Freddie Hunt says James Hunt gave Formula 1 glamour

Freddie Hunt says James Hunt’s influence reached beyond his 1976 Formula 1 title: his father glamorised the sport and had a significant impact on F1 and sport more broadly. In an interview for F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast, Freddie said James remains well remembered and was much loved.

James beat Niki Lauda by one point to clinch the 1976 championship at the rain-soaked Japanese Grand Prix. The title’s exact 50th anniversary falls on the Saturday of the United States Grand Prix weekend in Austin.

Freddie described adaptability as his father’s greatest strength, particularly when the car was not performing as expected. During James’s first Formula 1 victory, the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone, the gearstick knob broke off; Freddie recalled that his father drove half the race with the spike digging into his hand.

At the 1976 British Grand Prix, a first-lap incident was followed by a hurried repair, and the car’s set-up was wrong, Freddie recalled. He said James later described heavy understeer at first, followed by gradual improvement, and adapted his driving to keep going quickly.

James and Lauda were close friends away from the track despite their rivalry, Freddie said. After Lauda’s near-fatal Nürburgring accident in 1976, James phoned him every day in hospital and wrote to him, urging him to recover and return, Freddie recalled. Lauda returned to racing at the Italian Grand Prix 42 days later and finished fourth at Monza; his comeback kept the championship fight alive.

Freddie said his father wished they could have shared the championship because both deserved it. He said he was proud of James’s achievements and the humility and integrity with which his father achieved them. Freddie added that he still hears new stories about James.