John Surtees was a British motorsport legend, excelling both as a motorcycle road racer and a Formula 1 driver. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1952 to 1960 and in Formula One from 1960 to 1972. Surtees claimed seven Grand Prix motorcycle World Championships, including four in the premier 500cc class with MV Agusta. In 1964, he won the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship with Ferrari, making him the only person in history to win World Championships on both two wheels and four.
| Nationality | British |
|---|---|
| Born | John Norman Surtees 11 February 1934 Tatsfield, Surrey, England |
| Died | 10 March 2017 (aged 83) Tooting, London, England |
Surtees’ dominance in motorcycle racing began with his first world title in 1956. He achieved three consecutive doubles from 1958 to 1960, securing six World Championships in the 500cc and 350cc categories. After switching to four-wheel racing, he reached the pinnacle of Formula One, winning the 1964 Drivers’ Championship. In addition to his driving career, he founded the Surtees Racing Organisation, which competed in Formula One, Formula 2, and Formula 5000 from 1970 to 1978. Surtees also served as an ambassador for the Racing Steps Foundation, supporting young racing talent.
In 1960, John Surtees made the move from motorcycles to car racing full-time, quickly proving his ability by finishing second in only his second Formula 1 race at the 1960 British Grand Prix. After an initial adjustment period, his breakthrough came in 1962 with the Lola team. Surtees had a strong season, finishing fourth in the World Championship standings and securing podium finishes in both Britain and Germany.
In 1963, Surtees moved to Ferrari, where he achieved his first Formula 1 victory at the 1963 German Grand Prix and once again finished fourth in the championship. The following year, 1964, saw him cement his place in motorsport history by winning the Formula 1 World Championship. Surtees won two races that season and consistently finished on the podium when his car lasted the race. In a dramatic title fight, Graham Hill led the points standings with 41 points to Surtees’ 40, but due to the rule allowing only the top six results to count, Hill dropped points from a fifth-place finish, giving Surtees the title by a single point. This victory made him the only person ever to win World Championships on both two wheels and four.
Surtees’ 1965 season was plagued by bad luck and a serious accident that forced him to miss the final two races of the season. In 1966, a falling out with Ferrari led to his departure after winning the second race of the season. He switched to Cooper, where he won the final race of the season in Mexico, making him one of only two drivers in F1 history to win races with two different teams in a single season.
In 1967, Surtees moved to Honda, securing a victory at the 1967 Italian Grand Prix after a thrilling battle with Jack Brabham. Despite some strong performances, his time with Honda ended after two podiums in 1968. A move to BRM in 1969 was less successful, with only one podium finish at the 1969 United States Grand Prix. Surtees eventually founded his own team in 1970, initially racing with a customer McLaren chassis before developing his own. Despite his efforts, the Surtees team struggled for success and only achieved a single podium finish in 1973, before the team was disbanded in 1978. Surtees retired from competitive racing in 1972.
John Surtees Formula One World Championship career
| F1 Career | 1960–1972 |
|---|---|
| Teams | Lotus, Cooper (non-works), Lola, Ferrari, Honda, BRM, McLaren (non-works), Surtees |
| Entries | 113 (111 starts) |
| Championships | 1 (1964) |
| Wins | 6 |
| Podiums | 24 |
| Career points | 180 |
| Pole positions | 8 |
| Fastest laps | 10 |
| First entry | 1960 Monaco Grand Prix |
| First win | 1963 German Grand Prix |
| Last win | 1967 Italian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1972 Italian Grand Prix |
John Surtees Teammates
| 23 Teammates | Involvement | First Year | Last Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Innes Ireland | 4 | 1960 | |
| Alan Stacey | 1 | 1960 | |
