James Hunt's 1977 F1 diary

The latest AUTOSPORT Legends bookazine focuses on 1970s Formula 1 superstars James Hunt and Niki Lauda and their infamous rivalry.

To coincide with its release, AUTOSPORT is republishing the complete series of 'Just James' diary columns that Hunt wrote for the magazine during the 1977 and '78 F1 seasons.

June 16 1977. I suppose it was on about the eighth lap of the Belgian Grand Prix when about half the field had lapped me and the weather showed little or no sign of improving that I really began to feel like an idiot. It was a bit like trying to beat a field of 500cc motorbikes on a pushbike, because I was probably having to work a lot harder keeping my car on the road, but still everybody just kept sailing past me.

The logic behind my gamble was that I was really too far down the grid after a bad Saturday qualifying session to make an impression on the leaders if I started on equal terms. My only chance of getting a good place was by doing the exact opposite to all of them and hoping the track would dry within a lap or two. I knew perfectly well that it would either be a disaster or a brilliant coup and we all know what it turned out to be. It was my decision entirely and I take all the blame for it.

The sad thing is once the track dried out and before my gearbox virtually gave up the ghost I was running at about the same speeds as the leaders apart from Gunnar Nilsson. Had I been cautious and started on wet tyres I may well have picked up good points, but there is no sense in speculation. I gambled, lost and got egg on my face. One consolation was that I finished - my first ever in a Belgian Grand Prix - so perhaps things are looking up.

One interesting fact is that I think I'm right in saying that I was the only car not to spin once during the race; not much of a comfort, I suppose, but when you've made a fool of yourself you always look for little thing like that to keep the morale up!

It is only stating the obvious to say that the Lotuses were absolutely unbeatable at Zolder. Mario pulverised everybody in practice in rather indecent fashion. When one considers that very often the whole field is covered by two seconds and he was over 1.5 seconds quicker than everyone else I think that is rather bad manners! It was mildly amusing to see other team managers and designers wandering towards the Lotus pit between practice session and looking at the cars with puzzled looks on their faces!

Hunt's tactics did not work out at a wet Zolder © LAT

Once the race had sorted itself out and Mario had slid into poor John Watson on lap 1, Gunnar dominated the race in brilliant fashion. Niki made the best pit stop and at the right time, but he simply wasn't quick enough for Gunnar who thoroughly deserved his victory. I supposed I should be grateful that Mario, Jody and Carlos Reutemann didn't score points, but then nor did I so it doesn't make much difference.

The disappointing thing was the week before, in unofficial testing, I was quicker than everybody apart from Jody. Mario was not there, admittedly, and nor were the Ferraris, but we were quite encouraged by the results. We were therefore anticipating quite good things in qualifying but the times just would not come. It was unfortunate that my engine went during the first few minutes of the final session and I had to revert to the M23, but even so I don't know how high up the grid I would have been able to go.

To an outsider it must appear that we are having a really miserable time at McLaren after the success of the past few years. Certainly a lot of people are giving the team a hard time suggesting that we simply can't get it together this season - that last season was a flash in the pan, etc. I know that the only thing that will convince them that this is bullshit is a few results. All I can say until those results come is that I still intend to retain my championship.

This year, the morale at McLaren is sky high and we will keep scratching away until we get the success we know is just around the corner. I have said many times before that if the potential is there, the difference between success and failure in motor racing is tiny. At the moment, we are on the wrong side of the line, a couple of breaks and we will be back on the other side.

McLaren are not having a tremendously happy time on the other side of the Atlantic either, as I witnessed first hand on my first ever trip to the Indianapolis 500. I flew to the States immediately after testing in Zolder and arrived at Indy on Saturday morning, the day before the race. I fear my writing talents may not be good enough to describe the atmosphere of the whole town of Indianapolis throughout the weekend. The day I arrived, for instance, there were about 10,000 people at the track. The remarkable thing about it was that nothing whatsoever was happening there for the public to see apart from a half-hour drivers' meeting.

