James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) was a British racing driver and broadcaster who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Shunt", Hunt won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with McLaren and won 10 Grands Prix across seven seasons.
Born and raised in Surrey, Hunt began his racing career in touring cars before progressing to Formula Three in 1969, where he attracted the attention of Lord Hesketh, founder of Hesketh Racing. Hunt earned notoriety throughout his early career for his reckless and action-packed exploits on track, along with his playboy lifestyle off it. He signed for Hesketh in —driving a March 731 chassis designed by Harvey Postlethwaite—making his Formula One debut at the ; he took podiums in his rookie season at the Dutch and United States Grands Prix. Hesketh entered their own 308 chassis in , in which Hunt achieved several podiums and won the non-championship BRDC International Trophy.
Retaining his seat the following season, Hunt took his maiden victory with Hesketh at the , widely regarded as one of the greatest underdog victories in Formula One history. The team was left without sponsorship at the end of the season, leading Hunt to join McLaren for his campaign. Amidst a fierce title battle with Niki Lauda, Hunt won the World Drivers' Championship by a single point in his debut season with McLaren. He won several further races in , dropping to fifth in the standings amidst reliability issues. After a winless season for McLaren, Hunt moved to Wolf in and retired after the , having achieved 10 race wins, 14 pole positions, eight fastest laps, and 23 podiums in Formula One.
Upon retiring from motor racing, Hunt established a career as a commentator and pundit for the BBC, as well as a columnist for The Independent. Through Marlboro, he also mentored two-time World Drivers' Champion Mika Häkkinen. He died from a heart attack at his home in Wimbledon, aged 45.
Early life Hunt was born in Belmont, Surrey, the second child of Wallis Glynn Gunthorpe Hunt (1922–2001), a stockbroker and businessman, and Susan Noel Wentworth () Hunt. Autocourse Grand Prix Archive, 14 October 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2007. He had an elder sister, Sally, three younger brothers, Peter, Timothy and David, and one younger sister, Georgina.Young and Hunt 1978, p. 9. Wallis Hunt was descended on his mother's side from the industrialist and politician Sir William Jackson, 1st Baronet.Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, ed. Arthur G. M. Hesilrige, Kelly's Directories, 1931, p. 426 Hunt's family lived in a flat in Cheam, Surrey, moved to Sutton when he was 11 and then to a larger home in Belmont.Donaldson 1994, pp. 11–12. He attended Westerleigh Preparatory School, St Leonards-on-Sea Sussex and later Wellington College.
Hunt's mother Sue said that feelings were not shared within the family.p16, Donaldson, 1994
Hunt first learned to drive on a tractor at a farm in Pembrokeshire, Wales, while on a family holiday, with instruction from the farm's owner, but he found changing gears frustrating because he lacked the required strength.Donaldson 1994, pp. 16–19. Hunt passed his driving test one week after his seventeenth birthday, at which point he said his life "really began".Donaldson 1994, pp. 24–30. He also took up skiing in 1965 in Scotland, and made plans for further ski trips. Before his eighteenth birthday, he went to the home of Chris Ridge, his tennis doubles partner. Ridge's brother Simon, who raced Minis, was preparing his car for a race at Silverstone that weekend. The Ridges took Hunt to see the race, which began his obsession with motor racing.Donaldson 1994, pp. 29–31.
Early career Mini racing Hunt's racing career started off in a racing Mini. He first entered a race at the Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk, but race scrutineers prevented him from competing, deeming the Mini to have many irregularities, which left Hunt and his team mate, Justin Fry, upset. Hunt later brought the necessary funding from working as a trainee manager of a telephone company (Telephone Rentals Ltd) to enter three events. At this point Fry made the decision to part company with the team, owing to the irregularities and modifications that were happening to the cars they were using.Donaldson 1994, pp. 41–43.
Formula Ford Hunt graduated to Formula Ford in 1968. He drove a Russell-Alexis Mark 14 car bought through a hire-purchase scheme. In his first race at Snetterton, Hunt had lost 15 hp from an incorrect engine ignition setting, but managed to finish fifth. He took his first win at Lydden Hill and also set the lap record on the Brands Hatch short circuit.Donaldson 1994 pp. 43–45.
Formula Three
In 1969, Hunt raced in Formula Three with a budget, provided by Gowrings of Reading, which bought a Merlyn Mark 11A. Gowrings intended to run the car in the final two races of 1968. Hunt won several races and achieved regular high-placed finishes, which led to the British Guild of Motoring Writers awarding him a Grovewood Award as one of the three drivers judged to have promising careers.Donalson 1994, p. 54.
Hunt was involved in a controversial incident with Dave Morgan during a battle for second position in the Formula Three Daily Express Trophy race at Crystal Palace on 3 October 1970. Having banged wheels earlier in a 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. He got out, ran over to Morgan and furiously pushed him to the ground,Goddard, Jeff (Producer), Walker, Murray (Commentator). "Daily Express Trophy Final, October 1970." 100 Great Sporting Moments (BBC-BBC Two, Airdate 1993. which earned him severe official disapproval. Both men were summoned by the RAC and after hearing evidence from other drivers, Hunt was cleared by a tribunal and Morgan was given a 12-month suspension of his racing licence, but was subsequently allowed to progress to Formula Atlantic in 1971. Hunt later met with John Hogan and racing driver Gerry Birrell to obtain sponsorship from Coca-Cola.Donaldson 1994, pp. 61–62.
