven years later he entered Formula 1 when he was signed by Mercedes Benz to alongside the great Juan Manuel Fangio.
Between 1955 and 1961 Moss was second in the F1 championship four times and also scored two second place finishes at the Le Mans 24 Hours in a Jaguar and an Aston Martin, including a class win in 1956 and won both the Sebring 12 Hours and the 12 hours of Reims.
He won 212 of his 529 races and retired from top-level competition following a crash in 1962, but continued in historic racing before totally calling it quits in 2011 at the age of 81.
The motor-racing legend – who was knighted in 2000 - received the Segrave Trophy in 2005. He was awarded the FIA gold medal for outstanding contribution to motorsport in 2006 and published his autobiography in 2015.
The following year he was admitted to hospital in Singapore with a serious chest infection and in 2018 announced his retirement from public life.
Moss is survived by his third wife, Lady Moss, and two children. “He died as he lived, looking wonderful. It was one lap too many,” she said.