At lunchtime, the drivers went off to the town for the parade which is watched by an estimated 500,000 people. The race is attended by 400,000, about three quarters of them seated, and it is apparently the largest attended one day sporting event in the world. The second largest is, wait for it, Indy qualifying two weeks before when about 275,000 people turn up!

Hunt watched Foyt win the 1977 Indy 500 © LAT

The race itself is fascinating and I had a superb view from the grandstand at Turn 1. I could see Turns 1, 2 and 4 and the pits from my seat, and I was fixed up with a radio so I could hear discussions between teams and their drivers. Johnny Rutherford, the McLaren driver who was defending champion, was the first retirement. Having driven from seventeenth to ninth in ten laps his car jumped out of gear and the engine over-revved and bent the valves. It was a great pity because although he had a low grid position he had every chance of doing extremely well.

It seems to be quite easy to pass at Indy because the track is fairly wide and there's a lot of opportunity for slipstreaming. It is quite obvious that driving there is a totally different technique from Grand Prix racing. Apart from slowing down or accelerating for pit stops or 'yellows' for instance, you don't change gear or use the brakes at all. The average lap speeds of 190mph are about as fast as a Formula 1 car will go in a straight line! There are no run-off areas on the outside of the circuit, just a wall about 3ft 6in high. Enough said.

A.J. Foyt was superb in the race. He took full advantage of the yellows and pit-stops to get within striking distance of Gordon Johncock and was a worthy winner even though he ran out of petrol at one stage and had to coast back to his pit. There was only one accident and although the car was written off, the driver, Lloyd Ruby, was unhurt. Finally, it was amazing that when I left, a couple of hours after the race, I was able to drive virtually straight to the airport with no traffic hold-ups at all. I just could hardly believe that they cleared all 400,000 people away so quickly.

After my first visit to Indy I am still very keen to drive it next year and I just hope that qualifying and the race do not clash with the GP calendar. Clay Regazzoni clearly enjoyed his first drive there even though his race did not last long because of engine problems, and next year I would love to join him and Mario, and possibly John Watson, who was another interested spectator this year.

After writing this column I go to Sweden for testing (nobody can say we are not trying) and then to Brussels for a Pro-Am tennis tournament which is being run by Texaco. I'll then go home for a couple of days before going back to Sweden for the Grand Prix.

I will be very surprised if the Lotuses don't fly there and Gunnar's success will give him a lot of confidence in front of his home crowd. Last year was a Tyrrell 1-2 and it would be good for Ronnie if he could do well in his own GP. The McLaren team was never really gone brilliantly there even though Denny Hulme won the race a few years ago, but we shall be trying hard. Possibly the next column will not be quite so gloomy.

June 2 1977. At least nobody can accuse me of inconsistency at Monaco. For a while I really thought I was going to pick up some points for the first time ever on a street circuit but the development Cosworth engine put an abrupt halt to that. The ironic part was that after I switched off I coasted to a halt and stopped literally at the feet of Keith Duckworth who was making a rare trip to a race. He had come to see his engine's 100th victory as well as the introduction of the aluminium headed development engine and I was able to discuss it with him first hand!

After Spain I we did some testing at Brands but needless to say it rained so we had to pack up just when things were beginning to get interesting. I flew up to Monaco from Spain on Tuesday afternoon and spent Wednesday with friends nearby. Thursday's qualifying was not a great success for either me or Jochen, although he was quicker.

The McLarens have never gone well at Monaco, partly because of their long wheelbase and width, and it seemed that 1977 would be no exception. Gunnar Nilsson was discussing the circuit and his car with us after qualifying and complaining that the Lotus is too long for the circuit. Teddy Mayer told him not to worry: "James has to do a three point turn to get round the Station Hairpin!"

Friday was a rest day for everybody and it was spent for me doing interviews with the local press and radio and television stations. I also had a game of squash before attending the Marlboro party and Prince Rainier's reception for the drivers. I must say that the planning of these events is not very good. The reception for the drivers was scheduled to start at 10.30pm on the Friday evening (second practice day was Saturday).

