Talk:James Hunt

Morgan incident
Hunt was involved in a controversial incident with Dave Morgan in a 1970 race at Crystal Palace - Hunt took both cars out of the race and then hit Morgan, which earned him severe official disapproval. What does "hit" mean here - a "late hit" between cars, or a rather personal encounter like the infamous Piquet-Salazar incident? --Matthead 19:29, 1 March 2006 (UTC)


 * The latter. Hunt decked Morgan. Mr Larrington (talk) 13:57, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

Comparison with Räikkönen
''Hunt became the epitome of unruly, brilliant, playboy drivers and was celebrated for his English eccentricity. Many later day drivers will be compared with Hunt for their antics, among them Eddie Irvine and Kimi Räikkönen.'' Räikkönen a playboy driver?
 * Not in my book either. I've removed the reference to him. Stu   ’Bout ye!  11:44, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

Speaking of playboy drivers I think nothing beats the French eccentricity of Johnny Servoz-Gavin :-D Ericd 19:16, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Place of birth
James Hunt was born in Belmont but there are many options for that. Does anyone know? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belmont#In_the_United_Kingdom


 * Belmont, Sutton :) Bretonbanquet 21:38, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

Was is that evidence that James Hunt was born in Belmont (in Cheam, Sutton, Surrey)? No source is cited in the wiki article. I have electoral roll evidence for his family living at a few addresses in Cheam and Sutton until they moved when he was about 19 to a road called The Drive which is in Belmont / South Cheam neighbourhood. --Roland Sparkes (talk) 14:50, 23 July 2018 (UTC)

An Interview with him by Paul Callan in The Daily Mirror 15 May 1978 mentions Belmont Surrey as the place he "comes from". The context does seem to imply he was either born or at least spent his formative years there, but I haven't found any thing more substantive.Mighty Antar (talk) 17:23, 23 July 2018 (UTC)

Lauda
Lauda missed two races only one of which Hunt won. I doubt why we should here about it all the time, let alone in the introduction to an article about James Hunt. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.67.217.88 (talk) 07:44, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I've removed the reference to Lauda from the introduction, but clarified the one in the "World Championship year" section. I think the fact that Lauda's accident caused him to miss two races is significant; up to the point of his accident, he was scoring points at an average of over 6 points per race, so it seems likely that had he competed in those two races, he probably would have won the title. DH85868993 (talk) 10:17, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Trained to be a doctor ... but before his 18th birthday ?!
Article says "...originally studied to be a doctor. But just before his 18th birthday..."

Reads to me like he was training to be a doctor before the age of 18 but then changed his mind having seen a race and changed direction before his 18th birthday. In the UK, at the age of 17, he would have been studying A levels, not studying medical qualifications. Perhaps this needs to be changed? (on these grounds me studying maths at 17 means I could claim to be studying to be an astronaut.... :-) ). --mgaved (talk) 20:55, 18 December 2008 (UTC)


 * His parents enrolled him in medical college but he failed to achieve the required A-level results and thus was unable to take up the place.

My understanding is that Hunt was a lazy but bright student at Public School who concentrated on sport and science. After leaving school to satisfy his parents to satisfy parents he studied at crammers ( private tutorial institutions) to raise him to medical school entrance. He appears to have worked hard for a few months to reach the standard and was accepted at Guys Hospital, London to read for a Medical degree. Medicine in Britain still having elements of a trade with lecturers and practical lessons conducted at the hospital. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.237.106.47 (talk) 03:00, 21 September 2013 (UTC)

Budgerigar expedition?
"On a budgerigar expedition in Doncaster, Hunt was arrested for assault which was witnessed by two police officers and was released on bail after two hours". Could someone with access to the source perhaps expand on this a little? While I'm sure that Doncaster in the 1980s may have had its excitements (and no doubt still does), I can see no obvious reason why Melopsittacus undulatus would be part of them - and I doubt that our readers will either. AndyTheGrump (talk) 05:47, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

I know nothing about the incident at all, but can tell you that during that period there was a regular sale of birds at a Working Men's Club on the outskirts of Doncaster. It would probably have enticed fanciers from near and far. If Hunt was a fancier its perfectly possible he would have attended. PeterM88 (talk) 17:30, 6 January 2014 (UTC)

