NIGELROEBUCK’S FORMULA ONE HEROES
PICTURES
IN NOVEMBER OF 1978 I GOT A CALL…
from his secretary asking me to visit John Surtees in St Thomas Hospital, where he was undergoing surgery on his right leg, this the hangover of an accident 13 years earlier. No explanation was offered: simply, “John would like to talk to you”.
He was in good spirits, and we chatted, but still I wondered why I had been asked to visit. Finally, he said, “As long as you’re here, I may as well give you some news.” About what the team is doing next year? “That’s the news,” he said. “We’re stopping…”
In today’s world the announcement of a team’s withdrawal would make the 10 O’Clock
