ESPN F1 Editor Laurence Edmondson explains why Stirling Moss never drove for Ferrari in Formula 1:
In 1951, at the age of 20, Stirling Moss — who died aged 90 on 12 April 2020 — embarked on one of the most pivotal journeys of his career.
After considerable success in junior categories, he was invited to Bari by Enzo Ferrari to race in a handful of events to assess his ability. However, the trip did not go to plan and the outcome shaped the rest of his Formula One career – right up until the moment it ended with a huge head-on impact at Goodwood over 10 years later.
“When you’re 20 years old and you’re asked to go to meet Ferrari you just cross yourself and face Modena. It’s a big deal,” Moss told ESPN several years ago. “Ferrari called me down to southern Italy to drive the new four-cylinder that had been designed for use in Formula Two.
“I went down there and found the car in a garage. I got in and an engineer came over to me and said: ‘What are you doing?’ I said: ‘I’m Stirling Moss and I’m driving this,’ to which he quickly replied: ‘No you’re not, Piero Taruffi is’.
“That really pissed me off. Taruffi was a nice guy and a good driver, but Enzo Ferrari had simply changed his mind without telling me. At that point I vowed to myself that I would never race for him and I never did.”
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