| Jim Clark | 3 | 1960 | |
| Roy Salvadori | 13 | 1961 | 1962 |
| Willy Mairesse | 3 | 1963 | |
| Ludovico Scarfiotti | 6 | 1963 | 1965 |
| Lorenzo Bandini | 26 | 1963 | 1966 |
| Pedro Rodriguez | 1 | 1964 | |
| Nino Vaccarella | 1 | 1965 | |
| Jochen Rindt | 7 | 1966 | |
| Chris Amon | 2 | 1966 | |
| Moises Solana | 2 | 1966 | |
| Chris Irwin | 1 | 1968 | |
| David Hobbs | 2 | 1968 | |
| Jackie Oliver | 10 | 1969 | |
| Bill Brack | 1 | 1969 | |
| George Eaton | 2 | 1969 | |
| Trevor Taylor | 1 | 1970 | |
| Derek Bell | 1 | 1970 | |
| Gerard Larrousse | 1 | 1971 | |
| Mike Hailwood | 3 | 1972 | 1973 |
| Tim Schenken | 3 | 1972 | |
| Carlos Pace | 2 | 1973 |
Race Wins
| Win Number | Grand Prix |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1963 German Grand Prix |
| 2 | 1964 German Grand Prix |
| 3 | 1964 Italian Grand Prix |
| 4 | 1966 Belgian Grand Prix |
| 5 | 1966 Mexican Grand Prix |
| 6 | 1967 Italian Grand Prix |
Complete Formula One results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Team Lotus | Lotus 18 | Climax FPF 2.5 L4 | ARG | MON Ret | 500 | NED | BEL | FRA | GBR 2 | POR Ret | ITA | USA Ret | 14th | 6 | |||
| 1961 | Yeoman Credit Racing Team | Cooper T53 | Climax FPF 2.5 L4 | MON 11 | NED 7 | BEL 5 | FRA Ret | GBR Ret | GER 5 | ITA Ret | USA Ret | 12th | 4 | |||||
| 1962 | Bowmaker-Yeoman Racing Team | Lola Mk4 | Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 | NED Ret | MON 4 | BEL 5 | FRA 5 | GBR 2 | GER 2 | USA Ret | RSA Ret | 4th | 19 | |||||
| Lola Mk4A | Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 | ITA Ret | ||||||||||||||||
| 1963 | Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC | Ferrari 156 | Ferrari 178 1.5 V6 | MON 4 | BEL Ret | NED 3 | FRA Ret | GBR 2 | GER 1 | ITA Ret | USA Ret | MEX DSQ | RSA Ret | 4th | 22 | |||
| 1964 | Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC | Ferrari 158 | Ferrari 205B 1.5 V8 | MON Ret | NED 2 | BEL Ret | FRA Ret | GBR 3 | GER 1 | AUT Ret | ITA 1 | 1st | 40 | |||||
| North American Racing Team | Ferrari 158 | Ferrari 205B 1.5 V8 | USA 2 | MEX 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 1965 | Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC | Ferrari 158 | Ferrari 205B 1.5 V8 | RSA 2 | MON 4 | BEL Ret | FRA 3 | 5th | 17 | |||||||||
| Ferrari 1512 | Ferrari 207 1.5 F12 | GBR 3 | NED 7 | GER Ret | ITA Ret | USA | MEX | |||||||||||
| 1966 | Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC | Ferrari 312/66 | Ferrari 218 3.0 V12 | MON Ret | BEL 1 | 2nd | 28 | |||||||||||
| Cooper Car Company | Cooper T81 | Maserati 9/F1 3.0 V12 | FRA Ret | GBR Ret | NED Ret | GER 2 | ITA Ret | USA 3 | MEX 1 | |||||||||
| 1967 | Honda Racing | Honda RA273 | Honda RA273E 3.0 V12 | RSA 3 | MON Ret | NED Ret | BEL Ret | FRA | GBR 6 | GER 4 | CAN | 4th | 20 | |||||
| Honda RA300 | Honda RA273E 3.0 V12 | ITA 1 | USA Ret | MEX 4 | ||||||||||||||
| 1968 | Honda Racing | Honda RA300 | Honda RA273E 3.0 V12 | RSA 8 | 7th | 12 | ||||||||||||
| Honda RA301 | Honda RA301E 3.0 V12 | ESP Ret | MON Ret | BEL Ret | NED Ret | FRA 2 | GBR 5 | GER Ret | ITA Ret | CAN Ret | USA 3 | MEX Ret | ||||||
| 1969 | Owen Racing Organisation | BRM P138 | BRM P101 3.0 V12 | RSA Ret | 11th | 6 | ||||||||||||
| BRM P138 | BRM P142 3.0 V12 | ESP 5 | MON Ret | NED 9 | FRA | |||||||||||||
| BRM P142 3.0 V12 | BRM P139 | GBR Ret | GER DNS | ITA NC | CAN Ret | USA 3 | MEX Ret | |||||||||||
| 1970 | Team Surtees | McLaren M7C | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | RSA Ret | ESP Ret | MON Ret | BEL | NED 6 | FRA | 18th | 3 | |||||||
| Surtees TS7 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | GBR Ret | GER 9 | AUT Ret | ITA Ret | CAN 5 | USA Ret | MEX 8 | ||||||||||
| 1971 | Brooke Bond Oxo Team Surtees | Surtees TS9 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | RSA Ret | ESP 11 | MON 7 | NED 5 | FRA 8 | GBR 6 | GER 7 | AUT Ret | ITA Ret | CAN 11 | USA 17 | 19th | 3 | ||
| 1972 | Team Surtees | Surtees TS14 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG | RSA | ESP | MON | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA Ret | CAN | USA DNS | NC | 0 |
Sources:
- John Surtees. Wikipedia.com
