James Hunt
Nationality  British
Formula One World Championship career
Active years	1973 - 1979
Teams	Hesketh, McLaren, Wolf
Races	93 (92 starts)
Championships	1 (1976)
Wins	10
Podium finishes	23
Career points	179
Pole positions	14
Fastest laps	8
First race	1973 Monaco Grand Prix
First win	1975 Dutch Grand Prix
Last win	1977 Japanese Grand Prix
Last race	1979 Monaco Grand Prix

James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993), ^[1] was a British racing driver from England who won the Formula One World Championship in 1976. The FIA Super Licence is a qualification allowing the Licence holder to take part in Formula One Grands Prix as a driver The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The 1973 Formula One season included the 24th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 28, 1973, and ended on The 1979 Formula One season included the 30th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 21, 1979, and ended on Hesketh Racing was a Formula One constructor from Great Britain, which competed from 1973 to 1978. McLaren, founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren (1937&ndash1970 is a Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, UK Walter Wolf Racing was a Formula One constructor from 1976 to 1980. The Formula One World Drivers' Championship (WDC is awarded by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile ( FIA) to the most successful Formula One The 1976 Formula One season included the 27th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 25, 1976, and ended on The term " pole position " comes from the Horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole In motorsport, the fastest lap is the quickest lap run during a race The 1973 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Monaco on June 3, 1973. Results from the 1975 Formula One Dutch Grand Prix held at Circuit Zandvoort on June 22, 1975. The 1977 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 23 October 1977 at Fuji. The 1979 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 27 May 1979 at Monaco. Events 708 - Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 708) Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The 1976 Formula One season included the 27th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 25, 1976, and ended on After retiring from driving, Hunt became a media commentator and businessman.

Beginning his racing career in touring car racing, Hunt progressed into Formula Three where he attracted the attention of the Hesketh Racing team and was soon taken under their wing. Touring car racing is a general term for a number of distinct Auto racing competitions in heavily-modified street cars Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. Hesketh Racing was a Formula One constructor from Great Britain, which competed from 1973 to 1978. Hunt entered Formula One in 1973, driving a March 731 entered by the Hesketh Racing team. The 1973 Formula One season included the 24th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 28, 1973, and ended on Hesketh Racing was a Formula One constructor from Great Britain, which competed from 1973 to 1978. He went on to win for Hesketh, driving their own Hesketh 308 car, in both World Championship and non-Championship races, before joining the McLaren team at the end of 1975. The Hesketh 308 and its derived sister model the 308B were Formula One Racing cars designed by Harvey Postlethwaite for Hesketh Racing McLaren, founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren (1937&ndash1970 is a Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, UK The 1975 Formula One season included the 26th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 12, 1975, and ended on In his first year with McLaren, Hunt won the World Drivers' Championship, and he remained with the team for a further two years, although with less success, before moving to the Wolf team in early 1979. Walter Wolf Racing was a Formula One constructor from 1976 to 1980. The 1979 Formula One season included the 30th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 21, 1979, and ended on However, following a string of races in which he failed to finish, Hunt retired from driving half way through the 1979 season.

Never one to take himself too seriously, Hunt endeared himself to the British public with his charisma and charm and brought a whole new audience to Formula One in the mid 1970's. Despite his Formula One career only lasting six seasons Hunt remains one of the few drivers of the era to be widely remembered amongst the general public, in part due to his commentary career for the BBC, which he took up following his retirement and maintained until his death in 1993.

Early career

The son of a successful stockbroker, James Hunt was born in Belmont, Sutton and educated firstly at Westerleigh School in Hastings, East Sussex and later Wellington College in Crowthorne, Berkshire, and originally studied to be a doctor. There is also a Belmont in the London Borough of Harrow. Belmont is a village just off the A217 in the London Borough of Sutton The London Borough of Sutton ( is a London borough in South London, England and forms part of Outer London. Hastings is a town on the coast of East Sussex in England; it is also the administrative centre for the Borough of the same name East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the Wellington College, the national monument to the Duke of Wellington, is an English Co-educational public school located in the Berkshire village Crowthorne is also a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa Crowthorne is a small Village and Civil Berkshire (ˈbɑːkʃə or /ˈbɑːkʃɪə/ say Baak-shuh/-sheer sometimes abbreviated to Berks) is a Home County in the South But just before his 18th birthday he was taken by a friend to see a motor race and Hunt was instantly hooked.

