John Surtees may be 76 years of age, but his passion for motor racing has by no means diminished, and he was as gripped by the final races of the 2010 season as any other F1 fan.

The 1964 World Champion was attending the launch of the 2010 Beaujolais Run at Brands Hatch recently and spoke enthusiastically about the fascinating season everybody had witnessed, though he was reluctant to say it was the best season in living memory.

"It's always difficult to say the greatest ever but it's definitely been a superb season," he said, "despite many of the things which you have to contend with now. It's been tremendous, there's been tension brought in via the incidents of misfortunes that Red Bull have had for instance.

"You had the recovery of Ferrari, which is very important for motorsport, and in a way you had a recovery for McLaren in the last race to where they were obviously more competitive."

Surtees reveals he knew of Sebastian Vettel's talents long before he made it to F1, being slightly older than his son Henry, who was tragically killed at Brands last July.

"I think we have a very worthy world champion. He's a young man who was just a few seasons ahead of Henry when he was karting. In Formula BMW we were watching him closely and were very impressed over the years at the way he attacked his chosen path."

He also commented on the German's attitude, even when things didn't go right for him:

"What was important was that when it went all wrong and when his engine blew up in Korea, there was still a twinkle and a smile and that shows that there's something special."

However he also revealed he felt for his former employers Ferrari after losing the drivers' title just when it seemed within their grasp:

"I felt sorry for Italy and for Ferrari and Maranello," he said, "because it's a way of life and the Italian passion is something very special. At the same time they can be proud at the recovery they made. They took off from a point when they had some problems with competitiveness and I still don't think they ended with the most competitive car.

"But the man who led from the start, put it on pole and everything else you can't take it away from him."

One thing that hasn't changed a great deal is the amount of overtaking, and Surtees admits that was slightly disappointing, particularly at the final round when it was most needed:

"What is a bit of a shame, and though I applaud the investment people have made in racing in places like Abu Dhabi, I must say I would have liked a circuit which would have allowed people to use their skills to a greater degree.

"A little more thought in some corners would have allowed drivers to carry out some of the passing operations which were necessary and from that point of view I was a bit sad for both Mark Webber and obviously Alonso because they were restricted in what they could do."