A driven man

Who is Sir Jackie Stewart? It is not a question that is asked all that often. After all, there aren't many places on this planet where people haven't heard about the achievements of the legendary Scottish racing driver. While we've heard all about his exploits on the track however, not so much is known about Jackie the man.

Beneath the tartan helmet, long hair and sideburns lay a man still defined by his brutal schooldays in Dumbuck, Scotland. Behind the tales of races won there was a person with severe dyslexia and an extraordinary determination to succeed; a man who shot for his country; became the first millionaire racing driver and later the archetypal international businessman.

Sir Jackie has always been much more than just a racing driver; he is in the words of Murray Walker OBE, "the greatest motor racing personality of all time."

The story of Stewart the man must begin with his home life. Like his compatriot and rival Jim Clark, and protégé David Coulthard, Stewart was no son of the soil. His father owned a successful garage and although the family weren't rich, they were comfortable.

But while 'wee Jackie' enjoyed tinkering with the cars in his father's workshop, his schooldays were not happy. Unable to read or write properly, Stewart was dismissed as stupid and told to apply himself. He admits it was 'destructive, mentally abusive', and the worst time of his life.

It wasn't until his youngest son, Mark, experienced similar learning difficulties that he discovered the root of his problems. Both were diagnosed as dyslexic and to this day, Jackie can't recite the alphabet or remember the words to the national anthem. If this period in his life was unhappy, then it also motivated him to succeed. Stewart has always been a man on a mission but the arrogant streak that defines many sporting champions is absent.

In the documentary Jackie Stewart: The Flying Scot, which was produced by Mark, Stewart said, "Some people believe they've got to think of themselves as the best to succeed. I never thought that. I was always thinking I wasn't going to win. I thought that everyone else was better than me."

Several other early influences also impacted on Stewart's later life. His brother Jimmy, eight years his senior, raced for the Ecurie Ecosse team in the 1950s. The young Jackie followed him to races and his brother's 'exotic' lifestyle appealed. Jimmy Stewart was also accident-prone and after one crash too many, he gave up the sport under pressure from his mother. The two brothers have remained close and when Jimmy became an alcoholic after the failure of his second marriage, it was Jackie who provided him with the financial and psychological support needed to make a full recovery.

Their mother, Jeannie, was a matriarch with a nervous disposition. When Jackie first raced, he used the pseudonym A.N Other to escape her attention. Only when his wedding was announced in the local press did his mother read of an 'up and coming racing driver'. She never forgave Jackie's lies and never acknowledged his success. Years later, Jackie would be faced with a similar dilemma when his son, Paul, declared his ambitions to be a racer. Reluctantly however, he threw the weight of the Stewart brand behind his son's ambitions.

It's well documented that Stewart's first major success was in the field of clay pigeon shooting, where he discovered the hand-eye coordination that would serve him so well on the racetracks of the world. He became Scottish, British and then European and Mediterranean champion and was a shoo-in for the 1960 Rome Olympics. But in the trial, he inexplicably lost his rhythm and missed out on selection by a single shot. It was a 'terrible blow' but it also taught him to be philosophical in the face of disappointment.

The final piece in Jackie's personal jigsaw was provided by his wife, Helen. The two met at Dino's Radio Café when Jackie was supposed to be on a blind date with a different girl. Seduced by the 17-year-old Stewart's charm and impeccable manners, Helen has been by his side ever since. This stability has been a key component in his success.

It is these elements, sprinkled with a healthy portion of good luck, that have contributed to the legend of Jackie Stewart. In the early 1960s, he'd become the dominant British club driver of his generation and by 1965, Stewart was a Formula One driver.

World Championships came thick and fast in 1969, 1971 and 1973, but behind the silky smooth style was a man interested in doing far more than driving round in circles, however quickly.

One incident in particular acted as an epiphany for the Scot. On 12 June 1966, Stewart crashed at a soaking wet Spa-Francorchamps. His BRM hit a ditch, leaving Jackie trapped inside. Worse still, the fuel tanks ruptured and Stewart found himself sitting waist deep in oil. He sat in this precarious position for 25 minutes until team-mate Graham Hill managed to extricate him. As if all this wasn't bad enough, when the ambulance finally arrived, its part-time driver got lost on the way to the hospital; it wasn't until a private jet flew Stewart back to the UK that he received proper treatment.

