Jackie Stewart recalls the ‘genius’ way his wife helped him to win three F1 titles

Jackie Stewart is a legend in Formula 1 and raced during a bygone period of the sport when safety was often an afterthought.

The period during the 60s and 70s when Stewart raced was particularly lethal, with him and his wife Lady Helen Stewart counting at least 57 deaths among drivers they knew in motorsport.

Among those was Jim Clark whom Stewart felt was his best competitor during his time racing in F1. Stewart’s own career was ended in 1973 when he won his third and final title, following the death of teammate Francois Cevert.

F1 was not at the same safety standards as it is today, and Stewart was a big driver in helping to improve safety despite some opposition.

His wife also played a key trackside role in his career, which the three-time champion detailed on the latest F1 Explains podcast.

Jackie Stewart details how ‘genius’ wife used to be his timekeeper

Wives and girlfriends are often seen at the back of garages in F1 these days on the TV coverage, but they played a very different role back in Stewart’s day.

Stewart: “She [Helen Stewart] was my timekeeper. She was my lap charter while I was a Grand Prix racing driver. In those days, the wives or the girlfriends, and sometimes the girlfriends and the wives, did what was necessary to get the information in on timing and lap charting.

Hegwill: “And they kept your lap data, didn’t they? They timed your laps.”

Stewart: “Absolutely. Helen was an absolute genius at it, as was Damon Hill’s mother and father.

“And now, I have to say, when I’m looking at the television set and I see always one of the wives or the fathers or the mums sitting in the back at the garage. Well, we didn’t have that. They were right on the race track.”

When did F1 first have timekeepers?

These days, F1 now uses a sophisticated system that includes timing loops embedded into the track which communicate with each car’s transponder.

This allows for accurate timing of lap times and segments throughout a lap, down to the mini-sectors, which can be used to determine where a driver is losing speed.

It is also built into the FIA marshalling systems, with live timing data transmitted to each pit wall and through the TV broadcast.

F1 did not have an official timekeeper until 1982 when Italian computer brand Olivetti and Longines became the sponsors through to the 1991 season.

In the early 90s, they were replaced by TAG Heuer, before it was moved to LG and then Rolex in the 2000s. In 2025, Rolex was replaced by the TAG Heuer brand once again after a multi-million pound deal with LVMH.