Now most of us, me included, like to be in bed by at least that time of night before practice and the race and it is rather inconsiderate to ask us to attend a party that starts at that time. Of course, we don't have to attend, but then we get bad-mouthed by the local press for being uncooperative and ungrateful.

Hunt was officially crowned 1976's least co-operative F1 driver © LAT

Incidentally, you may have read that I was awarded a Lemon prize by the International Racing Press Association for being the most uncooperative Grand Prix driver in 1976. They keep on inviting me to lunches or dinners to receive the award but I don't dare go because I'm worried that if I do they might think I'm being too co-operative and withdraw the award!

Saturday's qualifying was very much better for me. The morning (untimed) session was interrupted by rain and the weather did not look too good for afternoon but fortunately it stayed dry and I was able to get in some better laps and get up to 7th on the grid. We changed one or two things on the car and basically it was still quite a struggle and I had to try really hard to record the time. If you're in the position where the car is not really quite good enough you have to throw it around and run the risk of losing it and hitting a barrier. It's not ideal but occasionally necessary.

I got a reasonable start in the race but didn't improve my grid position because everyone in front of me made good starts as well. As I said in my last column, it really is almost impossible to overtake at Monaco unless the guy in front makes a mistake or has a big problem with his car. At Monaco you simply have to hope that people in front of you have mechanical problems and after about 20 laps I was looking good because Stuck and Peterson had retired and I was up to fifth.

Niki was directly in front of me and it was interesting to see how our cars differed around the circuit. After Casino Square, at the first gear corners at Station Hairpin and into the tunnel, the Ferrari just disappeared from me. At the faster corners I was able to catch up and it was clear that my car was better there. We tried lots of wing but just couldn't get any traction around the slower ones. Overall, Niki was quicker than me and I wouldn't have caught him. However I think I could have caught Carlos Reutemann, although whether I could have overtaken him is a different matter.

Monaco was not McLaren's strong point © LAT

The Monaco race ran very much to form with the leading points scorers all picking up good places. Jody drove superbly, got a perfect start from the front row and is clearly now a serious threat to the championship. He is confident and fit and the car seems to work everywhere and has so far been almost totally reliable. Niki drove well considering he must have been in considerable pain from his ribs and he nearly caught Jody on the line. Carlos was good although I think he may have got a bit tired during the race.

The dice of the race was between Jochen Mass and Mario Andretti. Jochen was originally ahead of Mario but the Lotus slipped past when, according to Jochen, a flag not unlike a yellow one was shown to them. That got Hermann fired up a bit and the next time Mario made a suspicion of an error he shut his eyes and outbraked him. He actually braked so hard that he "flat-spotted" a front tyre and had to deal with a bad vibration for the rest of the race. The vibration broke off both front brake ducts and he finished the race with the tyre down to the canvas and two badly blistered hands. Mario also drove very well and they both earned their money for the weekend.

Of the others, the Shadow team were smiling justifiably after Alan Jones's 6th place and a very promising debut for Patrese. Apparently the young Italian has made a very good first impression, taking the trouble to learn English at short notice so that he can communicate with the team. Rupert Keegan drove a sensible race in the Hesketh; he now knows how exhausting it is to drive a Grand Prix car for a full race!

After Monaco I go to London for a short visit with Texaco before a couple of days in Belgium testing the M26. Hopefully we will race the M26 there next weekend. After the test I am flying to Indianapolis to watch the race as I've never been there before and it seems to be a good idea if I intend to race there next year. After that I come back to Europe for a day in Denmark for Marlboro and then it's the Belgian Grand Prix. How time flies when you're enjoying yourself!

May 19 1977. Although my first race in the M26 did not last very long, it was not altogether disastrous. At the time of writing we are not positive what the problem was which caused my retirement but we think it may be a similar gremlin to the one which has visited McLarens once or twice before. The encouraging thing is that the new car was feeling very good until we had to retire and the fault has nothing to do with the design of the M26.

