S<\/b>tewart, 86, was born near Dumbarton in Scotland. After leaving school at 15 he trained as a mechanic at his father\u2019s garage. He raced in Formula 2 and 3, and won the F1 championship in 1969, 1971 and 1973. He won 27 grands prix, later becoming a commentator and founding the Stewart Grand Prix team with his son Paul. He lives in Switzerland with Helen, his wife of more than 60 years, who has frontotemporal dementia. His younger son, Mark, helps him run the charity Race Against Dementia.<\/b><\/p>\n
I\u2019m not a very early riser these days, although I wake at about 7am and go through a 35-minute exercise regime. Breakfast is papaya and a boiled egg, then I like to walk my Norfolk terriers, Jack and Jill, for an hour or so. They\u2019re my best friends and often sleep beside me.<\/p>\n
Our house stands on the banks of Lake Geneva and looks towards Mont Blanc. We\u2019ve lived here since 1968 but also have a place in Buckinghamshire \u2014 a lovely old game farm next to the prime minister\u2019s country residence at Chequers. <\/p>\n
Helen was diagnosed with dementia in 2014. She\u2019s now 84 and needs 24-hour care. A few years ago I built a specially adapted apartment next to our house where she can be looked after by specialists. I\u2019m fortunate I could afford that \u2014 I didn\u2019t want her to go into a home.<\/p>\n
A lot of people with this type of dementia eventually go into care homes, and after setting up Race Against Dementia in 2016 I visited a few. Sometimes I came out in tears. It\u2019s a terrible illness and there\u2019s no cure. My charity wants to change that so I\u2019ve invested millions in research.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Dementia has stolen my wife\u2019s past, says Sir Jackie Stewart<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n At midday our chef might make me a pasta dish. I may not see Helen until after lunch as she follows a daily care routine. In the afternoon and evening we sit together \u2014 the whole point of having her so close.<\/p>\n We met as teenagers on a blind date at Dino\u2019s caf\u00e9 in Helensburgh, a seaside town on the Firth of Clyde. We started going out and that was that. I was a mechanic then and Helen knew me as a champion clay pigeon shooter, not a racing driver. I was a member of the Scottish shooting team.<\/p>\n Sport gave me confidence. At school I was treated like a dunce; I had dyslexia but nobody knew about it back then. I won my first shooting competition because it was New Year\u2019s Day \u2014 all the other shooters were hungover but I was too young. <\/p>\n