Surtees

John Norman Surtees was born on 11 February 1934 in Tatsfield, a village in the English county of Surrey. His father, George Surtees, was a motorcycle dealer and sidecar racer who owned a shop in South London. The family’s life revolved around two wheels, and John’s first contact with motorsport came not in a kart but on a motorcycle as a child, helping his father in the workshop and riding on the back of his father’s machines. By the age of 17, he had already begun competing in motorcycle trials and grass-track events, demonstrating a natural feel for machine control that would later define his unique career. The Surtees household was modest but mechanically rich, and the early exposure to engines and competition laid the foundation for a path that would lead him to become the only person ever to win world championships on both two and four wheels.

By the time he climbed into a Formula One car for the first time in 1960, John Surtees had already won seven motorcycle world championships. The transition from two wheels to four was not immediate. He raced in Formula Two and Formula Junior for Team Lotus during 1960, winning the London Trophy at Brands Hatch in a Cooper. That same year, he made his Grand Prix debut at the Monaco round, driving a Lotus 18. His first full season in 1961 brought a podium at the German Grand Prix and a fourth-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix, enough to convince the sport that the motorcycle champion could handle a car. The breakthrough came in 1963 when he joined Ferrari, the team that would deliver him the world title the following season.

John Surtees arrived in Formula 1 in 1960 carrying the weight of seven motorcycle world championships, but the transition to four wheels was not instantaneous. He drove for Lotus, Cooper, and Lola before landing at Ferrari in 1963, the team that would define his legacy. In his first full season with the Scuderia, Surtees won the 1964 World Drivers’ Championship by two points over Graham Hill, taking victory at the German Grand Prix and the season finale in Mexico. He remains the only driver to have won world titles on both two and four wheels.

Over 112 Grands Prix, Surtees scored 6 wins, 24 podiums, and 8 pole positions. He drove for nine different teams, including Honda and his own Surtees outfit, but never matched the consistency of his 1964 peak. A runner-up finish in 1966 with Ferrari was his closest subsequent challenge. His final race came in 1972 at the Italian Grand Prix, driving for his own team. Though his win tally was modest, the breadth of his career—from Lotus to McLaren to his own constructor—reflected a restless, technically minded driver who shaped the cars he raced as much as he drove them.

The 1964 season was Surtees’s defining moment. Driving for Ferrari, he won the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship, securing two Grands Prix victories and finishing on the podium six times across the ten-race calendar. That title made him the only person in history to win world championships on both two wheels and four, having already taken seven motorcycle Grand Prix world titles—including four in the premier 500cc class with MV Agusta. His 1964 campaign was not statistically dominant by modern standards—he won just two races—but it was a masterclass in consistency and tactical racing, holding off Jim Clark and Graham Hill in a tense three-way battle decided at the final round in Mexico. Surtees followed that peak with a runner-up finish in the 1966 championship, again with Ferrari, adding two more wins to his tally. Across his entire Formula One career, which spanned 112 starts from 1960 to 1972, he accumulated six wins, 24 podiums, and eight pole positions.

Surtees lived much of his later life in Kent, where he ran a motorcycle shop in West Wickham and a Honda car dealership in Edenbridge. His son, Henry Surtees, followed him into motorsport, competing in Formula Renault, Formula BMW, and FIA Formula 2 before dying in a racing accident at Brands Hatch on 19 July 2009. In 2010, Surtees founded the Henry Surtees Foundation, a charitable organization that assists victims of accidental brain injuries and promotes safety in driving and motorsport. He was surprised by Michael Aspel for the television program This Is Your Life in 1992. Surtees was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1961, later elevated to Officer (OBE) in 2008 and Commander (CBE) in 2016 for services to motorsport.

After leaving the cockpit in 1972, Surtees ran a motorcycle shop in West Wickham, Kent, and a Honda car dealership in Edenbridge, Kent. He remained deeply involved in motorcycling, participating in classic events with his own collection of vintage racing machines. His connection to single-seaters continued, and from 2005 to 2007 he served as chairman of A1 Team Great Britain in the A1 Grand Prix series. Tragedy struck in 2009 when his son, Henry Surtees, died in a Formula 2 accident at Brands Hatch. In 2010, Surtees founded the Henry Surtees Foundation, a charity assisting victims of accidental brain injuries and promoting driving and motorsport safety. His later years brought significant recognition. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1996, named a MotoGP Legend in 2003, and received the Segrave Trophy in 2013 for being the only person to win world titles on two and four wheels. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to motorsport. Surtees was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2024.

John Surtees died on 10 March 2017 at St George's Hospital in London, aged 83. The cause of death was not disclosed in available sources. He was survived by his daughter, Edwina, and his wife, Jane. His son, Henry, a rising single-seater driver, had predeceased him in 2009 after a crash during a Formula 2 race at Brands Hatch. Surtees had established the Henry Surtees Foundation the following year to assist victims of accidental brain injuries and promote motorsport safety. His death drew tributes from across the racing world, with figures from both motorcycle Grand Prix and Formula One acknowledging his singular achievement as the only driver to win world championships on two and four wheels. He was buried in a private ceremony.

John Surtees remains the only person to have won World Championships on both two wheels and four, a feat that no driver since has matched. Across motorcycle Grand Prix racing, he claimed seven titles: four in the premier 500cc class and three in 350cc, all with MV Agusta. In Formula One, his 1964 Drivers’ Championship with Ferrari added the four-wheel crown to a résumé that also includes six Grand Prix wins, 24 podiums, and eight pole positions from 112 starts.

His unique achievement earned him the Segrave Trophy in 2012, an award recognizing outstanding British achievements in motor transport. Surtees was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1996, named a MotoGP Legend in 2003, and posthumously inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2024. He was appointed MBE in 1961, OBE in 2008, and CBE in 2015 for services to motorsport. In 2015, Oxford Brookes University awarded him an honorary doctorate in engineering. Through the Henry Surtees Foundation, founded in 2010 after his son’s death, his legacy extends beyond racing into brain injury support and motorsport safety.