Sir John Young "Jackie" Stewart (born 11 June 1939) is a British former racing driver, broadcaster and motorsport executive from Scotland, who competed in Formula One from 1965 to 1973.

Nicknamed "the Flying Scot", Stewart won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with Tyrrell,[b] and—at the time of his retirement—held the records for most wins (27), and podium finishes (43).

His father had been an amateur motorcycle racer,[1] and his brother Jimmy was a racing driver with a local reputation who drove for Ecurie Ecosse and competed in the 1953 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

He experienced learning difficulties owing to undiagnosed dyslexia, and due to the condition not being understood or even widely known at the time, he was regularly berated and humiliated by teachers and peers alike for being "dumb" and "thick".

[2] Stewart was unable to continue his secondary education past the age of 16, and began working in his father's garage as an apprentice mechanic.

On learning that dyslexia can be genetically passed on, and seeing very similar symptoms with his son that he had experienced himself as a child, Stewart asked if he could be tested, and was diagnosed with the disorder, by which time he was 41 years old.

He competed for a place in the British trap shooting team for the 1960 Summer Olympics, but finished third behind Joe Wheater and Brett Huthart.

[2] Stewart's first car was a light green Austin A30 with "real leather [covered] seats" which he purchased shortly before his seventeenth birthday for £375, a detail he was able to recall for an interviewer sixty years later.

In 1962, to help decide if he was ready to become a professional driver, he tested a Jaguar E-type at Oulton Park, matching Roy Salvadori's times in a similar car the year before.

Ken Tyrrell, then running the Formula Junior team for the Cooper Car Company, heard of the young Scotsman from Goodwood's track manager and called up Jimmy Stewart to see if his younger brother was interested in a tryout.

[6] Within days, he was offered a F1 ride with Cooper but declined, preferring to gain experience under Tyrrell; he failed to win just two races (one to clutch failure, one to a spin) in becoming F3 champion.

[6] After running John Coombs' E-type and practising in a Ferrari at Le Mans, Stewart took a trial in an F1 Lotus 33-Climax, in which he impressed Colin Chapman and Jim Clark.

His first major competition victory came in the BRDC International Trophy in the late spring, and before the end of the year he won his first World Championship race at Monza, fighting wheel-to-wheel with teammate Hill's P261.

He also piloted Tyrrell's unsuccessful F2 Cooper T75-BRM, and drove the Rover Company's revolutionary turbine car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside Graham Hill.

At the start of the 1966 season, Stewart won the Tasman Series from his BRM teammate Graham Hill in two-litre BRMs and also raced closely with his great rival and friend Jim Clark who was somewhat disadvantaged by an unreliable Lotus 39 which was let down by its old 2.5-litre Climax engine.

BRM's fortunes did not improve in 1967 despite closely contesting the Tasman Series with Jim Clark, who probably raced closer and harder with him than at any time in their careers.

[16][17] At Spa-Francorchamps in 1966, Stewart ran off the track while driving at 165 mph (266 km/h) in heavy rain, and crashed into a telephone pole and a shed before coming to rest in a farmer's outbuilding.

"[19] Stewart campaigned with Louis Stanley (BRM team boss) for improved emergency services and better safety barriers around race tracks.

"[20] As a stop-gap measure, Stewart hired a private doctor to be at all his races, and taped a spanner to the steering shaft of his BRM in case it would be needed again.

Some drivers and press members believed the safety improvements for which Stewart advocated detracted from the sport, while track owners and race organizers baulked at the extra costs.

"[21] In 1964, Jackie Stewart, a prominent advocate for safer racing cars and circuits in Formula One, embarked on a noteworthy partnership with the Ford Motor Company.

His firsthand knowledge of high-performance vehicles and the unique challenges faced on the racetrack proved crucial in guiding Ford's efforts to enhance their cars.

Through this collaboration, Stewart not only helped advance the safety and performance standards of Ford's vehicles but also reinforced his commitment to improving automotive technology and innovation.

He was noted for his insightful analysis, Scottish accent, and rapid delivery, which once caused ABC's lead sports commentator Jim McKay to remark that Stewart spoke almost as fast as he drove.

Stewart revealed in his book that "Wide World of Sports began to lose its soul when ABC first merged with ESPN and then with Capital Cities, prompting severe headcount cuts and reduced budgets."

[24] Nicknamed "The Flying Scot",[25][26] Stewart received Sports Illustrated magazine's 1973 "Sportsman of the Year" award, the only auto racer to have won the title.

[28] In 1998 Stewart received an honorary doctorate from Cranfield University where he later served as chairman of the steering committee for the MSc Motorsport Engineering and Management.

[34] He assumed the role after previously announced Grand Marshal A. J. Foyt was forced to cancel his visit due to complications from his recent knee surgery.

[36] Objective mathematical models,[37][38] such as Eichenberger and Stadelmann (2009, 4th), original F1metrics (2014, 2nd),[39] Bell et al. (2015, 4th), FiveThirtyEight (2018, 20th), and updated F1metrics (2019, 2nd), put Stewart consistenly among the greatest Formula One drivers ever.

[47] In a 2009 interview, and in the book, he discusses his close relationship with his older brother Jimmy, who was also a successful racing driver in his youth but had a long struggle with alcoholism.