The son of a well-known amateur racer and garage owner Jack Surtees, John Surtees made his racing car debut in 1960 after previously capturing seven world motorcycle championships for team MV Agusta.

Surtees went on with a long F1 career, including the 1964 Championship for Ferrari. Despite a near-fatal crash in a Lola CanAm car in 1965, Surtees continued to compete in motorsports and campaigned his own F1 team from 1970 until 1978.