Round 2000 visitors, starting from drivers from all classes to household and pals – together with F1 crew boss Christian Horner, comic Rowan Atkinson plus a bunch of followers who had been fortunate to safe tickets – joined the ceremony at Westminster Abbey to pay tribute to Moss who died in April 2020.
His Majesty the King was represented by his Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, with Prince Michael of Kent additionally in attendance.
The son of Moss’s former Mercedes team-mate Juan Manuel Fangio additionally flew over from Argentina to make sure his household was represented.
The ceremony had been the primary probability that there had been to host an occasion to rejoice Moss’s life after he handed away in the course of the lockdown restrictions prompted by the Covid pandemic.
Moss’s long-time good friend Jackie Stewart delivered a shifting tribute, bringing with him the unique autograph that he acquired as a child when he attended a race assembly close to the Scottish Borders to fulfill his then-hero.
Stewart defined that Moss’s behaviour of at all times writing his identify in full for autographs was a trait that he revered – and one thing he adopted himself all through his profession as effectively.
He additionally revealed a narrative about how, shortly after profitable the 1973 world championship, he had been stopped by a policeman for dashing in Hyde Park.
After winding down his window, Stewart couldn’t imagine it when the policeman stated to him: ‘Who do you suppose you’re, Stirling Moss?’
Different readings on the service got here from former Autosport editor Simon Taylor, the Duke of Richmond and sportscar legend Derek Bell.
Moss’s son Stirling Elliot Moss additionally learn an extract from a private letter he had from his father.
“Be reminded that all the things price reaching comes at a price,” the letter stated.
“If you’re fortunate, you would possibly by no means get the invoice. However don’t financial institution on it. Earlier than you begin, make sure you’re prepared to pay the value. I used to be, and I did, and I’ve no regrets.”
As Westminster Abbey’s bells rang on the finish of the service, visitors had been handled to a show of a few of Moss’s most well-known vehicles.
This included the long-lasting Mille Miglia-winning Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, which ran with the well-known quantity ‘722’.
Moss gained 16 grands prix throughout his F1 profession however someway by no means managed to win the title. He completed runner-up 4 instances between 1955 and 1961, and was third general on an additional three events.
His F1 profession was lower brief by an accident at Goodwood in 1962 that left him in a coma for a month. Though he managed to make a full restoration, he felt his driving abilities by no means returned to the extent that they had been earlier than the crash so determined in opposition to a comeback.
