Motivation Quote by John Surtees

Surtees is sneaking a paradox into what sounds like plainspoken coaching: the fastest way to drive is to stop trying to look fast. “Relaxed driving” isn’t about taking it easy; it’s about removing the extra, panicked inputs that turn a lap into a collection of small mistakes. In motorsport, tension shows up as over-braking, sawing at the wheel, chasing the car instead of placing it. Surtees’ line frames calm as a skill, not a temperament. You earn it.

The phrasing matters. “Everything you need” hints at the seductive belief that there’s a secret technique, a magic setup, a mentality hack. Surtees cuts that off. The only “everything” is repetition: learning how the car talks back through vibration, grip fade, and weight transfer, until your body responds without drama. Consistency, the unglamorous currency of winning, arrives as a byproduct of familiarity. Not the highlight-reel lap, but the tenth lap done the same way.

Context sharpens the point. Surtees came from motorcycles to Formula One and became the only person to win world championships on both two wheels and four. That cross-disciplinary career makes his emphasis on practice feel less like platitude and more like a veteran’s diagnosis: different machines, same problem. Speed is ultimately trust - in the tires, in your references, in yourself - and trust can’t be willed into existence on race day. It’s built, one controlled, “relaxed” repetition at a time.