James Hunt driving a Brabham BT21 in the Guards Trophy F3 race at Brands Hatch, 1969. Origins The Brabham team was founded by Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac, who met in 1951 while both were successfully building and racing cars in their native Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. Brands Hatch is a Motor racing circuit in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland it hosted 12 runnings of the

Hunt's own racing career started off when he built his own fast but rather ramshackle racing Mini, before graduating to Formula Ford and Formula Three. The Mini is a small car that was produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC and its successors from 1959 until 2000 Formula Ford is a single seater open wheel class in Motorsport which exists in some form in many countries around the world Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. Hunt was noticed as a fast driver with an aggressive, tail-happy driving style, but one prone to spectacular accidents, hence his well-earned nickname of Hunt The Shunt. Hunt was involved in a controversial incident with Dave Morgan in the Formula Three Daily Express Trophy race at Crystal Palace on 3 October 1970. Dave Morgan (born August 7, 1944 in Cranmore, Somerset) is a British former Racing driver from England. Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. Crystal Palace circuit was a Motor racing circuit in the Crystal Palace, London, England. Having banged wheels earlier in a very closely fought race, Morgan attempted to pass Hunt on the outside of South Tower Corner on the final lap, but instead the cars collided and crashed out of the race. Hunt's car came to rest in the middle of the track, minus two wheels. Hunt got out, ran over to Morgan and furiously pushed him to the ground,^[2] which earned him severe official disapproval.

Hunt's career continued in the works March team, but that disintegrated and he soon fell in with the Hesketh team, where he was seen as a kindred spirit. March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from Britain. Hesketh Racing was a Formula One constructor from Great Britain, which competed from 1973 to 1978. The team initially entered Hunt in Formula Two with little success but Lord Hesketh decided that they might as well fail in F1 as in F2, as it wasn't significantly more expensive (and it allowed Lord Hesketh to parade his yacht, helicopter, Porsche, and Rolls Royce in front of a more appreciative audience). Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, was a type of Formula racing. Thomas Alexander Fermor-Hesketh 3rd Baron Hesketh KBE PC (born 28 October, 1950) is a British Conservative politician Porsche SE or Porsche ( German, ˈpɔɹʃə is a German manufacturer of automobiles which is majority-owned by the Porsche and Piëch A Rolls-Royce car may refer to vehicles produced by Rolls-Royce Limited (1906-1973 Rolls-Royce Motors (1973-2003 which was owned

Formula One career

Beginnings with Hesketh

Hunt's Hesketh 308 from 1975 being driven by his son, Freddie, in 2007. Hesketh Racing was a Formula One constructor from Great Britain, which competed from 1973 to 1978. The 1975 Formula One season included the 26th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 12, 1975, and ended on

Hesketh purchased a March 731 chassis, and it was developed by Harvey Postlethwaite. Dr Harvey Postlethwaite ( March 4, 1944 – April 15, 1999) was a British engineer and Technical Director of several Formula One teams The team wasn't taken seriously by rivals, who saw the Hesketh outfit as a group of party animals lapping up the F1 lifestyle. But the car was much more competitive than the works efforts, and their best result was second place at the 1973 United States Grand Prix. The 1973 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 7, 1973 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course For the 1974 season Hesketh Racing built a car, inspired by the March, called the Hesketh 308, but an accompanying V12 engine never materialised. The 1974 Formula One season included the 25th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 13, 1974, and ended on Hesketh Racing was a Formula One constructor from Great Britain, which competed from 1973 to 1978. The Hesketh 308 and its derived sister model the 308B were Formula One Racing cars designed by Harvey Postlethwaite for Hesketh Racing The Hesketh team captured the public imagination – the car without any sponsor markings, a teddy-bear badge and the atmosphere of devil-may-care fun hid the fact that they were an extremely competent outfit and Hunt started to thrive. The season highlight was a victory by Hunt at the BRDC International Trophy non-Championship race at Silverstone, against a field that included the majority of the contemporary F1 glitterati. The International Trophy is a prize awarded annually by the British Racing Drivers' Club to the winner of a motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone Circuit is a Motor racing circuit in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, named after the village in the former England

