Jackie Stewart knows what he's talking about. He raced at a time when the average F1 driver had a 1 in 3 chance of dying during a race weekend and lost one of his dearest friends & teammate Francois Cevert to a horrific accident at Watkins Glenn in 1973 after which he retired and became a thorn in the FIA's side by co-founding the Formula One Drivers Association whose sole purpose was to push for safety improvements in F1 both for tracks and cars. He helped make F1 a safer form of racing.

This is a man who knows what it is like to lose good friends to accidents in motorsport. When it has come to safety advocacy, Jackie is second to none.

Jackie made racing safer without being a nanny or a hand wringing whiner. Jackie did what he did from his heart and a true love of Formula-1 racing. A true Man among Men.

To all the ppl calling him a "arrogant European", he isn't saying anything that the Indycar drivers themselves weren't already saying BEFORE the race at Las Vegas. None wanted that race but did it anyway bc they were loyal to the series. But none of them were happy about it. Too many cars on a short high-banked track. Not a good decision at all to race there with open wheel cars.

I have always thought of Jackie as one of the smartest people in the sport. He has always been an advocate for safety.

Sir Jackie Stewart is the safety advocate ever since 1970's...if he could extended his safety awareness around world of motorsports

4:35 He just walks around all day every day knowing exactly how many days since Senna's crash in 94. That's amazing.

Thank you for the upload. I'll get this in before anyone's tempted to troll. Jackie Stewart's opinion comes from his experience. If you want to see where this comes from, search for, and watch "BBC Grand Prix - The Killer Years". Watch it all, and see how far we've come, and realise how far we have to go. Then post. RIP Dan. You were a wonderful ambassador for British motorsport.

Jackie Stewart is an icon in motor racing . The keys very smart man when it comes to things like this . And he perfectly understands the reasons it happen

Great interview by Mr. Stewart. No radical opinions or telling IndyCar what to do, just providing insight that only he could have.

Well said, Jackie Stewart and Francois Cevert were really good mates. When Cevert was killed Stewart had raced 99 GP races. He never raced again after his friends death.In those days F1 racing claimed many lives. RIP Francois Cevert.

Jackie is and always has been pure class.

Brilliant man, brilliant F1 racer. Indy too.

The main difference between Indy and Las Vegas, Indy actually has 4 turns. Vegas along with most other ovals are true ovals. An oval is actually egg shaped. The one thing that he forgot to mention is Indy cars aren't the ultimate goal for racers here. Very few racers start out on asphalt road courses. Instead they are running either sprint cars or some type of late model on dirt. The main problem with our racing as compared to UK racing is we want to race every week and there isn't enough money to support that much racing if you travel. I am 65 and have seen the popularity of Indy cars totally do a 180 for lack of American drivers. Indy has raced under the banners of USAC, CART, Indy racing league and now the Izod indy cars. I can see how an owner like Roger penske or the half dozen billionaires that it takes, would be skeptical on taking a chance on a driver with little or no experience. Everybody has their own favorite type car but there are probably some form of bomber class first, then sprint cars. Back to the point. You can't expect a successful season when you can't have race teams that can afford to travel. Road racing never has been as popular as oval track racing because for years you got your ride by working your way up through the ranks. When you only have a half dozen owners that can afford travel expenses, let alone field a team, there is not road racing circuit that will survive. Now, the drivers want to prove what they can do. They pick the most dangerous car there is, a sprint car, win a ton of races. Find your own sponsor, then go to an owner and ask to drive his car. Every year there are winning drivers that are replaced in NASCAR even, because the owners and sponsors want a young driver to represent their product. I don't see any way of saving Indy car racing in the US. I live in central oklahoma. The next closest oval track is Texas, next kansas city, these are 300 miles from where I live. I used that because it would be the easiest place to come from. Iowa has an oval but it is 15 miles from arguably the best dirt track in the country. If you asked any person off the street, who were 5 Indy Car or formula 1 racers and they couldn't but they could easily name 5 NASCAR drivers. I hate to rant but when people don't care about the race and we need huge teams to just field the 500, we are whipping a dead horse. When everyone is losing money nobody wants to run the cost up. Actually, out tracks do have very good safety hospitals on the track premisses and helicopters to fly farther if needed. When the wrong person gets killed or seriously injured here, NASCAR dos something to improve safety, but not until.

