Henry Surtees

Surtees finished his debut season in the championship 7th in the overall points standings, and second in the Rookie Cup. During a season in which the second half was dominated by fellow rookie Marcus Ericsson, Surtees claimed one pole position (Thruxton), one race win (Donington Park) and two fastest laps (Rockingham and Snetterton) while driving for the Carlin Motorsport team. The season was marred by penalties and a disqualification at Oulton Park.

File:HenrySurtees.jpg in 2008]]

After two races in 2007, Surtees moved up full-time to the Formula Renault UK series in 2008 with Manor Competition. He finished 12th in the championship, including a third-place finish at Silverstone's National Circuit.{{cite web

|url=http://www.racingsteps.co.uk/fo/index.php?page=15§ion=9

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315174212/http://www.racingsteps.co.uk/fo/index.php?page=15§ion=9

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=15 March 2017

|title=Silverstone (Ntnl), 30/31 Aug 2008

|publisher=Racing Steps Foundation

|date=31 August 2008

|access-date=2009-03-01}} He also competed in the Winter Series again, having finished 13th in 2007. He battled James Calado for the title, with Calado coming out on top.

Surtees competed in one race meeting during the 2008 season, in the final two races at Donington Park for Carlin Motorsport. Surtees took a win and a second in his two races in the National Class.{{cite web

|url=http://www.crash.net/F3/News/32242/1/carlin_rookies_shine_at_donington.html

|title=Carlin rookies shine at Donington

|publisher=crash.net

|date=14 October 2008

|access-date=2009-03-01}}

Surtees signed up to the revived FIA Formula Two Championship ahead of the 2009 season on 2 January 2009. He drove car number seven in the series.{{cite web

|url=http://www.formulatwo.com/news/henry-surtees-to-race-in-formula-two.aspx

|title=Surtees name returns to Formula Two

|publisher=FIA Formula Two Championship

|date=2 January 2009

|access-date=2009-01-07

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220125241/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/henry-surtees-to-race-in-formula-two.aspx

|archive-date=20 February 2009

|url-status=dead

}} He scored a podium in the first of the two races at Brands Hatch, coming third, and achieved a pole position at Brno. His results placed him fourteenth in the championship, at the end of the season.

{{Wikinews|British Formula Two driver Henry Surtees dies after race accident}}

File:Henry Surtees.jpg the day before his fatal accident.]]

At Brands Hatch on 19 July 2009, during a Formula Two race, Surtees was hit on the head by a wheel from the car of Jack Clarke after Clarke spun into the wall exiting Westfield Bend. The wheel broke its tether and bounced back across the track into the following group of cars and collided with Surtees's helmet.{{cite news|last=Cary|first=Tom|title=Henry Surtees's death shakes motorsport world|work=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/5873060/Henry-Surtees-death-shakes-motorsport-world.html|date=20 July 2009|access-date=2009-07-24}}{{cite news|title=F2 bosses to probe Surtees tragedy|publisher=Kent and Sussex Courier|work=thisissussex.co.uk|url=http://www.thisissussex.co.uk/sport/F2-bosses-probe-Surtees-tragedy/article-1185144-detail/article.html|date=22 July 2009|access-date=2009-07-24|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913164115/http://www.thisissussex.co.uk/sport/F2-bosses-probe-Surtees-tragedy/article-1185144-detail/article.html|archive-date=13 September 2012|url-status=dead}} The mass of the wheel assembly hitting his head was {{convert|29|kg|lb}}, and given that his car was travelling at {{convert|161|kph}} at the time the wheel struck, the impact yielded approximately 30,000 joules of kinetic energy.{{cite magazine|author1=English, Steven |author2=Glendenning, Mark |date=31 December 2009|title=Loved and lost: Henry Surtees 1991-2009; Tribute by John Surtees|magazine=Autosport|volume=198|issue=13|pages=42–43|quote=People talked about Felipe Massa's accident in Hungary the following week. He had 0.8 kg hit him, Henry had 29 kg.}} The car continued straight ahead into the barrier on the approach to Sheene Curve, also losing a wheel, and came to rest at the end of the curve with its remaining rear wheel still spinning and the engine at its RPM limiter. This indicated that Surtees had lost consciousness, with his foot still pressing the accelerator.

Surtees was extricated from the car and taken to the circuit's medical centre, where he was stabilized before being transferred to the Royal London Hospital. He was pronounced brain dead later that day.{{cite news|title=Surtees's son killed in race crash|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/8158445.stm|date=20 July 2009|access-date=2009-07-24}} He was 18 years old. Surtees's death was attributed to severe head injuries, inflicted by colliding with Clarke's wheel, rather than the subsequent crash with the barriers.