His first World Championship win came in the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Results from the 1975 Formula One Dutch Grand Prix held at Circuit Zandvoort on June 22, 1975. Circuit Park Zandvoort is a Motorsport Race track located in the dunes near the town of Zandvoort, in the Netherlands, near the North He finished fourth in the Championship that year, but Lord Hesketh had run out of funds and could not find a sponsor for his maverick team. With little time left before the 1976 season, Hunt was desperately looking for a drive until Emerson Fittipaldi left McLaren and joined his brother's Copersucar-Fittipaldi outfit. The 1976 Formula One season included the 27th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 25, 1976, and ended on Emerson Fittipaldi (born December 12, 1946 in São Paulo, Brazil) is a highly successful Brazilian automobile racing driver winning world championships McLaren, founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren (1937&ndash1970 is a Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, UK Origins Wilson Fittipaldi was a midfield Pay driver with Brabham in Formula One in 1972 and 1973 With no other top drivers available, the team management signed Hunt to McLaren for the next season – he was one of the cheapest World Champions ever (Keke Rosberg in 1982 similarly found a drive at the last minute). Keijo Erik Rosberg ( (born 6 December 1948 in Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden) nicknamed "Keke" is a Hunt immediately caused a stir by refusing to sign a clause in his contract which stipulated he wore suits to sponsor functions. Throughout his tenure, Hunt attended functions with world leaders, chairmen of businesses and media moguls in t-shirt and jeans and usually barefoot.

World Championship year

1976 was Hunt's best year. He used the McLaren M23 to win six Grands Prix in a turbulent season. The McLaren M23 was a Formula 1 car designed by Gordon Coppuck with input from John Barnard. Races by country Active and past races See {{CURRENTYEAR}} Formula One season for a schedule of this year's races After a slow start, he was disqualified and later reinstated as the winner of the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix for driving a McLaren that was supposedly 1. Results from the 1976 Formula One Spanish Grand Prix held at Jarama on May 2, 1976. 8 cm too wide. A seventh win at the British Grand Prix was disallowed after a row over an accident at the first corner that Hunt had got involved in. Results from the 1976 Formula One British Grand Prix held at Brands Hatch on July 18, 1976. At the Italian Grand Prix, the Texaco fuel that McLaren used was tested and although apparently legal, the Penske cars, running the same fuel, had a much higher octane level than allowed and subsequently both teams were forced to start from the rear of the grid. Results from the 1976 Formula One Italian Grand Prix held at Monza on September 12, 1976. Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron"

Niki Lauda's near-fatal accident in Germany, which caused him to miss the following two races, allowed Hunt to close the gap to the Austrian. Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (born February 22, 1949 in Vienna) is an Austrian Aviator, Entrepreneur The 1976 German Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at the Nürburgring on August 1, 1976. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich As they went to the final round in Japan Hunt was just three points behind. The 1976 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula 1 race held at Fuji on October 24, 1976. The Japanese Grand Prix was torrentially wet, and Lauda retired early on in the race, unable to blink because of facial burns from his accident in Germany. After leading most of the race Hunt suffered a puncture, then had a delayed pitstop and finally received mixed pit signals from his team. But he managed to splash back to third place, scoring four points, enough for him to win the World Championship by just one point.

Decline and retirement

The 1977 Formula One season started unluckily for Hunt; although he won three races, took several podium finishes and eventually placed well in the Championship. The 1977 Formula One season included the 28th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 9, 1977, and ended on The McLaren M26 was problematic in the early part of the season, and Hunt's apathy towards car testing made for a difficult period of races, during which Niki Lauda and Mario Andretti managed to build up a considerable points tally that Hunt could not overcome. The McLaren M26 was a Formula One car designed by Gordon Coppuck to replace the ageing McLaren M23 model Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian American former racecar driver and one of the most successful Americans in the Eventually he knuckled down to sort the car's problems, but unreliability during 1977 cost him a far better result.

The 1978 season marked a sharp decline for Hunt and he scored hardly any points. The 1978 Formula One season included the 29th FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on January 15, 1978, and ended on October Lotus had developed effective ground effect aerodynamics with their Lotus 79 car, and McLaren were slow to respond. For another similarly named effect relating to aircraft see Ground effect in aircraft. The Lotus 79 was a Formula One car designed in late 1977 by Colin Chapman, Martin Ogilvie, Tony Rudd and Peter Wright of Lotus The M26 was revised as a ground effect car midway through the season but it did not work, and without a test driver to sort the car, Hunt's motivation plummeted. He was even being outperformed on occasion by his inexperienced new team-mate Patrick Tambay. Patrick Tambay (born 25 June 1949 in Paris) is a French Racing driver.

