Surtees was born into motorsport royalty. His father John Surtees remains the only person to have won World Championships on both two wheels and four, claiming the 1964 Formula One title with Ferrari. Henry Surtees followed his father into racing from an early age.
Surtees began his car racing career in the Formula BMW UK series with Carlin Motorsport. He finished seventh in the overall standings and second in the Rookie Cup, claiming one pole position at Thruxton, one race win at Donington Park, and two fastest laps, despite penalties and a disqualification at Oulton Park. The second half of that season was dominated by fellow rookie Marcus Ericsson.
He moved to the Formula Renault UK series in 2008 with Manor Competition, finishing twelfth in the championship with a best result of third at Silverstone's National Circuit. He also competed briefly in the Formula Three National Class, taking a win and a second place in two races at Donington Park for Carlin Motorsport.
For 2009, Surtees signed with the revived FIA Formula Two Championship. He scored a podium in the first race at Brands Hatch (third place) and achieved a pole position at Brno. His results placed him fourteenth in the championship at the time of his death.
On 19 July 2009, during a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch, Jack Clarke's car spun into the wall at Westfield Bend and shed a wheel. The wheel broke its tether, bounced across the track, and struck Surtees on the helmet. The wheel assembly weighed 29 kilograms and the impact at the speed his car was travelling yielded approximately 30,000 joules of kinetic energy. Surtees's car continued straight ahead into the barrier at Sheene Curve with the engine still running at its RPM limiter, indicating he had lost consciousness immediately. He was extracted and transferred to the Royal London Hospital, where he was pronounced brain dead that day. His parents donated his organs, a decision credited with saving five lives.
Surtees was buried at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church in Lingfield, Surrey. His father John Surtees, who died in 2017, was buried alongside him.
Surtees's death, alongside a series of similar wheel-loss incidents in various series, contributed directly to a doubling of wheel tethers per wheel for the 2011 Formula One World Championship season.
His case was also central to FIA research into the Halo cockpit protection structure, introduced as mandatory for Formula One and Formula 2 in 2018. Computer simulations included the Brands Hatch impact in their analysis, and the FIA concluded that a halo would likely have improved Surtees's outcome. The value of the halo was demonstrated within its first season: at the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix, a wheel from Fernando Alonso's airborne car struck the halo of Charles Leclerc's machine, an impact the halo absorbed without serious injury to Leclerc.
In June 2010, a group of Surtees's school friends swam the English Channel in relay to raise money for charity in his memory. A cafe at his former school was named The Pit Stop in his honour.
The Henry Surtees Award was established in 2010 to be presented annually for the most outstanding performance by a rising racing driver. Its inaugural winner was Formula Renault UK champion Tom Blomqvist; Scott Malvern won it in 2011 after claiming the British and European Formula Ford championships.
The Henry Surtees Foundation was founded in 2010 by his father as a charitable organisation supporting victims of accidental brain injuries and promoting safety in driving and motorsport.