Obituary

Formula 1

Henry Surtees dead after Brands Hatch accident

Henry Surtees was 18 years old when he was struck by a flying wheel at the Brands Hatch Circuit in Kent, England, in the FIA Formula Two Championship series' second race of the weekend at his home venue. Henry Surtees. Photo by ...

Published: Oct 2, 2009, 4:37 PM

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Henry Surtees was 18 years old when he was struck by a flying wheel at the Brands Hatch Circuit in Kent, England, in the FIA Formula Two Championship series' second race of the weekend at his home venue.

Henry Surtees.

Photo by www.formulatwo.com.

Surtees and Jack Clarke were in Westfield Bend when Clarke hit the wall at the exit of the corner, causing his wheel to come loose and strike Surtees in the head. He was knocked unconscious and his Williams JPH1 went off the track.

The officials immediately red-flagged the race and the medical team was quickly on the scene. Once the young Brit was removed from his car, he was taken to the track's medical center. Surtees was stabilized before he was transported by air to The Royal London Hospital in nearby Whitechapel.

A spokesperson for the hospital confirmed that Surtees had died from his injuries in the evening (local time).

Surtees was the son of legendary John Surtees, the winner of four FIM motorcycling world chamionships in the late 1950s, and of the 1964 Formula One world championship -- still the only man to win top-level championships on both two and four wheels.

Henry Surtees joined the newly formed Formula Two series after racing mainly in the Formula Renault 2.0 series. Yesterday, he became the first Briton to scored a podium finish in the series. He finished third in Saturday's race one.

"It's a bit of a relief really to pick up the podium! I only have two points so far this season even though we've had a pole in Brno and been fast in the other rounds. It's nice to actually finish a race - I haven't quite been so lucky in the last four races, so it's good to finally get a solid points finish," Henry Surtees commented after his home podium finish yesterday.

His single-seater career started in 2007 in the Formula BMW European series. His first Formula Renault 2.0 ride was in th same year. Last year, Surtees contested two British Formula 3 National class events where he had one win and one other podium finish.

The staff of Motorsport.com extend their condolences to the Surtees family.

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Read also :

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Previous article Two venues may share British GP - Ecclestone

Next article Concorde Agreement to be signed this week

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

More from

John Surtees



Who belongs on F1's Mount Rushmore? Pick your four greatest drivers

Formula 1

Formula 1

Who belongs on F1's Mount Rushmore? Pick your four greatest drivers



What F1 history tells us about three-way title deciders

Formula 1

Formula 1

Abu Dhabi GP

What F1 history tells us about three-way title deciders



Top 10 Ferrari F1 drivers ranked: Schumacher, Lauda, Alonso and more

Formula 1

Formula 1

Top 10 Ferrari F1 drivers ranked: Schumacher, Lauda, Alonso and more

More from

Williams



James Vowles explains request for review of F1 cost cap

Formula 1

Formula 1

Singapore GP

James Vowles explains request for review of F1 cost cap



Williams Racing is suing a local garage owner for £1million

Formula 1

Formula 1

Bahrain GP in Malaysia

Williams Racing is suing a local garage owner for £1million



How Fernando Alonso scored ninth at Zandvoort - and how Alex Albon lost a similar payday

Formula 1

Dutch GP

How Fernando Alonso scored ninth at Zandvoort - and how Alex Albon lost a similar payday

Latest news



Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance

WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 2 h

Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”



How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

2 h

How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV



Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing

NASCAR O'Reilly

NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly

Phoenix II

3 h

Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing



Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

9 h

Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links

Feature

Discover prime content



Laurent Mekies under the microscope: How different is his leadership at Red Bull from Christian Horner?

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Ronald Vording

Laurent Mekies under the microscope: How different is his leadership at Red Bull from Christian Horner?



Rwanda turns to F1 as it moves forward from a chequered past

Formula 1

By Filip Cleeren

Rwanda turns to F1 as it moves forward from a chequered past



Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine

Formula 1

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine



Exclusive video: Christian Horner interview on his Red Bull exit, Mercedes rivalry and more

Formula 1

By Autosport

Exclusive video: Christian Horner interview on his Red Bull exit, Mercedes rivalry and more

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts

Subscribe