Practice was frustrating but then I rather think it was for everyone except Mario Andretti, who dominated the weekend in alarming fashion. Most drivers seemed to have difficulty in getting their cars to go round the corners at Jarama. We were getting understeer going in and oversteer coming out which is not a very effective method of going fast. For some reason which nobody can fathom out, the qualifying times this year were slower than last.

Racing cars are strange animals. For example, the team decided to put Jochen's M23 on exactly the same settings with which I qualified on pole and won the race last year. That would seem to me a logical step to take and one would assume that Jochen should be quite near the front of the grid. One would be wrong. His M23 on those settings failed to function at all and he ended up the first session about 16th fastest. Luckily the adjustments they made after that were successful and when practice was over he was getting his laps down to reasonably competitive times.

The gremlin first attacked in the Sunday morning warm-up. It seemed like a misfire on about half-throttle so we changed the plugs and spark box and hoped for the best. We also changed the settings a bit and, although we didn't expect to win the race, thought we might pick up a couple of good points. The car sounded like a motor mower on the warming up lap and Teddy Mayer realised then we wouldn't last very long in the race.

I got a humdinger of a start (as I very often do when I'm not at the front!) and found myself in fourth place when the dust had settled. Jochen, who was right behind me on the grid, made an even better start but unfortunately had to lift off to avoid hitting "Fletcher," who had made probably his only mistake of the season so far and had not got away well.

The new McLaren chases the pack © LAT

I enjoyed the first few laps immensely and was quite pleased with myself because I felt I was racing well and the car was better than it had been all weekend. Mario had pulled out a bit of a gap and then came Jacques Laffite, Carlos Reutemann and me, all together. We pulled out a little on John Watson and Jody and I feel sure that I would have given Carlos a run for his money had I not been forced to retire. I don't think I could have stayed with Andretti who drove superbly, but it would have been fun to have a go. It remains to be said that, contrary to most of what I have read in the newspapers, I am not despondent or frustrated about my chances this year and will be back in the frame before long.

Jochen drove extremely well and after his two recent Formula 2 wins is in good shape, he had a superb dice with "Fletcher" for the last twenty or thirty laps and, although he was disappointed he did not get by, the whole team was delighted with his performance.

There is a certain amount of talk going on at the moment among team managers and drivers about the standard of some of the entries in Grand Prix racing. They are concerned that some drivers are simply not up scratch and may possibly constitute a danger and a hazard to other drivers. It is quite true that there are some drivers who rarely look in their mirrors and have little chance of qualifying. While I agree that with the view that there should be some form of qualification for drivers before they become regular competitors, I am equally adamant that it should not that it should not be restrictive in allowing new people to demonstrate their ability. I am acutely aware that if there had been a strict system in force four years ago neither I nor Hesketh Racing would have been allowed anywhere near a Grand Prix paddock.

The point is that it is difficult to know who will and who will not make it in Formula 1. There are drivers who shine in Formula 2 yet cannot seem to cope with Formula 1 at all. On the other hand, there are those who either have dubious reputations or have few wins to their credit who take to Formula 1 like a duck to water. One such is Rupert Keegan who has settled into the Hesketh team as if he's been driving F1 cars for five years. I must say it was very nice to see the smiling faces of Bubbles and Alexander over the weekend because Rupert did very well.

One of the few commitments I had between Long Beach and Spain was the shooting of the next Texaco commercial. You will be glad to hear that I play a minor role to the two stars, Messrs Morecambe and Wise. I am always amazed at the amount of work that goes into making a TV commercial. I only have to turn up for one day but that day is twelve hours solid work and then there are several days preparation before the shoot and all the cutting and editing afterwards. Morecambe and Wise naturally spend a lot of looning about but were very professional indeed when it mattered. I think you'll quite enjoy the finished product when it appears early next month.

Hunt in the M26 at Jarama © LAT

There has been a certain amount of talk over the past few weeks about the possibilities of my driving at Indianapolis and in the Nurburgring Formula 2 round. I am not now doing Indy because there are not enough engines available for both Johnny Rutherford and me to make a serious challenge. I was very keen to have a go there and McLaren Racing were keen to give me a car. But there simply is no point in going unless it is done properly. We now intend that I may do one or two USAC races at the end of this year and then have a proper entry for Indy next year.

