F1 Rewind: The F1 driver who was Alonso before Alonso
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What is the opening story that sets up the comparison between John Surtees and Fernando Alonso?
The Athletic. Rewind to the 10th of September, 1972. Monza. John Surtees prepares for his last F1 start. Eight years on from his world title with Ferrari, he's still revered by the Tifosi, who swarm around Team Surtees all weekend to pay homage to him, despite his waning status. The 38-year-old is set to compete one last time in what's effectively an in-race test of his new Surtees TS14 machine. In different circumstances, he might still be racing in Ferrari Red, with far more victories to his name. But six years earlier, he'd thrown away a potential second world title by walking out on the Scuderia. As he pulls on his helmet, he'd be forgiven for pausing to wonder how it all went wrong. Today, Fernando Alonso, another Ferrari star whose statistics sell him short, knows how that feels.
Like the Spaniard, Il Grande John was driven by passion and principle, for better or worse.
Out goes the chequered flag and Senna has won. Is that Glock? Is that Glock going slowly? Yes! He is absolutely beside himself with joy. Can he do it? Yes, he's done it. A brilliant move. Unbelievable.
Welcome to the Race F1 Rewind. I'm Ed Straw and joining me is fellow history enthusiast Mark Hughes. And as laid out in that beautifully delivered cold opening, I think you'll agree, Mark, we're going to be talking about John Surtees, but drawing parallels with Fernando Alonso. Now, of course, John Surtees, motorcycle world champion, multiple motorcycle world champion, Formula One world champion, Ferrari driver. And Alonso is a fascinating comparison point, isn't he? Because you've got two absolutely incredible drivers whose numbers don't entirely do them justice or don't remotely do them justice compared to those they're racing against. And who, at times, could be said to be their own worst enemies.
Yeah, indeed.
And so the landscape of John Surdy's era is remembered as that of Jim Clarke. and he dominated that era. And I suppose you could say the landscape of much of Fernando Alonso's career has been dominated by Lewis Hamilton, latterly Max Verstappen, with a bit of Vettel in between. But, yeah, both nowhere near. The numbers sell them way short. And partly of their own making. They both walked out on two top teams, Or, you know, they made their own life very difficult as a result of that. And that's part of what it's... The parallel is there. But there are certain similarities in character traits too.
Yeah, very much so. And I fear that... Alonso may get the same treatment as Surtees because as Surtees' time falls gradually towards the edge of living memory and outside of it down the line, I think people will forget that because obviously they didn't live it, they didn't experience it. Today, people know how Alonso's career has gone. But I think if you look back at it in 40, 50 years and just look at the numbers, he will feel like a support act rather than someone who was every bit as good as those around him, which is why we've chosen to look through the Alonso lens, we can say, at John Surtees. But obviously the thing with Surtees is he's a world champion on two and four wheels. That's the epithet we always hear.
And it almost gets thrown around just lazily, doesn't it? Yeah. When people don't take a step back at how remarkable it is to do that. Yeah. This is a driver who, in his first car race, the first car race he's ever attended, he's in, in a Formula Junior race in the Goodwood members' meeting, and he's there at the front of the grid, and he's dicing with, admittedly, a young Jim Clark, who is not yet the Jim Clark we know, but... This driver who's basically racing on his spare time when he's not racing for MV Augusta on bikes is right there at the front.
Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, they interwove their early career, Clark and Surtees, and they were good friends. Clark was already installed at Lotus. And in that first race, John Surtees was in a Ken Tyrrell run Cooper. And the Lotus was always a faster car than the Cooper. But Surtees put it on pole. And him and Clark diced for the lead. And Surtees ended up getting tripped up by a back marker.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the opening story that sets up the comparison between John Surtees and Fernando Alonso?
0:02–8:54
2
How did John Surtees first make his mark in car racing against Jim Clark?
8:54–23:38
3
What were the key moments that showed Surtees’ talent on two wheels and four wheels at the same time?
23:38–37:00
4
How did Surtees’ transition from motorcycles to Formula 1 influence his driving style?
37:00–1:00:36
5
Why did Surtees’ relationship with Ferrari break down and what were the consequences?
1:00:36–1:03:46
Speakers
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