Surtees

Team Surtees was the Formula 1 constructor founded by John Surtees, the only person ever to win World Championships on both two and four wheels — seven motorcycle world titles between 1956 and 1960, then the 1964 Formula 1 Drivers' Championship with Ferrari. Surtees built his own F1 cars from 1970 to 1978 with the conviction that he understood racing better than the engineers he had driven for. He was right and he was wrong: Team Surtees scored some respectable results in its early years but ended in financial collapse, having taken Surtees' fortune and his post-driving career and ground both into the carbon dust of the 1970s F1 grid. The team's 118 Grand Prix entries produced no wins but eight podiums, and gave us one of the most poignant near-misses in F1 history when Mike Hailwood's Hesketh-style heroism was unable to translate into victory.

Origins

John Surtees retired from full-time Formula 1 driving at the end of 1971 (with brief returns later) to focus on his constructor team, which he had founded in 1969 to enter Formula 5000. Surtees Racing Organisation entered Formula 1 in 1970 with the TS7, designed by Surtees himself with assistance from Peter Connew. Surtees drove the car personally in early outings, finishing fifth at his first race in Canada and second at the BRDC International Trophy non-championship race. The team was based in Edenbridge, Kent, and operated as a true cottage industry — Surtees doing much of the design work himself, with a small team of British engineers. The TS7 was followed by the TS9 (1971), TS9B, and TS14 (1972) chassis, all powered by Cosworth DFV engines and all designed by Surtees with input from various aerodynamicists.

Golden Era

Team Surtees never had a true Golden Era, but 1972-1973 produced its best results. Mike Hailwood (the motorcycling legend who had transitioned to cars) joined Surtees in 1972 and finished second at Italy 1972 — the team's best F1 result. Hailwood was named European F2 Champion driving the Surtees TS10 in 1972, demonstrating that Surtees chassis could be genuinely competitive at the lower level. In Formula 1, Hailwood scored further podiums in 1973 and was running fourth at South Africa 1973 when his car caught fire after a collision; Hailwood pulled the burning Hesketh of Clay Regazzoni from the crash, saving Regazzoni's life and being awarded the George Medal for bravery. Hailwood's Surtees TS14 finished a respectable eighth in the 1973 Drivers' Championship — the team's best season standing.

Legendary Cars

The Surtees TS7 (1970) was John Surtees' debut F1 car, a clean Cosworth-powered design that Surtees drove personally to second at the BRDC International Trophy. The TS9 (1971) was the team's first works car raced by hired drivers (Mike Hailwood and Tim Schenken). The TS14 (1972-1973) was Hailwood's best mount, scoring podiums and the Italy 1972 second place. The TS16 (1974) was a transitional design. The TS19 (1976-1977) was raced by Hans-Joachim Stuck, Brett Lunger, and others without notable results. The TS20 (1978) was the team's final F1 chassis. Team Surtees also built F2 and F5000 chassis, where the team's results were often better than in F1; the TS10 (1972) won the European F2 Championship with Mike Hailwood, the team's most prestigious title.

Lows & Reinventions

Team Surtees' lows came from the same source: chronic underfunding combined with John Surtees' insistence on doing too much himself. Surtees designed many of the cars personally, ran the team as principal, and made all major decisions — a workload that would have been impossible at any well-funded team and was certainly impossible at Surtees' scale. Sponsorship was constantly inadequate; the famous Brooke Bond Oxo and Matchbox liveries of the early-to-mid 1970s were welcome but never sufficient. By 1976 the team was running out of money and out of competitive results. Vittorio Brambilla, Henri Pescarolo, Brett Lunger, Hans-Joachim Stuck, René Arnoux (Surtees gave Arnoux his F1 debut in 1978), Beppe Gabbiani — none of the late-period Surtees drivers could lift the team out of its competitive trough. The 1978 season was the team's final year; the 1979 season was abandoned for lack of funds. John Surtees personally lost a substantial fortune in the venture.

Modern Era

Team Surtees ceased operations at the end of 1978. John Surtees remained a beloved figure in British and Italian motorsport, frequently appearing at Goodwood Festival of Speed and Ferrari historic events as the only living seven-time motorcycle world champion plus F1 champion. Surtees died in 2017 at age 83. His son Henry Surtees was killed in a 2009 Formula 2 race at Brands Hatch when a wheel from another car struck him — a freak fatality that prompted the FIA's safety push toward the Halo cockpit protection device. The Henry Surtees Foundation, founded by John in his son's memory, supports young drivers and head-injury research. Team Surtees' F1 record (no wins, eight podiums in 118 races) understates what John Surtees the man meant to the sport: a quiet, driven engineer-driver whose belief that he could build a better F1 car than anyone else was beautiful, doomed, and entirely characteristic of the man who had won motorcycle and four-wheel championships through the same self-belief.