©Cahier
In 1964, armed with Ferrari's rapid V8-powered 158, Surtees won the F1 world championship by a single point and on the very last lap of the Mexican Grand Prix when Jim Clark’s Lotus blew up and Surtees slipped past his team-mate Lorenzo Bandini to take second place and win the title.
In late September of 1965, Surtees lingered close to death after crashing his Lola T70 in practice for a sports car race at Mosport. He made a speedy return to the cockpit however in 1966, a bit too speedy in the malicious opinion of Ferrari team manger Eugenio Dragoni.
Leading Monaco with the Scuderia's new 312 and winning the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa did nothing to alleviate Dragoni's worries. Or was it just a case of typical political witch hunt in the red camp? A bitter row over driver pairings at Le Mans led to Surtees leaving the team.
"The parting was costly to Ferrari and to me," John once confessed. "I believe we lost one or two World Championships as a result."
Surtees found refuge with Cooper for the remainder of 1966. The team's bulky and heavy Maserati-powered T81 was a handful at times, but Surtees pulled off a win in the last round of the championship in Mexico.
