Jackie Stewart
Stirling Moss
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Jackie Stewart leads 5 of 5 categories. Our all-time ranking places Jackie Stewart at #8 and Stirling Moss at #12.
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The case for Jackie Stewart
Three titles — 1969, 1971, 1973 — and 27 wins from only 99 starts, a 27 percent win rate compiled in the deadliest years the sport has known. Stewart's defining drive is the 1968 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring: in fog and rain, with a broken wrist in a cast, he won by more than four minutes. What elevates him beyond the numbers is that he transformed the sport twice over — as its best driver and as its conscience. After being trapped in his crashed BRM at Spa in 1966, soaked in fuel, he waged a relentless and deeply unpopular safety campaign: circuit barriers, seat belts, full-face helmets, medical facilities, boycotts of lethal tracks. Much of the safety architecture that later saved lives traces to him. He retired at the end of 1973, at his peak, after his teammate Francois Cevert was killed in qualifying at Watkins Glen — walking away as reigning champion.
The case for Stirling Moss
The greatest driver never to win the world championship, and it was not for want of speed. Moss finished runner-up four consecutive years from 1955 to 1958 and third three times, losing the 1958 title by a single point to Mike Hawthorn — after Moss himself testified in Hawthorn's defence at a stewards' hearing, a stroke of sportsmanship that very likely cost him the crown. He won 16 Grands Prix and 16 poles from 66 starts, frequently in privateer or British cars he chose over faster machinery out of patriotism. His 1961 Monaco victory in an outdated Lotus, holding off quicker Ferraris for two hours, remains a masterclass in defensive driving, as does his 1955 Mille Miglia won at an average near 100 mph. So synonymous was he with velocity that British police reputedly asked speeders, who do you think you are, Stirling Moss? Only the title itself eluded him.