James Hunt
James Hunt at the 1976 Dutch Grand Prix
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| Born |
29 August 1947 Belmont, Surrey, England, UK |
|---|---|
| Died | 15 June 1993 (aged 45) Wimbledon, Greater London, England, UK |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |
 British |
| Active years | 1973–1979 |
| Teams | Hesketh, McLaren, Wolf |
| Entries | 93 (92 starts) |
| Championships | 1 (1976) |
| Wins | 10 |
| Podiums | 23 |
| Career points | 179 |
| Pole positions | 14 |
| Fastest laps | 8 |
| First entry | 1973 Monaco Grand Prix |
| First win | 1975 Dutch Grand Prix |
| Last win | 1977 Japanese Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1979 Monaco Grand Prix |
James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993), a British racing driver, won the Formula One World Championship in 1976. After retiring from racing in 1979, 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 soon came under their wing. Hunt's often reckless and action-packed exploits on track earned him the nickname "Hunt the Shunt" (shunt as a British racing term means "crash"). Hunt entered Formula One in 1973, driving a March 731 entered by the Hesketh Racing team. 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. In his first year with McLaren, Hunt won the 1976 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. Following a string of races in which he failed to finish, Hunt retired from driving halfway through the 1979 season.
After retiring from motor racing, he established a career commenting on Grands Prix for the BBC. He had a reputation for tactical knowledge, technical insight, a dry sense of humour and criticism of drivers who, he believed, were not trying hard enough, which in the process brought him a whole new fanbase.
Hunt died from a heart attack aged 45. He was inducted into the Motor Sport Hall of Fame on 29 January 2014.
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