When F1 champions started their own teams - Part 1

John Surtees / Surtees Racing Organisation

Statistics

Debut – 1970Factory – EdenbridgeGrands Prix – 119Best race result – 2ndFastest laps – 4Highest finish in C’ship – 5thLast season – 1978

1964 Formula 1 World Champion and the only driver to win championships on both two and four wheels, John Surtees, started his own racing team in 1966. However, instead of straight away contesting in Formula 1, his team participated in lower series first before making its way to the pinnacle of motorsport. His first shot was the newly inaugurated Can-Am Cup (Canadian-American Cup). Racing the Lola T70 himself, Surtees won the inaugural championship in style. Further success in Formula 5000 coupled with his poor season in F1 with BRM in 1969 inspired the Brit to start his own Formula 1 team in 1970.

However, Surtees couldn’t get the car ready for the season opener in South Africa and he instead decided to take part in the first six races in an old McLaren. Surtees’ first F1 car, TS7, made its debut at the British Grand Prix where it came to a halt due to an oil pressure problem. Mechanical issues continued in the next couple of races until Canada, where Surtees scored the team’s first ever points in the form of an eighth place finish. But the highlight of the year was his victory at the non-championship Oulton Park Gold Cup.

For the following season, Surtees brought a long wheelbase version of TS7, dubbed TS9, and added a second car raced by Rolf Stommelen. Surtees again won the Oulton Park Gold Cup and finished 3rd in the Race of Champions, another non-champion race. In the championship races, the team accumulated a total of eight points – an improvement over the three points scored in their debut year.

After the 1971 season, John Surtees duly retired from the sport and focused on management of his F1 team. He turned Surtees into a three car team, driven by Italy’s Andrea de Adamich, British driver Mike Hailwood (Mike the Bike) and Tim Schenken from Australia. The improvements on track were visible immediately, with Hailwood finishing in a superb second place in Italy, behind the race winner Emerson Fittipaldi. With all three drivers scoring points, the team finished the championship in fifth place with 18 points on board.

After securing their best ever season in 1972, the team went two steps backward in 1973. Andrea de Adamich left the team after the opening round of the season, forcing the team to revert to a two-car outfit. The only stand-out moment of the year came in Austria where Carlos Pace finished on the podium behind Ronnie Peterson and Jackie Stewart.

Troubles continued in 1974, with the Surtees team only scoring three points. Carlos Pace left for Brabham mid-season and was replaced by a string of drivers including Finland’s Leo Kinnunen, Dolhem, Bell, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, Dieter Quester and Helmut Koinigg. 1975 was even worse, with the team failing to score a single point.

Things started to look better in 1976 in a brand new car designed by John Surtees and Ken Sears. Surtees managed to secure the controversial Durez sponsorship and the team returned to the top six in Spain. Further point finishes in Britain and Japan pointed towards a renaissance.

For the 1977 season, the team signed Vittorio Brambilla in place of Alan Jones, with the Italian bringing significant sponsorship from hand tools maker Beta. However, no improvement was seen in the performance and the team ended the season with six points.

Surtees brought a brand new car for the 1978 season and while it was competitive overall, use of ground effects by rival teams made its life tough. Realizing the importance of ground effects, Surtees planned the inclusion of this technology in TS21. But the sponsors gave up and Surtees announced in November of 1978 that he was shutting down the team on financial grounds.