Sir Stirling Moss officially retires

An announcement on his website from his son Elliot Moss, said that his father – who raced in motorsport’s top category between 1951 and 1961 and racked up 16 wins – “will finally retire, so that he and my mother can have some much-deserved rest and spend more time with each other and the rest of the family.”

Moss’s first win came in the 1955 British Grand Prix, where he beat then Mercedes teammate Juan Manuel Fangio to the top spot of the podium in his number 12 Mercedes-Benz W196. He is often described as the best racing driver to never have won an F1 World Championship, having finished runner-up (four times) and third (three times) in the standings.

Moss won several races outside of F1, including the 1955 Mille Miglia, where he drove a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. The year after, Moss won his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in an Aston Martin DB3S.

After retiring from full-time motorsport, Moss has remained a regular face at racing events. Despite suffering broken ankles from a home accident in 2010 and – more recently – having endured a lengthy recovery period after severe infections, Moss continued to be officially affiliated with motorsport.

Several car models have been produced in his honour, including the open-top Mercedes-AMG SLR Stirling Moss of 2009. More recently, the Lister Jaguar Knobbly Stirling Moss Editions sold for £1 million (Rs 8.85 crore, approx.) each.