08/07/2023
NEWS STORY
Three-time world champion, Sir Jackie Stewart has revealed that he recently suffered a stroke.
The legendary Scot retired in 1973, on the cusp of his 100th Grand Prix start, following the horrific death of his teammate, Francois Cevert, during qualifying for the United States Grand Prix.
Stewart had already informed his wife Helen that he was to retire at the end of the season, but the death of his friend and teammate caused him to literally walk away from the sport in the middle of a race weekend.
Initially after retiring he took up a role as a commentator, whilst still continuing the work he had begun while still racing, that of seeking to make the sport more safe.
Over the years he took on various ambassadorial roles for leading sponsors, whilst also helping his son Paul build the Stewart Grand Prix team that was to eventually morph into Jaguar and then Red Bull.
He is the oldest surviving world champion.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the Scot revealed that shortly after the Miami Grand Prix, while attending the wedding of Crown Prince Hussein in Jordan, he suffered a stroke.
"This was the night before the wedding," he said. "I got up in the night feeling strange. I just dropped. And then I can't remember. I was unconscious for quite a long time.
"I was taken to hospital in Jordan," he continued. "My son Paul and his wife were there for the wedding, in a bedroom on a different floor. To this day I don't know how I got to Paul's room, but I must have been somewhat alert to get hold of him. They got me into an ambulance, but I have no recall of that either. His Majesty got the best doctors available for me.
"I wanted to get home as fast as possible, and the Crown Prince of Bahrain very generously gave his aircraft to fly me back to Europe. By then I was pretty much okay. I wasn't walking very well though."
The Scot, who is back in the paddock at Silverstone this weekend, cites his heavy travel schedule as a contributing factor to his stroke.
"I am now doing a lot of physiotherapy and I can walk almost completely perfectly," he said. "Everything's going well, I am going to Silverstone for two days this weekend."
Alongside his various other commitments, Stewart runs the Race Against Dementia charity which he set up in 2018 after it was revealed that his wife was suffering the disease.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Silverstone here.