As far as the Nurburgring is concerned, it appears that the German organisers were determined to get me there so that they could discredit the Formula 1 Safety Committee. I have heard many different figures bandied about of the amount I was offered. Only some of those offers reached me but none quite enough to tempt me to deliberately go against my colleagues on the Safety Committee.

And so to Monaco. I make no secret of the fact that I like neither the weekend nor the race itself, I am a firm believer in the fact that it should be possible to improve one's grid position in the race by passing other drivers but that really cannot happen at Monaco unless they make a mistake or have a problem with the car. I admit that I have never done well on street circuits, this may sound like sour grapes but I don't honestly think that many of the drivers are particularly fond of the circuit now that it has been changed so much. There's a big sigh of relief when the weekend is over.

We will not be taking the M26 there as there are a few things we want to change and there is not enough time between races to do them properly. We have some testing planned for Zolder and I intend to race it again there. I hope that the M23 goes a bit better at Monaco than it did last year, because I am determined to score my first ever championship points on a street circuit.

April 14 1977. The most disappointing thing about the Long Beach Grand Prix, as far as I was concerned, was that I wasn't directly involved in what must have been one of the most exciting Formula 1 races for many years.

Having seen the race on television on the Sunday night, I would have really loved to have been involved with Jody, Mario and Niki in their dice for the lead. Realistically, even had I not been involved in the first corner incident, I don't think I could have kept up with them because they were unquestionably the class of the field. However it would have been nice to have had a go.

I'm not at all clear what happened at the first corner. I made a good start from the fourth row (the less said about qualifying the better) and was minding my own business driving up the inside of the straight when somebody seemed to cut across my bows and I must have driven over his front wheel and launched myself into the air. There was so much happening at the time that it was impossible to worry about who or what had hit me.

Poor Vittorio Brambilla extended his remarkable record of failing to race beyond the first corner at Long Beach to twice. I'm told that it definitely wasn't his fault this time. His car was not too badly damaged when he abandoned it. Unfortunately a helpful marshal then decided to move it as it was obstructing the pit lane exit; no sooner had he put it into neutral than it sailed off down the hill on its own and comprehensively damaged its front section in the barrier at the bottom.

After the accident I went gingerly round to the pits and stopped to check for any damage, I must confess that I wasn't in a very good mood at that stage and, when given the all clear to race by the team, was moved to give the spectators in the pits grandstands a bit of their money's worth by making a spectacular black tyre-mark exit!

Once I got back in the race again I cheered up quite a lot and decided to chase after as many of the other as I could. I had to work quite hard because (we think) the chassis was bent slightly on landing, and I had difficulty selecting gears from time to time.

Hunt spills over John Watson's Brabham © LAT

It was very satisfying to catch and pass a few people and that, together with several retirements, promoted me to seventh at the end. I would have been nice to have got a point, but I don't think I would have got more than three at the most had I been running all the time, so it wasn't too disappointing.

While I was fortunate at Brands two weeks before, when Mario Andretti was on the receiving end of some bad luck, I'm sure he will admit he wouldn't have caught Jody had the Wolf not suffered a punctured tyre. Really there was nothing between them and they were on the limit for the whole race. Mario was sensational in the early laps, attacking Jody at every opportunity and at the same time having to fend off Niki's attacks. Niki actually got past Mario once, on about lap 5, but the Lotus squeezed back in front at the next corner.

Almost as unlucky as Jody was Jacques Laffite whose ignition switch broke on the last lap. That gave Jarier a point which was a good effort in the Penske's first run of the season. Alan Jones went very well indeed, driving the Shadow for the first time, until he developed gearbox problems. The Copersucar is also beginning to be a regular threat now.

I was pleased that the race was exciting this year because last year's was very dull and not a good advertisement for Grand Prix racing for Californians, who had not seen any before. I personally hope that it was a financial success so that we can go back next year.

