Ex-F1 world champion doesn’t have driving license and sold company for £84m after retiring | F1 | Sport

Jody Scheckter was once the hottest driver in the world but now he can’t even get behind the wheel in his adopted home town. The South African, 75, has upped sticks and moved to Italy in the last two years, and the overseas move has not been without its complications.

Scheckter raced in 112 Grands Prix, won 10 of them, and clinched the Drivers’ Championship in 1979 before retiring the following year. His world title triumph was a significant one, as it was the last for Ferrari before a 21-year drought, which was eventually broken by Michael Schumacher in 2000.

Having made a fortune as a racer and even more as a successful entrepreneur, Scheckter began basing himself in Liguria, Italy, a year and a half ago. And while everything went smoothly to begin with, he has now discovered that his English driving license has expired, and he would have to pass an Italian driving test to get a new one.

He told Corriere della Sera: “I have chosen Italy as my country, I want to live here. I was able to drive with my license for a year, but now it has expired. The problem is that I speak very poor Italian, I can’t possibly pass the test.”

Scheckter has contacted his old employers, Ferrari, and recruited a lawyer to try and get his problem sorted.

The former McLaren, Tyrrell and Wolf driver certainly has the financial might to tackle the issue head-on. He founded a weapons simulator company called Firearms Training Systems (FATS) in retirement and sold it for an absolute fortune.

The company was used for training military personnel, law enforcement and security companies, and it was making £100m in revenue every year by the early 1990s. By the time Scheckter cashed in, it was believed to be worth £84m.

Scheckter was born in South Africa in 1950 and relocated to the UK in 1970. Two years later he was a fully-fledged F1 driver starting a successful career which would last eight years.

After selling his business, Scheckter purchased 1,800 acres of land in Hampshire and ran a biodynamic farm. He appeared on a number of TV programmes to promote organic food, including Escape to the Country and Countryfile, but the farm ceased part of its production in 2024.

Scheckter’s Hampshire estate, which has been listed at £58m, features a ballroom, a tennis court and even a private stretch of the River Test.