{{cite news

|url=http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77088

|title=Henry Surtees dies after F2 crash

|first=Jonathan

|last=Noble

|publisher=Haymarket Publications

|work=autosport.com

|date=19 July 2009

|access-date=2009-07-19}} His parents elected to donate his organs for transplant, a decision which was credited with saving five lives.{{Cite news|url=https://www.driving.co.uk/news/obituary-john-surtees/|title=Obituary: John Surtees|date=2017-03-20|work=Sunday Times Driving|access-date=2018-08-28|language=en-GB}} Surtees' funeral took place on 30 July at Worth Abbey, near Turners Hill, West Sussex.

{{cite news

|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8175812.stm

|title=Funeral for racing driver Surtees

|publisher=BBC

|work=BBC News

|date=30 July 2009

|access-date=2009-07-30}}

Surtees was buried at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church in Lingfield, Surrey; in 2017, his father John was buried next to him.

In June 2010, a group of Surtees's school friends swam the English Channel in stints to raise money for charity in his memory. A cafe at his former school was also named The Pit Stop in memory of him.

Surtees's death, along with an increasing number of accidents where wheels were torn off their mountings, led to the number of wheel tethers being doubled to two per wheel for the 2011 Formula One World Championship season.{{Cite news|last=Gent|first=James|title=Extra wheel tether to be added for 2011|language=en|work=Autosport.com|url=https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/85617/extra-wheel-tether-to-be-added-for-2011|date=28 July 2010|access-date=30 August 2020}}

The FIA introduced a mandatory titanium-carbon fibre{{Cite news|url=http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/22262498/all-need-know-halo-ahead-2018-f1-season|title=All you need to know about Halo|work=ESPN.com|access-date=2018-03-07}}{{Citation|last=Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport|title=F1 Explained: The Halo|date=2018-02-07|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er71vu14PAI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/er71vu14PAI| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|access-date=2018-03-07}}{{cbignore}} "halo" cockpit protection structure for the 2018 Formula One and Formula 2 championships. Surtees's fatal impact was one of many simulated with the halo device, and the FIA concluded that Surtees's outcome likely would have been improved by the presence of a halo.{{Cite news|url=https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/131095/six-key-myths-about-f1-halo-device-busted|title=Six key myths about F1's halo cockpit protection device busted|last=Cooper|first=Adam|work=Autosport.com|access-date=2017-11-10|language=en}} The utility of the halo, controversial and criticized when introduced, was borne out in the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix, when a wheel from the spinning and airborne car of Fernando Alonso solidly struck the halo structure of Charles Leclerc's car. The halo was credited with potentially preventing a serious injury to Leclerc, if not outright saving his life.{{Cite news|url=https://www.news.com.au/sport/motorsport/formula-one/incredible-pictures-capture-the-moment-halo-device-saves-formula-one-drivers-life/news-story/447c4097e91fd3d293bdb5a7555d1b60|title=Incredible pictures capture the moment halo device saves Formula One driver's life|work=NewsComAu|access-date=2018-08-28}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.marketscreener.com/RENAULT-4688/news/Renault-Much-maligned-halo-may-have-saved-Leclerc-rsquo-s-life-after-horror-crash-with-Alonso-27168282/|title=Renault : Much-maligned halo may have saved Leclerc's life after horror crash with Alonso {{!}} MarketScreener|last=MarketScreener|access-date=2018-08-28}}

In 2010, the Henry Surtees Award was launched, to be awarded annually for the most outstanding performance by a rising motor racer. Its first winner was Formula Renault UK champion Tom Blomqvist, followed by British & European Formula Ford champion Scott Malvern in 2011.

Also in 2010,{{Cite web|url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07254932|title=HENRY SURTEES FOUNDATION - Overview (free company information from Companies House)|website=beta.companieshouse.gov.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-08-28}} the Henry Surtees Foundation was founded as a charitable organisation by his father John, to assist victims of accidental brain injuries and to promote safety in driving and motorsport.{{Cite web|url=https://www.henrysurteesfoundation.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219012424/http://www.henrysurteesfoundation.com/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=19 December 2010|title=Henry Surtees Foundation|website=henrysurteesfoundation.com|access-date=2018-08-28}}

† As Surtees was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

* Surtees died during round eight of the sixteen-round series.

(key) (races in bold indicate pole position) (races in italics indicate fastest lap)

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