Ferrari: Surtees' feat half a century ago

formula 1 – Today, half a century ago, John Surtees , Scuderia Ferrari wrote one of the most beautiful pages in the history of motor sport, winning the two world titles at the end of an extraordinary comeback over the leading teams of the time, Lotus, world champion in 1963 with Jim Clark, and BRM, which two years earlier had won both championships thanks to Graham Hill.

Incredible ending. After a very difficult start to the season, Surtees and the Ferrari 158 caught up on Hill and Clark and so we reached the last race, the Mexican Grand Prix on 25 October, with three drivers still vying for victory. Hill was the favorite for the title thanks to his five-point advantage over Surtees and nine over Clark, who, however, to repeat the title would have had to win the GP hoping for the misfortunes of others. In qualifying, pole went to Clark who got off to a perfect start in the race. The starts of the other two were much worse: Hill broke the elastic on his glasses, while Surtees was slowed down by engine problems which were resolved during the race. At the end of the first lap Clark was therefore in the lead, with Hill tenth and Surtees thirteenth. The two soon began a great comeback, but Hill's recovery was interrupted due to a contact with the other Ferrari driver Lorenzo Bandini: the BRM was damaged and a pit stop was necessary for repairs. Clark, at that point, seemed to be able to crown his championship comeback when, with seven laps to go, the Lotus began to leak oil. On the last lap the world champion's car breathed its last, putting him on the ground. Dan Gurney then took the lead in the Brabham, followed by Bandini and Surtees. With Hill out of the points, however, the Ferrari Englishman needed second place to move to the top of the standings. Bandini, as a perfect team man, gave way to Surtees who took home both titles.

The replica. A repeat of the Mexico City scene would be seen 43 years later in Brazil, when, with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso struggling, Felipe Massa gave way to Kimi Raikkonen who won the race and the 2007 title. Last summer, at Goodwood Festival of Speed, Surtees and Raikkonen, in an extraordinary show, chased each other up the climb of the most famous hill in British motorsport, recalling the two grandiose and unexpected successes behind the wheel of the cars driven in those two legendary seasons. The 50th anniversary of Surtees' triumph offers the opportunity to relive the emotion of Goodwood in this spectacular video.