Born and raised in Surrey , Hunt began his racing career in touring cars before progressing to Formula Three in , 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, amongst his playboy lifestyle off it.
Hunt found immediate success in the sport, taking podiums in his rookie season at the Dutch and United States Grands Prix. Hesketh entered their own chassis in , in which Hunt achieved several further podiums and won the non-championship BRDC International Trophy.
Retaining his seat the following season , Hunt took his maiden victory with Hesketh at the Dutch Grand Prix , widely regarded as one of the greatest underdog victories in Formula One history. Despite this, the team was left without sponsorship at the end of the season, leading Hunt to join McLaren for his campaign.
He won several further races in , but dropped to fifth in the standings with poor reliability. After a winless season for McLaren in , Hunt moved to Wolf and retired after the Monaco Grand Prix , 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.
