Roy Salvadori vs John Surtees

1961·

Roy Salvadori beat John Surtees 4–1 at Cooper-Climax in 1961, helped by 4 retirements for John Surtees. Race-by-race qualifying, finishing and points record.

Roy SalvadoriJohn Surtees

1Qualifying4

5 shared races

4Race day1

5 shared races

2Points2

in shared races, as awarded at the time

21Points (today’s rules)10

in shared races, rescored 25-18-15…

Wins: 0/0
Podiums: 0/0
Poles: 0/0
Retirements: 1/4
Best finish: P6/P5
Avg. grid: 14.6/11

Race by race

Round-by-round comparison of Roy Salvadori and John Surtees
R	Grand Prix	Grid	Roy Salvadori	John Surtees	Points
4	4French Grand Prix	15/7	P8	Accident	0 / 0
5	5British Grand Prix	13/10	P6	Differential	1 / 0
6	6German Grand Prix	15/10	P10	P5	0 / 2
7	7Italian Grand Prix	18/19	P6	Accident	1 / 0
8	8United States Grand Prix	12/9	Engine	Engine	0 / 0
	Average finish		P7.5	P5.0

How to read this table

The driver ahead in a round is shown in bold, the other in grey. Grid shows Roy Salvadori / John Surtees.
P1 a win,P3 a podium,DNF a retirement.
▲ a finish at least 4 places better than that driver’s own average finish this season (see the average row), ▼ at least 4places worse. Retirements are not counted in the average.

Roy Salvadori and John Surtees in other seasons

Other seasons in which Roy Salvadori and John Surtees were teammates
Season	Team	Matchup	Quali	Race	Points
1962	Lola	Roy Salvadori vs John Surtees	0–6	1–5	0–17

Other Cooper-Climax battles in 1961

Other Cooper-Climax teammate battles in 1961
Matchup	Quali	Race	Points
Jack Brabham vs Bruce McLaren	6–2	3–5	4–11

Roy Salvadori’s career John Surtees’s career Cooper-Climax 1961 season All teammate battles

How these numbers are calculated

Only races both drivers started are counted. Entries that did not qualify, did not pre-qualify or were withdrawn are excluded, as are cars that never left the grid or the garage, and the Indianapolis 500 of 1950–1960.
Until the mid-1960s drivers could share a car during a race. Each driver is compared from the car they started (which sets their grid position), with the best result of any car they drove and the points from all of them, as officially credited.
Qualifying is compared on grid position rather than session times. Session-by-session qualifying data only exists from 1994, while grid position is recorded for over 99% of entries right back to 1950 — including every race of the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
On race day the driver classified ahead takes the round. If neither was classified, the one who completed more laps is credited; if both retired on the same lap it is scored as a tie and excluded from the tally.
Points are those awarded at the time and include sprint races from 2021. Where the season used an older system, a second points row rescores every round under the current system so seasons from different eras can be compared.
These are points scored in the races both drivers started, not their season totals: races either missed, or contested alongside a different teammate, are left out. Up to 1990 even full-season totals differ from the championship standings, because only a driver’s best results counted towards the title. In 1988 Alain Prost outscored Ayrton Senna 105 to 94 and still lost the championship. Theseason page has the final standings.