"having drugs and sex often minutes before a race..."
Reference number 49 - seriously? Believable or not, the *Daily Mail* as a citation? This is Wikipedia right? And here I was reading Encyclopedia Dramatica for laughs. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.83.86.35 (talk) 20:57, 9 April 2013 (UTC) According to a 2013 BBC documentary, McLaren team manager, Alistar Caldwell states that he believed Hunt had little chance of the Championship after Monza and the disallowal of his win and the points for the victory at Brands Hatch and he ceased to try and discipline James before the Canadian GP,with the team staying in Toronto, James Hunt spent the night before the race with a Stevie Nicks lookalike bar band singer,who had performed in the hotel bar emerging totally dishevelled at Mosport and then according to a book in the 1970s had sex again half an hour before the race with a racing officials wife, in a motor racing sponsor hospitality van, which shook violenty. Others claim Hunt often took drugs and had sex half an hour before the race,

'Early Life passage is weird
The 'Early Life' passage sounds bizarre, and is sometimes inscrutable. For example:

"He entered a tennis tournament at the age of 12 for the under-16's and lost out in one match making Hunt not accept defeat."

"In his childhood, he had been fascinated with animals and birds which his family supported." (His family supported animals and birds?)

"As a child, Hunt had a personality of being persistently rebellious and had violent tantrums. As an adult, Hunt acknowledged that anger dissipated very fast with himself." (The wording here is just strange, but I can't correct it because I don't know what's actually being said - if his anger "dissipated" very fast, it means it disappeared quickly).

"Hunt also took up skiing in 1965 in Scotland and made plans for further expeditions in 1966. Hunt suffered a sore arm on the journey back to England which remained for some time." On the journey back from the initial ski trip in 1965? Or in 1966? What kind of "sore arm?" How long is "some time?" Did it impact his career? If not, why is it alluded to here?

If someone with knowledge of Hunt (and a good grasp of English) can correct this, and smooth out the grammar a bit, that would be great.Sadiemonster (talk) 08:18, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

I'm glad it's not just me. Much of the article seems to have been written by someone who has English as a second language. possibly using Google Translate. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jonnycigarettes (talk • contribs) 12:05, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

"He was one of the cheapest World Champions ever (Keke Rosberg in 1982 similarly found a drive at the last minute)."
The quoted subject/headline is the last sentence from the 1976 section of 1976-1978: McLaren. What does the quote mean? A "cheap" driver as in one who takes cheap shots, or who doesn't tip well, or somebody who cheats, or something else? What does the Keke Rosberg reference have to do with "cheapest world champions ever"? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ascherf (talk) 19:40, 23 December 2013 (UTC) 205.175.225.12 (talk) 19:29, 23 December 2013 (UTC)
 * It means his team didn't pay him much the year he won the World Championship. Hesketh folded at the end of 1975, so Hunt went into 1976 without a drive. Therefore if he wanted to drive for McLaren (a competitive team), he pretty much had to accept whatever amount of money they offered him. Similarly, with Alan Jones announcing his retirement at the end of 1981, Williams (who had won the 1981 Constructors' Championship and nearly won the Drivers' Championship) were in a strong position to dictate salary to Jones' replacement (Rosberg, who went on to win the 1982 Championship). DH85868993 (talk) 00:21, 24 December 2013 (UTC)

Under Commentary Career
Under Commentary Career in the 2nd paragraph there is a sentence which says, "He also had a reputation for speaking out against back-markers who held up race leaders." I have no idea what is meant by "back-markers" - would the author of this sentence care to be more explicit instead of using language which is foreign to those of us who are not familiar with car racing/Formula One terminology. 'Held up' is usually a term used in a robbery but I suspect that what you are referring to is a reproach leveled at those drivers who deliberately get in the way of other drivers, thus preventing them from advancing through the pack and gaining the lead. Close? 184.76.56.97 (talk)JSJR 02172014 —Preceding undated comment added 11:19, 17 February 2014 (UTC)
 * No not really. It actually refers to cars that are lapped once or more not allowing the leader through swiftly, as they should, thus causing the leader to lose time and allowing drivers behind the leader to catch him up. Tvx1 00:20, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

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