Surtees

Interesting facts

John Surtees, the only man ever to become world champion on both two and four wheels, ran his own eponymous team in Formula 1 from 1970 to 1978, across nine seasons. For the first four races of the 1970 season the team had to run an old McLaren chassis because Surtees's own design, the TS7, was not yet ready. The TS14 (1972-1973) became the first Formula 1 car to fully comply with the newly introduced crumple-zone safety regulations, setting a template other designers followed. The team's best season was 1972, finishing fifth in the Constructors' Championship with 18 points. Mike Hailwood, the motorcycle world champion who also raced in F1 for Surtees, scored the team's only podium finish, second place at the 1972 Italian Grand Prix. Despite nine seasons of effort and 54 championship points total, the Surtees Racing Organisation never won a Grand Prix, and folded at the end of 1978 despite already having built a car for the following season. Surtees's Formula 1 history ran from 1970 to 1978, 9 seasons in total as a British team. The team scored a total of 53 constructors' championship points.