1973 Formula 1 World Champion Jackie Stewart
In 1973 the Scottish F1 Driver Won His Final Grand Prix Title
Oct 2, 2008
Stewart's Final Formula 1 Season
Ken Tyrrell knew for most of the 1973 Formula 1 season that his star driver Jackie Stewart would be retiring after the final race at Watkins Glen. The Tyrrell team was extremely close-knit. Stewart knew Tyrrell since his first single-seater test and the partnership had won the World Championship in 1969 and 1971. Stewart’s French team-mate François Cevert was also an important part of the team. Tyrrell was the only team he had driven for in Formula 1 since his debut in 1970.
Stewart and Tyrrell had a clear plan of what would happen to the team upon the former’s retirement. Cevert had spent the best part of four seasons learning from Stewart and was now a match for the Scot at some circuits. Stewart thought he was a potential World Champion and Tyrrell agreed. Cevert was the obvious successor to Stewart’s number one seat in the team.
The summer of 1973 was marred by Roger Williamson’s infamous accident during the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. It was clear from the hopelessly inadequate rescue attempts that Stewart’s campaign for safer circuits was far from complete. In the 2006 book, “The Lost Generation”, published by Haynes and written by David Tremayne, Stewart is quoted about passing Williamson’s crashed March;
“I didn’t know whose it was. It was very clear that the fire wasn’t being put out, but in those days that wasn’t unusual. It was just another example of the inadequacies of the whole infrastructure.”
27 Grand Prix Wins for Stewart
Stewart’s 27th and final Grand Prix victory came at the Nurburgring in 1973, the circuit where he’d produced perhaps the greatest drive of his career in 1968. Cevert shadowed Stewart and finished second. The dominance of the Tyrrell team was highlighted in the headline accompanying the race report in the August 9th, 1973 issue of Autosport magazine. It read, “Sixth Rhapsody in Blue – another Tyrrell 1-2.”
Stewart and Tyrrell Stunned by Cevert's Death
The US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen would be Stewart’s 100th World Championship event, but it was a race he was destined not to compete in. During qualifying on 6th October Cevert was striving hard to claim pole position when he crashed hard. The armco barriers decimated the Tyrrell and France’s great hope was gone in an instant. After a few laps in which Stewart tried to figure out what had gone so wrong he pulled into the pits and the devastated Tyrrell team withdrew. Stewart made his way back to his hotel to inform his wife Helen of his retirement. In his 2007 autobiography, “Winning Is Not Enough”, Stewart recalled the moments that followed;
“I have no idea how long we sat there on the bed, holding each other, crying our eyes out… the agony and grief for François, whom we had lost, and the relief that I had somehow survived my racing career.”
As of that Saturday afternoon in upstate New York, Stewart ceased to be a professional racing driver. Far from slipping into a well deserved and quiet retirement, however, it was merely the beginning of another extraordinary period in his life.
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