Interview by Dan Knutson, and first published in Autosport magazine, 24/31 December 1992. Narrated by James Hunt himself.
Race: 1975 Dutch GP, Zandvoort
Monoplaza: Hesketh 308 Ford Cosworth
“Several moments come to mind as candidates to define the race of my life, my favorite. For example, one of them is my victory at Brands Hatch in 1976, although Ferrari took it away from me for political maneuvering.
It was probably the most emotional race because of the drama when the crowd started throwing cans onto the track in protest when I was threatened that I wouldn’t be allowed to restart the race.
But at Watkins Glen in 1973, Ronnie Peterson and I pulled away from the rest of the field, although I never managed to find a way past him. It was the beginning of a love affair with the venue and the circuit, which was the most challenging and difficult track after the Nurburgring.
To be fighting for the lead for the second time (Silverstone was the first) in only my seventh grand prix was a memorable way to end my first season in F1.
I hold my 1976 win at Watkins Glen in high regard. It took me over 50 laps to pass Jody Scheckter (which I then had to do again after getting cornered by a lapped car). I had to be very patient, because it was a very difficult circuit to pass with two identical cars. Winning was crucial in keeping my title hopes alive.
Jody Scheckter, Tyrrell 007 leads at the start
Photo by: Sutton Images
James Hunt, Hesketh 308
Photo by: Motorsport Images
But the most important race for me was the 1975 Dutch GP with Hesketh : my first grand prix victory and the only one for the Hesketh team. That was very special because Hesketh Racing gave me and taught me everything in Formula 1, and it was where my soul was. I have always felt that they deserved more than one victory.
For various reasons it was an important race. He had a very bumpy road in F1 . He had hardly won any races, and he had no experience in winning. By the end of my career I had won many more Formula 1 races than all other categories put together.
I was very stable in the premier class, and I never made any mistakes except when I was leading. But even before then he had made several mistakes when he was in the lead, without any particular pressure from behind .
James Hunt leads Niki Lauda
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Niki Lauda, Ferrari 312T
Photo by: Sutton Images
The 1975 Dutch GP completely changed everything and cured me, overnight, of that last big weakness in my driving. It was a race under maximum pressure because Niki Lauda was breathing life into me with the all-conquering Ferrari .
I think it’s fair to say that, from the start of the European season onwards, the only time Lauda has been beaten fairly, without having any kind of problem or drama, was in that race.
It was a wet and dry track race. What was key to the win was that, in past races, I had observed that slicks worked much better on somewhat wet tracks than people thought and those who changed early seemed to have an advantage.
I had deduced that the way to decide the ideal time for the pit stop, was at the moment when you started thinking: “Now I should start planning on changing the tires”, and then that was the moment to do it, because while you are in the pits, the track dries out quickly, and when you go out for your first lap it’s already significantly drier than when you came in, because 26 cars running on wet tires move a lot of water.
Lauda and most of the grid entered a little later than me. Once I was in the lead I gave it my all. When Lauda and Jean-Pierre Jarier warmed up their tires and got used to the track conditions, I had a 10-second lead. From then on they caught up to me slowly because the Hesketh was not a fully competitive car.
James Hunt, Hesketh 308 Ford
Photo by: Motorsport Images
James Hunt, Hesketh, 1st position, Niki Lauda, Ferrari, 2nd position and Clay Regazzoni, Ferrari, 3rd position, on the podium
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Lauda eventually passed Jarier who spun a couple of laps later with a problem, but in the last third of the race I had to get away from Niki. Luckily for me, the Ferrari wasn’t much quicker down the straight. At the time it had significantly more power than the Cosworth engine, but Niki was riding with a bit more wing than I was.
Protecting my lead at the overtaking point at the end of the straight was particularly important. Concentrating on the straight and putting all my effort into the corner, which was a very fast right-hander, allowed me to get far enough away to arrive nose first at the end of the straight.
So the race was deadlocked as long as I didn’t make a mistake, and that was the defining moment of my training as an F1 driver. That allowed me to win the championship in 1976, in my first and only opportunity in a competitive car, under maximum pressure.
