Who do you think you are? John Surtees?

No one ever said that, did they? The standard 1970s comment to a speeding driver was “Who do you think you are? Stirling Moss?” Moss was a household name but he never actually won the World Formula 1 title. John Surtees, nowhere near as celebrated but won both the World Formula 1 title in 1964 and the World Motorcycling title many times before that. The only man ever to do win world titles on both two and four wheels. John Surtees made by far the greater contribution to motorsport so it’s hard to comprehend why Sir Stirling Moss was knighted and he never was. In the last couple of days, people have saying that this modest, courageous and immensely talented man should have felt the sword on his shoulder years ago. But John Surtees died yesterday, aged 83. And the saddest words in the English language are “too late”.