While he was sad to see corners such as Abbey – the site of his spectacular
motorcycle crash – disappear, he concedes: “Changes have to take place.
Without having lost its character, with additional pieces put in, it is
still a world-class track and test of car and driver.”
When Surtees attends the race at Silverstone on Sunday, the venue’s 50th grand
prix, with his two daughters, it will be a landmark for him as well as the
circuit. It is 50 years since his Formula One title, won with Ferrari. But
when we speak he does not like to talk up his considerable achievements.
“It is 50 years I suppose, yes. Years go by; they seem to go by faster as you
get older. It meant that I put the two and four wheels titles together, so I
suppose it’s always a special landmark.”
While he may exude modesty, others have been keener to make a fuss. When he
attended the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend, onlookers suggested
current Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen was not too bothered about the event –
he had a mid-afternoon nap in the sun – but he was extremely interested in
Surtees. A day after our conversation he is off to another event at
Brooklands in Surrey in aid of the Henry Surtees Foundation, set up after
his son died when a loose wheel hit him on the head in a race at Brands
Hatch in July 2009.
“We’ve been making a lot of use of it [50 years since his title],” Surtees
says. “We are doing an event for the foundation.” The foundation, to support
people with head injuries sustained in accidents, has also attracted the
support of Jenson
Button. The 34-year-old will be donating all the proceeds of this
weekend’s ‘Pink for Papa’ campaign, for his late father John, to Surtees’
foundation. John Button had also supplied engines for Surtees’ son Henry in
his cadet karting days. “I had a word with Jenson on Friday [at Goodwood].
We were together there so we had a little word and a smile together.”
Surtees’ views on Britain’s leading hope for victory this weekend, Lewis
Hamilton, are slightly less favourable. Surtees’ championship year,
1964, was closely fought with Jim Clark and Graham Hill. The trio sharing a
great camaraderie: Clark was his best man at his first wedding, and even the
mention of Hill’s name makes Surtees chuckle with a smile. It is a far cry
from how Hamilton has dealt with the title fight with Nico Rosberg at points
this year.
“In a way, this part of the season has been a learning curve for Lewis,”
Surtees says. “Perhaps he has had to mature a little bit. One or two things
which happened I don’t think were in his interest or frankly in the interest
of beating Nico Rosberg.
“He’s not stupid. He has that ability so it’s just a question of putting it
altogether. But certainly, Nico must not be taken for granted. He’s a very
intelligent and quick driver.”
Hamilton’s comments in Monaco, declaring he and Rosberg were not friends after
their qualifying controversy, did not sit well with Surtees. “I think that
was unwise. At the same time you’ve got to be natural and be what you are –
we all make mistakes – but that’s it. I don’t think it was the most
sensible. If I was wound up that way by a team-mate I think I’d perform even
better afterwards.”
His recommendations for Hamilton? “He needs to make certain he maintains an
inner calmness. When he’s out there on the track he wouldn’t be doing the
speeds unless he had that inner calmness, but the big thing to do is to
transfer that into off-track situations when the pressure comes on.”
After attending a MotoGP race in Barcelona last month, Hamilton spoke of
emulating Surtees by winning on two wheels and four. The Briton even owns an
MV Agusta, a make of bike ridden to championship success by Surtees (he won
seven in all). The 80-year-old does not see it as an impossible task.
“Could be done,” is his verdict. “The important thing is they do it early
enough. We all have performance curves. If one is on that ascendancy part
and is still getting better – I was still getting better as a motorcyclist
when I stopped being a motorcyclist, I was 25 – if you catch at the right
stage, there’s no reason not to.” But for this weekend, his focus will be on
Hamilton’s attempts to delight the home crowd. He is presenting one of the
trophies on the podium – given his long association with the place, it would
be fitting if he were to give Hamilton the victor’s crown on the 50th grand
prix at Silverstone.