It's scary to read some of the comments below me, just how ill-informed, uneducated & over-opinionated on motorsport can some individuals be...??? I'll stick with & agree 100% with a guy who's been there..done it..seen it..won it..all at first hand...Sir JYS.

The voice of reason in this sport.

When Jackie "The Flying Scot" Stewart has something to say about motorsports, you should listen... it's usually important

The one and only Graham Hill: Monaco F1 GP; Indy 500; 24 h Le Mans. Three times crowned!!!

you cant disagree with Jackie Stewart.

i love the way educated british people talk...sounds so sophisticated

This is the first time I have seen Jackie since the 1970s when I was a child. Good to see/hear him again.

Jackie Stewart was the best analyst in the history of auto racing on TV. I only wish he had come out of retirement to have done Fox's coverage of NASCAR.

Jackie just oozes class.

It's a shame Wheldon didnt drive in F1. I think he would have adapted well. We'll never know now sadly

Exactly why Stewart had no interest in returning to racing. After three world championships he got out alive and wanted to keep it that way.

Perfect guy to give a perspective. Jackie has seen and been through alot in his career, and was a pioneer in racing safety.

I really enjoy listening to Sir Jackie speak.

Jackie Stewart should replace Bernie Ecclestone as president and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration!

That is a widespread urban legend. The pole in Suzuka has always been on the dirty side of the track up to that time. Senna and Berger visited the stewards together on Saturday morning BEFORE the qualifying and asked them to put the pole on the racing line. Their request was REJECTED right on the spot. Senna was NEVER guaranteed the pole position on the racing line, NEVER. Jo Ramirez and even Ron Dennis confirmed this fact many times, stop falling for cheap hero-making marketing.

Jackie Stewart truly one of the all time greats…when he speaks about motor racing…you listen.

Does the news anchor think that the US is stuck in the stone age? She's shocked that we have high speed racing and thinks the safety is horrible.

Totally agreed. It's quite unbelievable that there are people that would go that low.

Sir Jackie Stewart raced in F1 at a time when the chances of getting killed during a race weekend were as high as 1 in 3. After his team mate and best friend Francois Cevert was killed at Watkins Glenn in 1971 in a hideous accident where his body was bisected by an improperly installed steel guard rail he immediately retired from racing and dedicated himself to being an activist for driver and circuit safety becoming one of the founding members of the Formula One Drivers Association.

Jackie must be president of the Fia.He is a great man!!!

I love Jackie!!! really a legend!!

Reporter reads question....Reporter reads next question.... Reporter reads next question....

because he speaks the truth and the truth isnt/wasnt always popular to hear

"...Certain tracks of certain lengths should only have a certain number of cars driving." One car per four hundred feet of track; 5,280 feet x 2.5 (miles circumference) = 13,200 feet, which when / 400 feet per car is...33 starters. The American Automobile Association Contest Board, the ancient-original sanctioning body for American motorsport from its inception to the end of the 1955 season, mandated this rule: in 1912.

Yes James0555,"Grand Prix - The Killer Years" is an eye opening look back at what I once thought was my favorite Formula One decade. One sad image that I didn't know till watching orchose not to remember, was that Jim Clark, like alot of drivers of that era, was not wearing seat belts and was consequently thrown from the car on impact with the tree.

start from the racing line side and not from the dirty side. But of course, this was out of the question. What he did was disgusting and dangerous - and anyone in their right mind wouldn't dare to compare this accident with the one from the previous year. That happened at 60 km/h with no other cars around, in the last laps of the race, meaning almost empty fuel tanks. Senna deliberately crashed at over 180 kp/h, with 200 liters of extra flammable fuel in each cars, having the whole pack