Back then, death in Formula One was almost accepted. "You lived with the knowledge that Jackie could walk out of the door one day and never come back," says Helen Stewart. "Almost every season a few drivers died, and I watched their families being destroyed, knowing it could be us next." Of the 19 drivers who lined up with Stewart for his first grand prix in January 1965, nine, including such iconic names as Jochen Rindt, Bruce McLaren and Clark, failed to survive their racing careers.

Stewart thought the situation 'ridiculous' and set about changing it. Through the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA), Stewart campaigned to improve safety, introducing on-site medical facilities and improved communications. It was a controversial crusade that saw him branded a 'wimp', but it was of long lasting benefit to the sport. In 2001, the Jaguar F1 driver and Stewart protégé Luciano Burti was involved in a monumental accident at Spa, but prompt medical attention saved him from serious injury. Thirty years earlier, he would almost certainly have been killed.

The skill with which Stewart set about improving safety standards also revealed much about his business acumen. Ken Tyrrell, the team owner with whom Stewart formed such a dominant partnership, once claimed that Stewart was "the best racing driver today and as a businessman, he is even better." Among other things, these comments were prompted by the fact that the young Scot had turned down a five-year contract with Tyrrell when he first entered Formula One, opting instead for a one-year deal. Later Stewart would also turn down the chance to drive for Enzo Ferrari, fearing the effects of the politicking that dogged the scuderia. He was every bit the canny Scot.

What's more Stewart 'loved the loot' and like George Best, was one of the first sports stars to fully realise his marketing potential. He carefully cultivated the Stewart brand, developing relationships with blue chip companies like Moet & Chandon, Rolex and Ford that would survive for several decades. It is to his credit that more than 30 years after his retirement, the Stewart 'trademark' remains as potent as ever.

Despite this, his business acumen, contacts book and personal will were tested to the limit in 1996, when in partnership with son Paul, Jackie decided to set up his own grand prix team, Stewart Grand Prix. To establish a team from scratch in just a year was the toughest challenge of Jackie's life and a severe test of the father-son relationship.

"I knew I was in a privileged position," says Paul. "There was no shortage of people who wanted to set up a team with Jackie Stewart. Working so closely together as father and son created tension between us but there were never any long-lasting difficulties. I take enormous pride in the fact that we created something special." In only the team's fifth race at Monaco, Rubens Barrichello finished second and two years later, Stewart scored its maiden victory when Johnny Herbert won the European Grand Prix at the new Nürburgring.

Even though Stewart claimed that this win gave him a thrill that surpassed his world championship wins, by then, Stewart Grand Prix had already been sold to Ford. Paul and Jackie reckoned they'd taken the team as far as they could and left the arena with a handsome profit. For 2000, the team was rebranded as Jaguar racing and in 2005 it became Red Bull Racing.

The strain of operating in the so-called 'Piranha Club' of Formula One had taken its toll on father and son. In April 2000, Paul Stewart was diagnosed with cancer, made worse by the stress of running the team. " I knew that it greatly affected my father," recalls Paul, "because I know what kind of man he is. But I also knew I had my own emotional journey to go through."

Jackie's concerns were compounded in autumn 2001 when Helen Stewart developed breast cancer. As if things couldn't get any worse, in November 2002, Jackie himself had an operation to remove a melanoma from his left cheek. Cancer had now struck the family three times and it tested the famous Stewart resolve to the maximum. It led to a reappraisal of priorities and a slight reduction in Jackie's notorious workload. "Nothing matters more than to have a family to love you back," he said.

Time has mellowed him a little but it's clear that beneath the trappings of fame, Stewart remains the fiercely ambitious lad from a Scottish village. "If I stop there would be a currency that isn't being used," he says. "As long as I know I still have something to deliver and I get satisfaction from delivering, I will continue. I know there is still something out there I have to do."