Top Car

Of course Jackie

raced in an

era before the

FIA imposed

restrictions on

sideburn width

witnessed heart-wrenching

scenes in Hungary, when F

struggled to come to terms

with th e death of Jules

Bianchi, and there have been

changes to the calend ar too,

with th e last-m inute absence

of the German GP and the

It’s taken 42years for another British driverto additi on of Mexico.

Even the lifestyles of Stewart

match Jackie Stewart’s three F1titles. Who’s in hi s pomp and Hamilton

the biggerhero?ByTomClarkson

H

aren’t dissimilar. Lewis travels

regularly to America, where 43 win

E PARTIED ONMonday and slept on Tuesday, he has a house in Colorado,

but what did winning a third world title at the US and Jackie used to hop across^26

Grand Prix bring Lewis Hamilton, ot her than a the pond frequently. In 1971

hang over and a healthy bonus from Mercedes he flew across the Atlantic 86 R

Grand Prix? times, fulfilling driving

In a word: notoriety. There have been64 F1 world commitments in CanAmand

champions, but only six three-time champions and Lewis is a burgeoning career as a Pha

now one of them. He can be mentione d in the same breath as

Rih

commentator for ABC Sports. S

Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet Both men mix with A-list

and, most significantly, Ayrton Senna; Lewis has always celebs, Lewis with th e likes of

wanted to equal the achievements of the late, great Brazilian. Rihanna, Pharrell Williams

‘I pinch myself every day,’ says Lewis, ‘but it still hasn’t and Nico le Scherzinger and

sunk in.’ Jackie, ba ck in the day, with ‘H

Jackie Stewart was in Aust in to witness Hamilton’s title Princess Grace of Monaco,

success, 42 years after he clinched his third title for Tyrrell in George Harrison and

1973. ‘This is a great day for Lewis,’ said Stewart. ‘He’s driven Princess Anne. They both
      brilliantly this year, but I still think he can getbetter. He ’s 30 push the limits of fashion,
      years old, which means he’s reaching maturity and now is the Lewis with his tattoos and
      right time to improve on that. He has experience and from urban chic, Jackie with his
      experience you gain knowle dge, and with knowle dge you can

Pea

sideburns and corduroycaps.

improve yourself. I think his best years are still ahead of him.’ Their driving styles are very

Stewart retired from driving at the end of 1973, at the age of different. Jackie was all

34. It had beenan emotional season, follo wing the deaths of smoothness and guile, while
    his friend Roger Williamson and his team-mate Francois Lewis is moreof a hustler and
    Cevert, and it was an intense year of travelling, with new has great bravado. There is no doubting Lewis’s domination
    racesin Brazil and Sweden. this year; he’s won 10 races(with two ro unds to go ) to
    To this extent, there are parallels between 1973 and 2015. We Stewart’s five in ’73 and he’s taken 11 poles to Stewart’s three.
    Howmuch morecan Hamilton achieve? ‘I want to win
    moretitles,’ he says , ‘but I have no goal in terms of a number.
    I don’t think I’ll beat Michae l [Schumacher]’s seven; in fact, I
    hope no-one beats Michae l beca use he’s a legend.’ Question
    Stewart’s Tyrrell-Ford (right). is: at what point does Lewis himself achieve legend status?
    Trickierthan Hami lton’s Merc?

18 TOPCAR.CO.ZA|January 2016