The underperforming Surtees follow-up that thwarted a promising bike-to-F1 union

The only world champion on two wheels and four made a brave attempt to follow the likes of Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren into team ownership. But, as DAMIEN SMITH explains, he took on too much of the hard graft himself…

Time in hospital bookended John Surtees’s life as a Formula 1 team owner. Reflections from his sick bed first fired his ambition to become self-reliant, then nearly 10 years later resigned him to the sad reality that the dream was over. His friends Bruce McLaren, Jack Brabham and Dan Gurney had succeeded in flying under their own steam, and so too did Surtees – on occasion with style.

But too often and for too long team ownership became a graft that paid a heavy physical toll for one of motor racing’s titans. Perhaps he felt too keenly the weight of responsibility and his own high expectations that others found so hard to live up to. It also probably didn’t help that John always took this most demanding of sports so personally.

In this article

GP Racing

Formula 1

John Surtees

Mike Hailwood

Surtees Racing

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