Hunt's career continued in the works March team for 1972. His first race at Mallory Park saw him finish third, but he was told by race officials he had been excluded from the results, as his engine was deemed to be outside the regulations. The car, however, passed tests at the next two races at Brands Hatch. In these races, Hunt finished fourth and fifth respectively. He collided with two cars at Oulton Park but finished third at Mallory Park after a long duel with Roger Williamson. The cars did not appear at Zandvoort, but Hunt still attended the race as a spectator.Donaldson 1994, pp. 75–76.
In May 1972, it was announced by the team that he had been dropped from the STP-March Formula 3 team and replaced by Jochen Mass. When Hunt attempted to contact March, he was unable to get any response from his employers. Hunt decided to consult Chris Marshall, his former team manager, who explained that a spare car was available. This followed a period characterised by a series of mechanical failures. Hunt decided, against the express instructions of March director Max Mosley, to race at Monaco in a March from a different team. This had been vacated by driver Jean-Claude Alzerat, after Hunt's own March had first broken down and then been hit by another competitor in a practice lap.Skilleter, Paul (Charles Bulmer, ed.). "Sporting side: Hunt out – Mass in." Motor, 3 June 1972, pp. 46–47.
Formula One career 1973–1975: Hesketh 1973 Hesketh purchased a March 731 chassis, and it was developed by Harvey Postlethwaite. The team was initially not taken seriously by rivals, who saw the Hesketh team as party goers enjoying the glamour of Formula One. However, the Hesketh March proved much more competitive than the works March cars, and their best result was second place at the 1973 United States Grand Prix. Hunt also made a brief venture into sports car racing at the 1973 Kyalami Nine Hours, driving a Mirage M6 along with Derek Bell, finishing second.McDonough 2012, pp. 78–79.
After the season's end, Hunt was awarded with the Campbell Trophy from the RAC marking his performance in Formula One as the best by a British driver.Donaldson 1994, p. 114. 1974 For the season, Hesketh Racing built a car, inspired by the March, called the Hesketh 308, but an accompanying V12 engine never materialised. Hunt's first test of the car came at Silverstone and he found it more stable than its predecessor, the March 731. Hunt was retained on a £15,000 salary.Donaldson 1994, p. 117. The Hesketh team captured the public imagination as a car without sponsors' markings, a teddy-bear badge and a devil-may-care team ethos, which belied the fact that their engineers were highly competent professionals. In Argentina, Hunt qualified fifth and led briefly before being overtaken by Ronnie Peterson as Hunt spun off the track and eventually retired due to engine failure.Donaldson 1994, p. 118. In South Africa, Hunt retired from fifth place with a broken driveshaft.Donaldson 1994, p. 122. Hunt's season highlight was a victory at the BRDC International Trophy non-championship race at Silverstone, against the majority of the regular F1 field. 1975
Hunt finished sixth in Brazil and retired with an engine failure in South Africa. In Spain, Hunt led the first six laps before colliding with a barrier with the same cause of retirement in Monaco. Hunt had another two retirements in Belgium and Sweden, both of which were due to mechanical failures.Donaldson 1994, pp. 135–136. Hunt's first win came in the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. He finished fourth in the Championship that year, but Lord Hesketh had run out of funds and could not find a sponsor for his team. With little time left before the season, Hunt was desperately looking for a drive until Emerson Fittipaldi left McLaren and joined his brother's Copersucar-Fittipaldi outfit. With no other top drivers available, the team management signed Hunt to McLaren – in a deal brokered by Marlboro's John Hogan – for the next season on a contract involving a $50,000 retainer and a good share of the prize money.
1976–1978: McLaren
1976 The 1976 season proved to be one of the most dramatic and controversial on record. While Hunt's performances in the Hesketh had drawn considerable praise, there was some speculation as to whether he could really sustain a championship challenge. Now a works McLaren driver, he dispelled many doubters at the first race in Brazil, where in a hastily rebuilt McLaren M23, he landed on pole in the last minutes of qualifying.
Over the course of the year, he would drive the McLaren M23 to six Grands Prix wins, but with superior reliability, reigning world champion and main rival Niki Lauda had pulled out a substantial points lead in the first few races of the season. Hunt's first race win of 1976, at the fourth event of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix, resulted in disqualification for driving a car adjudged to be 1.8 cm too wide. The win was later reinstated upon appeal, but it set the tone for an extraordinarily volatile season. At the British Grand Prix, Hunt was involved in a first corner incident on the first lap with Lauda which led to the race being stopped and restarted. Hunt initially attempted to take a spare car, however this was disallowed, and during this time the original race car was repaired, eventually winning the restarted race."Hunt wins third grand prix in the confusion." The Glasgow Herald, 19 July 1976, p. 14. Hunt's victory was disallowed on 24 September by a ruling from the FIA after Ferrari complained that Hunt was not legally allowed to restart the race."James Hunt set for war". The News-Dispatch, 9 October 1976, p. 8.