This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
This article has been automatically rated by a bot or other tool as Stub-class because it uses a stub template. Please ensure the assessment is correct before removing the |auto= parameter.
This article is part of WikiProject Formula One, an attempt to improve and standardize articles related to Formula One, including drivers, teams and constructors, events and history. Feel free to join the project and help with any of the tasks or consult the project page for further information.
This article has been given a rating which conflicts with the project-independent quality rating in the banner shell. Please resolve this conflict if possible.
Some thought wild willy had the potential to be a great driver.Louis Stanley in his 1962 Grand Prix annual rated him 8th in the world, and a potentially great driver. He had been noted as a potential talent by the Mercedes team in 1955 and given a semi works 300SL for the Le Mans 1956, the last entry of the original Mercedes team. In 1961 Chapman almost offered him a ride at Rheims. Mairesse ferocious drive in the 1962 Belgian drive was admired by the Ferrari team as he had shown much more passion than P.Hill. Trevor Taylor said Mairesse was driving quite cleanly before their coming together in a huge accident. Subsequently Mairesse claimed his attitude changed and he was not the same driver, just a pilot trying to do a professional drive. Nevertheless his 4th place in Italy in 1962 followed a ferocious duel with Bruce McLaren, Willy conceding a podium only after rotating the 156 on the last lap and Mairesse was certainly impassioned before the 1963 Belgian Gp at Spa were he qualified 3rd and Jim Clark succeded in out psyching him as the starting flag went down. As a sports car driver Mairesse was quite successful as a partner for John Surtees and Willy won two Targas, his final good result a third at Le Man in 1967. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.56.100.98 (talk) 03:13, 16 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]
