The mechanism of failure of lubricated surfaces at high sliding speeds was investigated. Experiments were performed with the ball-on-flat and cylinder-on-flat geometries, using lubricants of four different chemical reactivities. Surface failure was found to not be predictable using the ratio, $lambda$, of fluid film thickness to composite surface roughness except when chemically inert lubricants are used. Even then the influence of temperature rise on fluid film thickness does not adequately explain the low load carrying capacity of lubricants at high sliding speeds, which causes surface failure. The protective layers on sliding surfaces that form by chemical reaction with the lubricant were found to reduce the surface roughening and increase the load carrying capacity of surfaces to values of $lambda$ as low as 0.03. Neither the surface roughening nor the formation of the protective layers have been incorporated into failure models for lubricated systems.