Credit: Vittorio Brambilla in the Surtees TS20, 1978 Monaco GP, photo by Lapin74jp, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Credit links at the end of the content)
In the 1970s, many privateer teams entered F1, and most of them faded away. Surtees lasted longer than most, but in the end, the dream still fell short.
In the past, we shared the story of Surtees, the man who conquered both two and four wheels, and whose unique achievements still fascinate fans today.
So what was the journey of the Surtees F1 team, how competitive were they, and why did they ultimately walk away from F1?
Winning titles was not enough for Surtees. He wanted more. After all his success, stepping into running a Formula 1 team felt like a natural move, and it did not surprise many. He was a fierce competitor, and he always believed he belonged in motorsport.
Surtees F1 Team: Born From Frustration?
It didn’t begin as some grand master plan; it started out of frustration.
After difficult period with British Racing Motors, Surtees decided he had enough of depending on others.
All he wanted is control, not just over driving, but over everything, the car, decisions and direction.
In 1970, he stepped into F1 as a constructor, at first, it was a modest beginning, the team appeared at the 1970 South African GP using a customer chassis, soon after, their own creation arrived, the TS7, it wasn’t revolutionary, but it was theirs, that mattered!
For a while; there was a sense that something could grow here.
The Reality of Formula 1 in the 1970s
But F1 in the 1970s wasn’t kind to small teams.
It was a world where money quietly dictated, and Surtees never quite had enough of it.
Across nine seasons, the numbers tell a simply story; 118 race entries, just two podiums and no wins.
The best moment came in 1972, when Mike Hailwood brought the car home second at the Italian GP.
It was one of those days where everything aligned just enough, that same season would end up being their strongest, finishing fifth in the constructors’ standings.
For a small team like Surtees Racing, that wasn’t small thing, still; it never quite built into something bigger.
Anecdote: We have shared a lot of stories here on our website about the F1 teams that were vanished who competed in the 1970s, like the Maki Engineering, Merzario F1 Team, or Kauhsen and many more other teams like the Connew, you can find more of them at the category of F1 forgotten teams.
A Team of Future Stars… and What Could Have Been
One of the strange ironies of Surtees is the talent that pased through its garage, and names like Alan Jones, John Watson, Derek Bell, and Carlos Pace all drove for the team at different points.
There is a version of history where things line up just a little differently; more funding, better timing, slightly faster car.
So maybe one of those names wins in a Surtees machine, but F1 doesn’t deal in ‘maybe’!
Innovation Without the Budget to Back It Up
It would be unfair to say the team lacked ideas!
In fact, in some ways; Surtees was ahead of its time….
The TS14, for example, incorporated early crash structure thinking; something that would later become standard in F1 design.
It was a glimpse of the future; built on a limited budget… and that was always the issue.
Every idea had to fight for survival; development was slow, rivals moved faster.
By the late 1970s, teams like Lotus were redefining the sport with ground effect aero; Surtees simply couldn’t keep up, not because they didn’t understand it, but because they could not affort to chase it properly.
Success… Just Not in Formula 1
Outside F1, the picture looked very different; in Formula 2, Surtees machinery was competitive.
In 1972, Mike Hailwood delivered a European championship.
In Formula 5000 and Can-Am, there were wins, strong performances, real signs of what the team could be under the right conditions.
Which almost makes the F1 struggled harder to understand at first glance; but F1 is its own world, the margins are smaller, the costs higher, the pressure constant.
Anecdote: Take Walter Wolf’s team, for example—a team with resources and backing that managed to win their first race. It shows how crucial strong sponsorship is in F1, and why many 1970s privateer teams struggled to continue or achieve significant results.
The Weight of Doing Everything
For a long time; John Surtees tried to do it all, driver, owner, engineer and decision maker…
Surtees even raced his own cars until 1972, which sounds impressive until you think about what that actually meant.
Testing, development, race weekends, sponsorship meetings, it was too much for one person, even someone like Surtees.
Something always had to give; usually, it was performance.
1978: The End Comes Quietly
By 1978; things were starting to unravel faster for Surtees.
The TS20 was a clean design; but already outdated.
Late in the 1970s, ground effect had changed everything, the team didn’t have the resources to catch up, crashes that season didn’t help either, adding both cost and pressure.
Behind the scenes, it was even tougher…
Surtees’ health had been declining for years, by the end of the decade, it reached a point where continuing simply wasn’t realistic.
That was it; the team’s final race came at the Canadian GP in 1978.
Rumours suggest that there was talk of 1979 car, the TS21, but it never made to F1, and just like that, the Surtees name disappeared from the grid.
A Legacy That Feels Different
In pure results; the Surtees F1 team didn’t succeed, no wins, limited podiums and constant struggle.
But reducing it to that misses something important.
This was a team built by a racer who believed he could do things his own way, and sometimes it worked, often it didn’t, but it was always honest.
There is something rare about that in F1; even back then.
And in an unexpected twist, the story didn’t end entirely in failure.
The team’s assets were eventually sold to Frank Williams; from those foundations, the Williams Racing operation would grow into one of the most successful teams in F1 history.
Which leaves the Surtees team in a strange place; not forgotten, exactly, just… overshadowed.
A champion’s team that never quite became one.
Featured Image: Credit: Vittorio Brambilla in the Surtees TS20, 1978 Monaco GP, photo by Lapin74jp, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