I went to Indy one time. It was the first USGP in 2000. I was totally flabbergasted by what a DUMP the surrounding area of the track was. The Indianapollis Speedway is smack dab in the middle of a S**thole industrial. Park. Lime Rock is one of the most beautiful places to see racing in the world. It is my most visited track. I have lived most of my life in CT or western MA. My only other F1 experience was at Zandvoort.1983. Nice place but still not beautifful like Lime Rock. I imagine Watkins Glen and Road America are equally beautiful places as Lime Rock but less brutal to race on. I still wonder why Jackie didn't return to F1 wih the advent of carbon fiber chassis and much better safety in the late 70s

@Joescuderia You are right, he should definitely be FIA president, he has always put safety first....with out him F1 would still be a death trap.

The Killer Years was a great documentary. Chilling what Stewart's generation (and the ones before them) had to work with when it came to safety.

Jackie Stewart is far too smart a man for the job. He knows better.

If Vegas were at 2 degrees of banking all around, this accident would not have happened. It’s because of the banking, not the length. IndyCar races at Iowa every year, which is less than a mile long. It’s the progressive banking, which makes three or even four lines around each corner feasible, that did it. Kentucky has steady 17° banking around the turns and that’s somewhat safer than Vegas.

I agree with some of his statements about safety, but to say most of the Indycar champions have been produced by British racing is kinda arrogant. F1 only became safe when the tracks were redesigned or dropped of the schedule for safety sake. Please stop trying to compare 2 different forms of racing. F1 in 60's,70's, 80's and part of 90's was great racing were the driver could make a difference. Now it's just a engineering competition example being Jenson Button being a non-factor until Brawn.

"Before the practice, he [Senna] and Berger had already asked the stewards of the race to change the grid, with Prost's knowledge, as Prost was unconcerned with it. However, the stewards declined to comply." Jo Ramirez: Memoirs of a racing man, page 196. Cheap myth that Senna was guaranteed the grid change but then "the FIA fucked him and put him in the dirty side of the track". Had he not been driven by his enormous ego, he would have let Prost getting the pole hence allowing himself to

He dont do politics.

of 28 other cars screaming down the corner behind them, also carrying 200 liters of fuel each. They could have been killed. Gos knows what could have happened if some 3-4 other cars would have crashed out in the gravel trap because of the tumultuous nature of a fast first corner of a Formula 1 race. Senna might have been a brilliant driver, but he also was a horrible, ruthless, angry, obsessed and dangerous competitor - willing to kill or to be killed and using his car as a weapon.

You are incorrect sir. They do indeed reach speeds of well over 220MPH. You are comparing road cars with racing cars. They do not drive road cars at these races.

I think the main diference is average speed for ovals is obviously much higher but, F1 cars have hit 230mph on some tracks like Monza.

*Continued* Championship Cars have always been the most technologically advanced form of auto racing in the United States, and are fundamentally designed to maintain extremely high speeds for much longer periods of time, per the nature of oval courses, than F1 cars, at the cost of considerably less performance than the F1s on road and street courses. Regarding any scale of "class rating" on the cars, the 1950s through 1970s saw numerous F1 chassis be entered in American events, on equal terms.

what was the question the Stewart was ask just before the clip started?

He didn't like some of the things that Ayrton did on track (like ramming Alain Prost off the track at Suzuka in 1990) but never said anything negative about the man himself.

I find it very weird how she asked how the safety measures compared to Formula 1, then Jackie went on this rant about how Britain has bred some of the best drivers in the world

Why Jackie is not the president of the FIA yet?

the indy cars have the top speed and the F-1 has the cornering advatage is the basic anwser to the question at 26 seconds

There hasn't been an F1 race at Imola for years?

I was at long beach cal. at the Indy car race in the nineties I was talking to a tech guy he said the Indy and f1 cars were airplanes with wheels and they are getting faster every year and sanctioning body IRL would have to slow them down eventually

only the greatest driver around !!

He makes great points

This interview was just after the accident, so I'd give Jackie a bit of a pass on not knowing all the details of the new DW12 at that point.

