Between 1968 and 1973 Jackie Stewart won 25 world championship races and three drivers’ titles. Ferrari only won eight point-paying Grand Prix races during that period, but things could have been different if plans for 1968 had gone the way Enzo Ferrari intended.
During his unsuccessful 1967 campaign at BRM, Stewart made an allegedly secret visit to Maranello to discuss a possible deal.
“It was like Star Wars compared to any F1 operation anywhere,” recalls Stewart. “I was impressed but I didn’t know what to do so I said I would think about it.
“He wanted me to drive both F2 and F1 and I said, ‘I drive for Ken Tyrrell’. He said he would give us the engines if I wanted to drive the Matra but he needed it to be red. I said “It’s blue, and we agreed it would be blue below and red above. That was a big deal.”
Before anything was signed, Stewart traveled with his Matra teammate Jacky Ickx to a European F2 lap in Enna-Pergusa – who asked if he would accept the Ferrari offer. Stewart was shocked to find that Ickx had also been approached.
“I said, ‘Well, in that case, you should take the ride because I’m not going to take it,'” says Stewart.
“I was scared of Ferrari. I knew their reputation and their history with the drivers. Shell wanted me to do it and it was good money, but it was an instant thing.
“I called Franco Gozzi and told him the deal wasn’t right. He said, ‘But you shook hands with Il Commendatore’. And I said, ‘Yes, and he shook mine, but now Jacky Ickx is telling me that he was offered my ride’. He said, ‘There must be a mistake’. I said, ‘Well, it’s a mistake that tells me not to drive for Ferrari.’ “
Stewart decided not to accept Ferrari’s offer and cleared the way for Ickx – but it turned out to be a hidden blessing for the Belgian
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Ickx actually went to Ferrari while Stewart, Matra and Tyrrell teamed up and narrowly missed the 1968 F1 crown before dominating the following year. When Ferrari won its next title, Stewart had won two more championships with Tyrrell and retired. But what if he signed it?
First, it is quite possible that without Stewart, Ken Tyrrell would never have formed his team of the same name, which means that one of the big brands in F1, let alone cars like the P34 six-wheeler, would not have existed.
PLUS: The secret Tyrrell who started an F1 dynasty
Stewart’s career could also have been more difficult. Up-and-coming star Ickx won the French GP in 1968 and teammate Chris Amon ran more laps than anyone other than Stewart and Graham Hill that season, but bad luck prevented a title challenge.
The 1969 season was a bad one for Ferrari as Chris Amon achieved his only podium – Ickx thrived by moving to Brabham for a season – and while the 1970 312B was a better deal than the March 701 Stewart, Ferrari returnees could Ickx ‘After the Lotus driver’s death in Monza, he was unable to make up the point he was behind on Jochen Rindt.
Ickx’s time at Ferrari after that was largely frustrating, but could Stewart have been a galvanic force, like Niki Lauda after Stewart retired? It’s impossible to tell, but this is probably one of the what-ifs of motorsport where the driver made the right call.
Ferrari certainly had more to contend with without Stewart than Stewart without Ferrari.
Three world titles with Tyrrell meant Stewart had no reason to regret Ferrari’s rejection
Photo by: Motorsport Images
The post When Stewart turned down Ferrari’s F1 advances first appeared on monter-une-startup.
