In a long and fascinating interview, Jackie Stewart recounted the origins of his motorsport career and explained how he eventually made his way into Formula 1. Davide Cironi’s conversation with the three-time world champion is a journey into a truly unique career path, one that began far away from racing circuits.
Before becoming a Formula 1 legend, Jackie Stewart was in fact an international-level marksman. From the age of 14 to 24, he represented Scotland and Great Britain in clay pigeon shooting, travelling around the world and developing a level of mental discipline that would later have a profound influence on his approach to racing. The turning point came almost by chance: a friendship, a race entered “just for fun”, a second place, followed by a victory. From there, Stewart’s rise was astonishingly fast, first dominating in Formula 3 and Formula 2, and then catching the attention of Ken Tyrrell, the man who would change his life.
How Jackie Stewart reached Formula 1 starting from shooting
Jackie Stewart explains that his career did not begin in a paddock, but on a shooting range.
“I wasn’t a driver when I was young, I was a shooter. I travelled the world shooting, that was my sport. I got married at 24 and it was too expensive to have a wife and a sport that wasn’t professional. I had to stop shooting and become a racing man. I did one race, I finished second. They told me to do another one. I finished first. And that’s where everything started.”
The meeting with Ken Tyrrell marked the real breakthrough:
“Ken was an extraordinary man, he knew how to talk to anyone. Whether you were a mechanic or a millionaire, it made no difference to him.”
With Tyrrell, Stewart won in Formula 3, triumphed at Monaco and established himself at European level as well. At that point, the doors of Formula 1 swung wide open.
“BRM, Lotus and Cooper wanted me. I chose BRM to study Graham Hill. Graham taught me everything. I won at Monza and finished third in the World Championship in my first year. It was like a rocket.”
Stewart: “I should have done my 100th Grand Prix, but…”
What always made the difference, according to Stewart, was mindset.
“In shooting, if you miss a shot you can never recover it. In a car, you can make up for it in the next corner. Many rookies push too hard. I had already eliminated that phase. I was always with the right people, with the best engineers. I didn’t have constant mechanical problems like others.”
The ending of the story is one of the most powerful moments of the interview:
“I should have done my 100th Grand Prix, but François Cevert died the day before. It didn’t feel right to race.”
Jackie Stewart decided to stop at 99 Grands Prix. “Doing 99 instead of 100 was different. It was a matter of respect.” A choice that perfectly reflects who Jackie Stewart truly was: a champion, but above all, a man.
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