Chris Pook, whose idea the whole event was, has worked incredibly hard against some strong opposition from the locals and the fact that the race was held at all was almost entirely due to his efforts. His big problem this year was cash flow because, after last year's experience when a lot of creditors were not paid in full, everybody wanted cash "up front."

This is rather difficult when the vast majority of income comes in on race day and, consequently, it was touch and go whether or not the race would take place. At one stage the construction crews - the whole circuit has to be lined with concrete blocks and catchfencing - were demanding cash at the end of each day; if not, they simply didn't turn up next morning.

Unfortunately I got involved in a certain amount of the aggravation because I agreed to do a week of promotion for the Grand Prix and then had extreme difficulty extracting payment from Mr Pook.

The fans were almost robbed of a race due to financial wranglings © LAT

There were several other "happenings" which I won't bore you with except to say that, much as I admire what Chris is doing in Long Beach, I find it disappointing that he sees fit to take advantage of other people in his efforts to do better. The trouble is that, if the race does become a regular event, he will find it hard to discard his current reputation.

If there is an event next year, it is essential that the position of the start/finish line is moved. There are two straights at Long Beach, one short and one long, and the start is presently about halfway along the short straight. This means that there is only a distance of about 200 yards to the first corner, which is a 90-degree right-hander (with a sharp drop of about 75 yards) before a 90-degree left-hander. There have been first corner incidents in both years the race has run, and it would seem sensible to move the start to the beginning of the long straight, which has a hairpin at the end.

After the Race of Champions, I went to Geneva for a couple of days to go on the Vauxhall stand at the Motor Show before flying to New York. I then went to Los Angeles to do all the work for the promotion of the GP. I'm very fond of Southern California but didn't really have time to enjoy it as they kept me working very hard.

Some friends from England came over for the race and we had a very enjoyable "silly" evening in Hamburger Henry after the race. I don't think the other customers in the restaurant could believe their ears or eyes watching about eight English men and women very much the worse for wear behaving in a most peculiar way for a quiet Sunday evening in Long Beach.

I had to get up at the crack of dawn the following morning to fly to New York so that I could visit the Goodyear headquarters in Akron on Tuesday morning. I am writing this on the way to England for some M26 testing at Silverstone on Thursday, and then a visit to Oulton Park on Good Friday. Then it's home to Spain at the weekend for a blissful three-week break before the Spanish GP early in May.

Although I prefer to concentrate on my own race performances and let the rest of the field worry about themselves, it's inevitable that one thinks about the opposition from time to time. Jody is driving with more confidence than I've ever seen from him. The Wolf team have worked very hard on their car and they all deserve the success they are having. Jody is thoroughly enjoying giving two fingers to all those (including me) who thought he had made the wrong decision at the end of last year. I hope they continue their success - as long as they don't have too much - because it's terrific to Jody in such good humour again.

It must be every driver's ambition to win the home GP and Mario was justifiably acting like a dog with two tails on Sunday. The new Lotus is a super car (don't forget I followed it for 30 laps a couple of weeks ago) and the team is right back on form again. The fact that Niki is sharing the lead in the championship speaks for itself, particularly as the next few circuits seem to suit him quite well.

I hope that next time I write it'll be about a "home" win for me in Spain. It would be nice to get another nine points although, when I consider how far I was behind Niki at this stage last year (18 points), I don't get too despondent at only being nine adrift at the moment.

March 31 1977. It was obviously very satisfying to win the Race of Champions in front of such a large British crowd. I was surprised that so many people came to watch, and glad (for my sake as well as the spectators') that the weather stayed fine.

It must have been very cold watching the race: I almost froze to death being driven around the circuit in the Marlboro van on the lap of honour!

Everybody wanted to know after the race if I would have caught Mario Andretti had he not retired. I think it was extremely unlikely, although I would have had a real go on the last lap. Our cars were very evenly matched and, although I think I was capable of lapping quicker than him, there really was no way I could get past.

