ANDRETTI & STEWART
“You have to be able to adapt. To find the limit of every race car”
“All-rounders are special. Just because you’re a good road racer doesn’t mean you’ll do well at Indy...”
Back in what some like to call the ‘good old days’ racing driver were freelancers, heroes for hire, hustling a grand prix car round Monte Carlo one weekend and taking a Lotus Cortina by the scruff of the neck the next.
Unlike today where specialisation is key, to be a racing driver half a generation ago you had – almost by definition – to be an all-rounder. One who could adapt their style to whatever machinery was available.
But to dominate across multiple disciplines was still rare. To move between such different cars successfully you needed to have been born with exceptional natural talent, a God-given ability to win granted to just a few drivers in each generation. Such men speak of being able to feel what a car is doing at any given moment, to anticipate its foibles and instantly react to both car and conditions. They might also need a capacity for long-distance travel, to capture the rewards.
Most racing fans will have their own shortlist of such multi-talented drivers but Sir Jackie Stewart and Mario Andretti surely exemplify the skills required to win in so many different arenas.
To celebrate this month’s cover story we asked these two legends of the sport to tell us what makes a great all-rounder, what it takes to win, whatever the weather, on everything from streets, to ovals and traditional circuits.
“It’s all about
