EXCLUSIVE: Surtees, the only world champion on two and four wheels, says Vettel doesn't get enough credit... and reveals how his son's tragic death has saved lives



Legend: 1964 world champion John Surtees

Sitting neatly on the coffee table at the aptly-named Monza House is a copy of motoring magazine Autosport.

Gracing the front page is Britain's eldest surviving Formula One champion and probably the only man who will ever complete the remarkable achievement of winning world titles on both two and four wheels.

'Sorry to keep you waiting. I hope you found us alright,' says the voice of its cover star John Surtees who emerges from his office in this no-frills building.

Surtees, who celebrates his 80th birthday next year, politely offers his hand before returning to his desk.



As he takes to his seat there is very little that points to his incredible past in which he will be remembered for his almost unrivalled talent on track and astute engineering qualities off it.



There are no trophies, no medals, no black and white pictures of one of the greatest motoring talents ever to emerge from these shores, but instead a pertinent reminder of his future.



Above Surtees' head, and delicately placed on to the white wall, is a collage which bears the name of the foundation set up in memory of his son Henry who was killed in a freak motor racing accident in 2009. He was aged just 18.

Over the next two hours we carefully dissect Surtees' trophy-laden career, the current crop of Formula One stars, the emotional death of Henry and the charity established in his honour.

Surtees' record speaks for itself. He won seven motorcycling world titles in the 1950s, starting 49 grands prix and winning 38 of them, before making the seemingly slick transition to four wheels.

'It all happened by accident, I never intended for it,' describes Surtees, speaking of his switch from motorbikes to Formula One.

'I turned up at Goodwood in the early season's race in 1960 to compete in, and see, my first ever car race, and I put it on pole.'

Glittering career: Surtees began racing motorbikes in 1952

Multi-talented: Surtees was equally adept on four wheels or two

Surtees was soon approached by Colin Chapman - the legendary British designer who spearheaded two decades of success for Team Lotus.

'Colin came up to me and said I should drive in Formula One. I went to Silverstone, finished second in the British Grand Prix, and Colin said "you are my driver".

'I said I could only do it when I am not riding a bike, so he said just tell me when you are riding a bike and you can race the other races, and that is what I did for a year.'

After an impressive debut campaign, in which he qualified on pole in only his third race at the Portuguese Grand Prix, Surtees was set to team up with another prominent British youngster, in Jimmy Clark, for the 1961 season. But a messy contract dispute involving Chapman and compatriot Innes Ireland ensured the permanent deal with Team Lotus never came to fruition.

'At the end of 1960, Colin came to me and said he wanted me to be his team leader and asked who I wanted as my team-mate,' Surtees recalls.

In good company: Surtees with the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award in 1959 after pipping England footballer Bobby Charlton (right) to the honour

Laid back: Surtees at the wheel at Brands Hatch in 1965

'I chose Jimmy Clark, but I got involved in a nasty contractual situation, where I was accused of being this big, bad boy who was spoiling everything, so I walked away.'

The Briton, then aged 26, spent the next two seasons hunting for his first grand prix victory before he was handed a lifeline by the team who he'd snubbed just three years earlier.

'When I didn't go there the first time they said "we do not ask twice" but they did,' Surtees says, sporting a wry smile upon recalling his move to Ferrari in 1963.

In his opening season with the famous constructor, Surtees won his first of six grands prix, before clinching his maiden championship a year later after beating Graham Hill by just one point at the season-ending race in Mexico. It was expected to be the start of a glorious relationship with the Prancing Horse, but his stint was dramatically cut short after he turned his back on the Italian constructor midway through the 1966 campaign.

'At Ferrari I experienced some highs and lows of my career,' Surtees adds.



Still going strong: Surtees' passion for racing has not deserted him

'I expected to see out my life at Ferrari and it was sad that politics reared its ugly head. It was sad for them, and sad for me. It was a mistake for Ferrari and a mistake for me that we parted company.

'I had this enormous accident in Canada in 1965 where I nearly lost my life, but (Enzo) Ferrari himself had been very supportive.

'I went to Le Mans the following season and it was going to be a very important race for Ferrari because Ford were there in strength.

'We had adapted a strategy to beat them where we decided to drive the 24-hour race virtually like a grand prix, but once we got there Eugenio Dragoni (Ferrari team principal) said the plans had changed, claiming that Fiat shareholder Gianni Agnelli was in the stands so his nephew Ludovico Scarfiotti, should start the race.

'Scarfiotti was 1.5 to 2 seconds off the pace of me so our strategy went to pot. I was already on a bit of a short fuse with Mr Dragoni because he never came up and congratulated me after winning the Belgian Grand Prix. He was disappointed that I came back from my accident, to be frank, and he did not like that I had a good rapport with Mr Ferrari himself.

Rapport: Surtees got on well with Enzo Ferrari

'So, that was it. I got up and got in the car went back to Maranello and resigned.'

Surtees promptly joined Cooper - the equivalent of Fernando Alonso joining Toro Rosso - and used all of his brilliance to finish runner-up that season, but it would be the closest he'd get to clinching a second world title.

He won just one more race in the following campaign, before establishing and racing for his own constructor, Team Surtees in 1970, and retiring from competitive motorsport altogether two years later.



Surtees on Lewis Hamilton: 'I don't believe race meetings are a place for a dog'

Surtees might be entering his ninth decade next birthday, but his passion for motorsport is still evident.

