50 years on - John Surtees on his unique bike-car double

John Surtees headed into the 1964 Formula One season finale in Mexico locked in a three-way fight for the title. Engine issues sent him plummeting down the race order and threatened an early exit, but Surtees fought back and, as fellow Britons Graham Hill and Jim Clark hit trouble in dramatic fashion, emerged triumphant as the first, and to date only, person to have won world championships on both two and four wheels.

But what does the man himself think of the magnitude of his achievement? What was his mentality going into that showdown against two of the most celebrated F1 champions? And when did he realise he was on the brink of something historic? On the eve of the 50th anniversary of his unprecedented feat, we spoke to Surtees to find out…

"Get the race right and the rest comes with it - that has always been my attitude in life. And so I didn't have a sense of the occasion heading into Mexico, or even during the race. It was others who had pointed out that I could become the first man to do the double - and it was only after the race, when I saw the beaming faces of my team, that it struck me, a sense of what I had done. And yes, looking back, it's satisfying. But the most important thing - the most important part of my racing - was simply that I loved what I was doing..."

On October 25, John Surtees will celebrate the 50th anniversary of his Formula 1 world championship crown with Ferrari – except that, with typical modesty, he admits that "celebrate" may not be entirely the right word. "I might have a glass of Mumm champagne," he laughs, "but that will probably be about it."

It's a throwaway line, but in many ways epitomizes Surtees' character: humble and self-effacing, yet also supremely talented and fiercely independent. Such traits explain why, in his view, his 1964 crown is "just one of those things"; and why, rather than the six Grand Prix victories or the historic double, "the races I mainly remember are the ones I didn't win - the ones that annoy me."

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