Fierce accusation against Jackie Stewart: "Most racist driver I delt with"

F1 News

27 July 2020 at 10:57
15
  • GPblog.com

The discussion about racism and diversity that has been going on for a few months has caused a lot of controversy in Formula 1. This discussion flared up again last week when some former world champions got involved as well. The answer to that shows that the discussion has also hardened in Formula 1.

Lewis Hamilton was the first to reveal before the start of the season that, according to him, Formula 1 lacks diversity and with some incidents in the past, linked the sport to the racism debate.

Last week came a dissent of Old World Champions Mario Andretti and Jackie Stewart, who feel that Hamilton exaggerates. Andretti said he's creating a problem that doesn't exist, and Stewart says it's not so bad. Hamilton, in turn, said that Andretti should educate himself better.

Ribbs hits out at Stewart

Now it's Jackie Stewart's turn to be reprimanded. Willy T Ribbs, the man who was allowed to test as a black driver for Brabham in 1986, doesn't let any grass grow with his words. "He is the most racist and hostile driver I have ever had to deal with in my career. The reason you don't see the diversity problem is because you're the diversity problem."

What experiences Ribbs has with Stewart, he doesn't say. By the time Ribbs started to break through as a driver, Stewart had stopped racing for quite some time. However, the Scotsman was a commentator for the series during the period that Ribbs was driving IndyCar.