From the current group of grand prix stars, he speaks fondly of treble world champion Sebastian Vettel, describing him as as a driver that 'does not get enough credit', and one of 'real quality'.

But ahead of this week's Hungarian Grand Prix, what does Surtees make of the country's two biggest stars; Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button?

'Lewis is a very talented and exciting driver to watch,' he says of the 28-year-old who occupies fourth in the championship following his winter move from McLaren to Mercedes.



Best of British: Hamilton (left) and Button wave to the Silverstone crowd last month

'Other things have partly had a bearing on his career, but to what degree? I don't know.

'In the end it is up to the person concerned to live their life, and if Lewis believes that he is getting the best out of life in the way he lives it on and off the track than that is up to him and no one else.

'At the same time, it would appear that he is not quite as constantly focused on getting the job done as he was perhaps at one time. And when you are competing against the likes of Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel then you have a problem.'

Surtees isn't alone. A number of commentators and former drivers have argued that Hamilton has taken his eye off the ball in search of celebrity status since his world championship triumph in 2008.

And his decision to be accompanied to races by his pet dog Roscoe has also raised eyebrows in some quarters this season.

'I don't believe race meetings are a place for a dog,' Surtees says. 'But that is entirely up to the person. The important thing is that Lewis is a big boy now, and a very well-paid person and he will best know where his responsibilities lie. I don't understand it, but perhaps that is just the fact that I am a very different person.'

Barking mad? Hamilton takes his dog around the track at Monaco

Back at McLaren, and Hamilton's former team-mate Button has endured a miserable season.

The Briton, who is already over a century of points behind championship leader Vettel after just nine races, has seen his campaign blighted by a number of on-track incidents with his new team-mate Sergio Perez.

'I feel sorry for Jenson because I rate him very highly,' says Surtees.

'McLaren have had their lows before and they have considerable strength in depth, but they need to take the emotion out of it and take a cool, calm look at the situation and not be concerned about who Perez is cutting up, or isn't cutting up, or whether he is cutting up his team-mate.

'The drivers and the team need to pull in one direction to overcome it because the are the team.

'I am not saying Perez isn't talented but it was too early for him to go into such an environment at McLaren.

'I know who I would have had there, Nico Hulkenberg. He has served his time and would have made a good match with Jenson.'

Struggling: Button's title chances look over already

This summer is the 50th anniversary of Surtees' first Formula One victory at the German Grand Prix. It also marks four years since his only son Henry was killed in a freak motor racing accident.

Competing in the Formula Two series at Brands Hatch, Henry, who was tipped as one of the country's best emerging talents, was struck on the helmet by an errant tyre from a crash ahead of him on the track.

The blow from the weight of the tyre left Henry immediately unconscious before he careered head-on into a barrier - his right foot still planted on the accelerator.

Although he was extracted from his car, and efforts were made to stabilise his condition, the 18-year-old tragically succumbed to the head injuries suffered in the accident and he was pronounced dead at hospital later that day.

'My initial thoughts were to walk away from motorsport,' an emotional Surtees says as the mood in the room dramatically changes. The pain of his son's death is still evident as he cowers his head. Surtees' wide, enthusiastic eyes close up and redden. His broad smile no longer existent.



Tragedy: Surtees sits beneath a photo of his late son Henry

'I just wanted to close my eyes. I couldn't stomach it,' he says before taking a long pause. His head still cowering.

'But I then thought about all those years I have spent in motorsport and seen people come and go.

'Yes it was a motoring environment that Henry died in, but it was something he loved doing and there had been a number of mistakes, not by Henry, which led to him getting killed.

'I took all of that into consideration and I thought I can't just walk away, I'll stay working with him.'

The smile briefly returns. The eyes widen once more.

'It is difficult for my family because in a way it means I am keeping him alive - alive but not with us,' he adds as his eyes fill with moisture. He clears his throat.

'What convinced me was when we asked for donations for a charity instead of flowers and we had something like £31,000 put in the kitty, so I decided to form the foundation.'

Charity work: Surtees set up a foundation in memory of his son

The Henry Surtees Foundation was established in the months ensuing Henry's death and thanks to the tireless work of the 1964 world champion and his very small team, it has since helped save the lives of others.

'When Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance came along, I invested because one of the things Henry had, which was given to him on his birthday, was a helicopter which he loved to fly over the garden.

'It was sitting on the windowsill in his bedroom and I thought: "Yeah, Henry would like to be involved in that".

'So we bought all the blood transfusion equipment to go into the aircraft and I did a deal with Honda to provide two 4x4 vehicles to ensure transport all through winter.

'Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance were the first people outside London to introduce blood transfusion services and in the first two months they had 14 occasions to use it, and I understand they saved seven lives, and that is so satisfying.' The wide smile returns.



Icon: Calls are growing for Surtees to be knighted

Surtees' illustrious career in motorsport and endless charity work in memory of his son has led over 10,000 people to sign an online petition for this Order of the British Empire to join fellow competitors Stirling Moss, who never won a Formula One world championship, Jackie Stewart, and Australian Jack Brabham in earning a Knighthood.

'It would be nice for family and certainly an appreciation of the fact that I tried to follow my heart and do a good job,' a modest Surtees replies when asked about the potential honour.

'I have been very fortunate in actually getting paid - not like they do today - for something I love doing.