Any motivation James had left was snuffed out by the crash he and his friend Ronnie Peterson were involved in at the start of the 1978 Italian Grand Prix. The 1978 Italian Grand Prix was the 14th race of the 1978 Formula One season. The start of the race was chaotic, with half the field still completing the warm-up lap. There was a huge accident going into the first corner and Peterson's Lotus was shunted into the barriers and burst into flames. Hunt was the man who rescued him from the car, but the Swede died one day later because of an embolism. Hunt took his friend's death particularly hard and for years afterwards blamed Riccardo Patrese for the accident. Riccardo Patrese (born April 17 1954) is an Italian former Racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to. Video evidence of the crash has since shown that Patrese did not touch Hunt or Peterson's cars, nor did he cause any other car to do so. ^[3] Hunt believed, however, that it was Patrese's muscling past that caused the McLaren and Lotus to touch, but Patrese argues that he was already well ahead of the pair before the accident took place. ^[3]

For 1979 Hunt moved to the initially very successful Walter Wolf Racing team for what would be his last Formula One season. The 1979 Formula One season included the 30th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 21, 1979, and ended on Walter Wolf Racing was a Formula One constructor from 1976 to 1980. However, Hunt's 1979 season with Wolf would turn out to be brief. The team's ground effect car was uncompetitive and Hunt had lost any enthusiasm for racing. His private life was also becoming increasingly turbulent. After failing to finish the 1979 Monaco Grand Prix, the race where six years previously he had made his debut, Hunt made a statement to the press announcing his immediate retirement and walked away from F1 competition forever. The 1979 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 27 May 1979 at Monaco.

Personal life and later career

Hunt was notorious for his unconventional behaviour on and off the track. Having been part of Formula One when the series was consolidating, and when it was conquering the attention of the motor sport press, Hunt became the epitome of unruly, playboy drivers and was celebrated for his English eccentricity (which included dining with his Alsatian, Oscar, at expensive Mayfair restaurants). Many latter-day drivers will be compared with Hunt for their antics, among them Eddie Irvine, and even more recently, Kimi Räikkönen. Before F1 (1983–1993 Eddie Irvine's racing career began in Formula Ford, and from 1983 through 1986 he spent the championships in middle-field places finishing on the Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (ˈkimi ˈmɑtiɑs ˈræikkønen born October 17, 1979 in Espoo) is a Finnish Formula One race car driver currently

Early in their careers Hunt and Lauda had shared a one bedroom flat in London together, and were close friends off the track. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Lauda, in his autobiography To Hell and Back, described Hunt as an "open, honest to God pal. " Whilst living in Spain as a tax exile, Hunt was neighbours with Jody Scheckter, and they also came to be very good friends, with Hunt giving Scheckter the nickname Fletcher after the crash prone bird in the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Jody David Scheckter (born January 29, 1950) is a South African former Auto racing driver the 1979 Formula One World Drivers Jonathan Livingston Seagull, written by Richard Bach, is a Fable in Novella form about a seagull learning about life and Another close friend was Ronnie Peterson. This is about the racing driver For the ice hockey player see Ronnie Pettersson. Peterson was a quiet and shy man, whilst Hunt was exactly the opposite, but their contrasting personalities made them very close off the track. It was Hunt who discovered the brilliant Gilles Villeneuve, whom he met after being soundly beaten by him in a Formula Atlantic race in 1976. Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve ( Gilles Villeneuve ʒil vilnœv ( January 18, 1950 &ndash May 8, 1982) was a Canadian The Cooper Tires presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda is a Formula racing series with races throughout North America Hunt then arranged for the young Canadian to make his Grand Prix debut with McLaren in 1977. Villeneuve came to rely on Hunt for advice and support during his career and Hunt was particularly upset after Villeneuve's death in 1982.

