As a young aspiring racer on the verge of switching to cars many years ago, the two senior figures who always stood apart for me were Stirling Moss and Jackie Stewart. Long beyond their racing careers, both continued to operate effectively as commercial animals, and they did that with a great zest for life and a sense of elegance.

As well as inspiring me, Stirling has done the same for several generations of racing drivers. As president of the BRDC I can see his influence today in our members, and I know that will continue in the future. He came to symbolise the very special essence of British motor racing.

I think I first met Stirling when I was competing in Formula Ford and he was always very gracious – he gave you a sense that you were part of his club, simply because you were a budding racer. He never made you feel as though you were anything other than a younger version of what he had been. He remained very passionate about the sport, had a great presence about him and was one of those genuine larger-than-life characters.

It seems to me that he represented the dawn of the professional racing driver, the way he switched from car to car and category to category, winning at every level and in lots of different disciplines. He came from a time when some drivers were against the idea of seatbelts – or even crash helmets! – but back then they would rather be thrown clear than strapped in after an accident, in case the thing caught fire.

I know this might seem anathema to the modern world, but things were very different in his day…

When lists of the all-time greats are produced, there aren’t many drivers who are always placed on the same pedestal as the world champions, without having won the title themselves, but Stirling’s name is always there. He had an absolutely incredible career and helped inspire the notion of what a racing driver could and should be for future generations.

After I had made it to Formula 1, I spent a lot of time doing events with him – particularly when I was racing for McLaren, when the two of us were both Mercedes ambassadors – and one of the things that will always stick with me is sharing a car with him on a stage during a Mille Miglia retrospective.

Seeing those roads and knowing about the heroics he performed on them – 1000 miles in just over 10 hours – was pretty mind-blowing.

I also remember being with him at an early Goodwood dinner hosted by Lord March, as he was then known. At one point it was suggested that the gentlemen might like to retire to the library for cigars, to which Stirling’s response was, “Bugger that, I’ll stay here with all the totty…” There’s no question that he came from an era that combined professionalism and commitment with glamour.

David Coulthard