@James0555 Very well said .

its sad he counts the years and months since the last death in f1 and not long after this jules dies

Can we just remember Wheldon when watching videos like this instead of these petty F1 vs Ovals arguments, there's a time and a place for that and this isn't it!

The ignorance of motorsport of the Sky personality hurts the interview despite Jackie being on-point throughout. Jackie KNOWS American open-wheel racing, as he was a fixture for many years doing the broadcasts for ABC during the season. Anyway, networks would be better served to have an enthusiast do the interviews.

This reporter says that Indycars are faster than Formula 1 cars. That's like saying NHRA cars are faster than Indycars... It's apples and oranges

Yes I'm aware of that, hence my comment about her trying to compare Indycars to F1 machines..it's idiotic

they dont compare, response to steering inputs, throttle and braking are night and day different

Jackie should have won Indianapolis the first year he did it. He lost an engine in the last 10 laps while leading.

Jackie Stewart as consise as ever, on sad day, sir Jackie has plenty sad days, I still pass his dad's garage at Dumbuck rgds Colin Runciman.

Reporter kind of doesn't have any idea what shes asking..

he was for a couple of years

If I could get the thought of mechanical failure out of the back of my mind, somehow be assured of sound machine, I'd be just fine..

Yeah, he did that right there and then, kudos

He was a great driver

Not sure about the new car's safety since Marco's accident.

Guessing you new to this whole car thing yeah?

Americans love the kinds of motorsport where they can see all the cars pretty much all the time. Build a big loop, build a grandstand around the loop, cram people into it and stick way too many really fast cars on the loop.

F1 would actually be exciting again if he was.

RIP

he's a real pundit in racing motosport

With pleasure, and you stick to turning left.

I'm sorry do you not remember the 1980s? 1500BHP 1.5l V6 Turbos...

These are ovals too. No sharp turns to slow for.

Dude indycars range around 190-235 on the vegas track. and average around 225. Nascar cup cars averages 206 at michigan where they go 185-220 around the track.

no

St Leon Armenian church’s Leon Armenian church

Nascar rases there but not a high speed

F1 cars r faster but only when step up for an oval....

Indycar has done nothing to reduce speeds. Even now they are still racing at Indy at speeds in exess of 220 mph. All it takes is a series of events to propel a car into the fence, and we could very well have another accident similar to that of Dan Wheldon. With open cockpits there is always a risk of the driver being seriously injured or killed.

Indy Cars are NOT QUICKER than F1 cars. They are built for higher top speed but are nowhere near as quick in acceleration

This reporter has no idea what she is talking about, but I always like hearing Jackie comment on safety in motor sports even if I usually disagree with him to some extent.

/watch?v=DF8GTL0_rMA go watch that. 241mph average at california in CART.

While there were some drivers with limited experience, everyone had driven in at least one other IndyCar race that season. IndyCar actually has a seldom used 105% rule during the race (see DiSilvestro and Alesi getting the black flag after 10 laps in this year's 500 when they were about to get lapped). But there was only 1 second difference over a 2-lap run in qualifying between 1-34. A 102% rule would have kept everyone in. The cars never had the chance to spread out.

Am a big F1 fan an over the years since 2001 F1 has changed ALOT, Engine size first V12 then 3.0L V10 then 2.4L V8 now 1.6L V6 Turbo its getting to the point of theres no speed at all :( an this is the future??? No. Comon bernie bring back the V10's an V12's!!

The Indy cars are now safer. He forgot to mention or he didnt know that the new indy cars is a hell of a lot safer and would have saved Dan Wheldon's life. The rear wheels on the new car are now enclosed or technically u can call them rear fenders. So dan wouldnt have launched like he did if they had rear fenders.

he's right. american racing is entertainment 1st. and safety 10th.

part of the thrill of racing is that its dangerous and making the cars safer and safer and safer just ruins it eventually... it ruined nascar

fire is too dangerous for firefighters, concussions are to dangerous for football players, come on.... they know the risks and drivers are rewarded for taking those risks.Slow the down?!? Ludicrous