Hunt's lifestyle was as controversial as some of the events on track: he was associated with a succession of beautiful women; he preferred to turn up to formal functions in bare feet and jeans; he was a casual user of marijuana; and he lived an informal life near the beach in Marbella. He was regularly seen attending nightclubs and discos, and was generally the life and soul of the party. Hunt was an expert ball game player, and regularly played squash and tennis. Squash is a racquet sport that was formerly called squash racquets, a reference to the "squashable" soft ball used in the game (compared with the Tennis is a sport played between two players ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles) He also played on the F1 drivers' cricket and football teams and appeared on the BBC's Superstars more than once. Superstars is an all-around sports competition that pits elite athletes from different sports against one another in a He was also musically inclined, being able to play the trumpet and piano well. The piano is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard that produces sound by striking steel strings with Felt covered hammers It was often assumed that he did not take racing seriously enough, yet through 1976 and 1977 the results continued to come. He famously wore a badge on his racing overalls that read Sex - Breakfast of Champions.

He was married twice: first, to model Suzy Millar, who left him for the actor Richard Burton. Richard Burton, CBE (10 November 1925 &ndash 5 August 1984 was a Welsh multiple award-winning Actor. His second marriage, to Sarah, resulted in two children ^[4].

Soon after retirement, Hunt became an outspoken and entertaining television commentator for the BBC, alongside Murray Walker. Graeme Murray Walker OBE (known as Murray Walker; born 10 October 1923 Hall Green, Birmingham, England) is a Formula 1 Viewers were regularly exposed to his knowledge, insights and dry sense of humour during broadcasts, bringing him a whole new fanbase. He was famous for 'rubbishing' drivers he didn't think were trying hard enough, and although harsh-sounding, his comments were usually in good humour – he once described René Arnoux's comments that non-turbo cars didn't suit the Frenchman's driving skills as "bullshit", while live on the BBC. René Alexandre Arnoux (born July 4, 1948, in Grenoble) is a retired French Racing driver who is a veteran of 12 Formula One He was also skilled at reading a race and predicting outcomes to situations on-track. He briefly considered making a comeback to F1 in the mid-80's, and even tested privately for Williams setting competitive lap times, but eventually changed his mind. Not to be confused with Frank Williams Racing Cars, formed by Frank Williams 1967

Hunt fought depression and alcoholism and despite severe financial setbacks in his business life, approaching his mid-40s it seemed that he had overcome many of his demons (particularly alcohol and tobacco) and had finally achieved happiness. In the fields of Psychology and Psychiatry, the terms depression or depressed refer to both expected and pathologically chronic or severe Alcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions Happiness to Hunt included his new partner Helen, his clean health, his bicycle, his casual approach to dress, his two sons and his Austin A35 van. Performance A two door de luxe saloon with the 948 cc engine was tested by the British Motor magazine in 1956 and was found to have a top speed of and could accelerate In an unlikely twist Hunt became a champion breeder of budgerigars and parrots. The budgerigar ( Melopsittacus undulatus) commonly called parakeet, shell parakeet, budgie, or common pet parakeet in US English Parrots are birds of the roughly 350 Species in 85 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes, found in most warm and tropical regions One of his parrots, Humbert was slated to appear as Captain Hook's bird in a West End production of Peter Pan, but was returned to Hunt because of the bird's intolerance to the actor playing Captain Hook. Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J

Hunt made a brief appearance in the 1979 British silent slapstick comedy "The Plank. " He also made an appearance on ITV's Police, Camera, Action! special Crash Test Racers in 2000; this was one of many interviews to be aired posthumously. Police Camera Action! is a police video programme made by Optomen Television for Carlton Television, and is broadcast on ITV and ITV4 A television special is a Television program, typically a Short film or Television movie, which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally

Hunt died in 1993 at the age of 45, of a heart attack at his home in Wimbledon, only hours after proposing marriage to Helen. Myocardial infarction ( MI or AMI for acute myocardial infarction) also known as a heart attack, occurs when the blood supply Wimbledon is a Suburb of London, part of the London Borough of Merton and located south west of Charing Cross. NOTICE TO WOULD-BE ROMEOS **************

Hunt's son Freddie Hunt competed in his first car race on 29 October 2006, and finished fourth overall. Events 437 - Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. It is said he used the race to evaluate if he wished to become a racing driver professionally.

In early 2007, Formula One driver Kimi Räikkönen entered and won a snowmobile race in his native Finland under the name James Hunt. Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (ˈkimi ˈmɑtiɑs ˈræikkønen born October 17, 1979 in Espoo) is a Finnish Formula One race car driver currently Räikkönen has openly admired the lifestyles of 1970s race car drivers such as Hunt. ^[5]

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

• GrandPrix.com biography
• James Hunt appreciation website
• Fan website
• James Hunt statistics