Two Ferrari F1 Drivers, John Surtees and Fernando Alonso

Before the 2011 Italian Grand Prix (Gran Premio d’Italia), the BBC’s Jake Humphrey did a nice story comparing the cars and driving styles of 1964 F1 World Champion John Surtees and 2005 & 2006 F1 Champion and current Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso. The comparison between the number of team members in 1964 compared to 2011 is astounding.

John Surtees Interview by Peter Windsor

John Surtees Interview by Peter Windsor

The 2011 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is coming up on August 28, 2011. Peter Windsor, back working for SPEED (channel), interviewed the 1964 Formula 1 World Champion John Surtees, the winner of the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix in a Ferrari.

According to Wikipedia, John Frankenheimer used race footage from the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix in his film, Grand Prix. “The live footage shows Surtees, Bonnier, Bandini, Ligier, Clark & Gurney in action. Surtees doubles in the scene for the fictional Sarti while Bandini doubles for the fictional Barlini.

One of my first “scratch-built” slot cars used a Dynamic Dynaflex motor mount with a brass tubing/piano wire front end and a Dubro Ferrari 312 body that was based on the Ferrari 312 F1-66.