I was able to get close to him in the corners, particularly at Paddock, Druids and Westfield, but Formula 1 cars create a large amount of turbulence in their slipstream, and as soon as I got close the handling on my car went strange because the aerodynamics were affected.

This meant that Mario could get the power down earlier than me, because my car was all over the road.

I was not able to get close enough to him on the straights to have a real go, so I think he would have had to make a mistake to give me a chance. Mario does not make many mistakes at that stage of a race, so it may have been second place for me.

Mario's problems made it all academic anyway. A little bird told me that he "buzzed" the engine during practice on the Saturday, but persuaded the team to leave it in the car for the race. Whether or not it resulted in his retirement I do not know, but 12,500 revs is an awful lot, even for a Cosworth engine.

I was quite pleased with the start I made, as I was able to get past John Watson on the way to Paddock. John didn't get away very well, and then spun his wheels with all the Alfa power trying to get itself onto the road.

Toasting Race of Champions success © LAT

It was interesting that John chose the inside position when he qualified on pole, whereas Niki Lauda chose the outside at the British Grand Prix last year. I haven't had to make the choice for a couple of years, but I think the inside would suit me and my car best. I'll have to wait until next year to try to put my theory into practice...

Of the others, I was very impressed with Rupert Keegan and the new Hesketh. It was a well-prepared car (as always, from Bubbles Horsley) and may well be competitive when they have had a chance to do some more testing. Rupert drove very well in his first F1 race, and under the watchful eye and stern finger of Bubbles he has a good future ahead of him. Brian Henton drove a good, sensible race, and thoroughly deserved his F1CA reward, particularly as his is a privately entered car.

After the South African GP I had a couple of days at home in Spain before going to Scandinavia for Vauxhall and Marlboro. We visited several countries and I was very well looked after by al my hosts.

I returned to London on the Wednesday before Brands, and did some work for Texaco and Vauxhall before having a full day of television and radio interviews to help publicise the Race of Champions for my sponsors, Marlboro. I was also trying to advertise my new magazine, which I hope you've all bought by now.

After Brands, I was off to Geneva for one day's visit to the motor show, and then to New York for a few hours followed by Long Beach for some promotions prior to the Grand Prix.

Apparently I'll be appearing on some American TV chat shows; last time I was there I had to appear on the same bill as Zsa Zsa Gabor, so I wonder who I'll get this time...

I'm quite looking forward to racing at Long Beach again, if only to improve on last year's performance. I qualified third fastest on that occasion, which was satisfying, because a lot of people thought the McLaren M23 would be uncompetitive there. I would really like to pick up some points this time, because I've never actually finished a race either at Long Beach or Monaco, the other street circuit.

The nearest I ever got to finishing was my first ever GP in 1973 in the Hesketh March, when the engine blew up three laps from the end. It was debatable whether the engine or I would blow up first, because I was absolutely shattered by that stage - I had even considered retiring from the race from sheer exhaustion.

On all other visits to Monaco and Long Beach (including Formula 3), my races have come to abrupt halts for a variety of reasons. It's not that I do not like driving the circuits, although I prefer more room to pass. Let's just hope my luck changes a little.

I suppose Niki Lauda must be favourite for Long Beach. After his great victory in South Africa, he will be very confident, and Clay Regazzoni in a Ferrari pulverised the opposition last year. John Watson may go well in the Brabham, and I imagine the six-wheeled Tyrrells will be competitive, particularly Depailler, as he's very quick on street circuits.

Apart from the Grand Prix, they are running a 500cc bike race at Long Beach on the Saturday. I have a feeling that this will be very interesting. There is no way in the world I would ride a bike round that circuit, but Barry Sheene is looking forward to it immensely. Each to his own!

March 17 1977. You will by now have read of the circumstances surrounding the death of Tom Pryce and a marshal during the South African Grand Prix. Although it was a freak accident, caused neither by driver nor mechanical failure, I'm afraid it's the sort of accident that could really happen in most countries, apart from Britain and the United States.

I have been saying ever since I became a Grand Prix driver that until there are professional marshals trained to a high standard and with suitable experience, there will be unnecessary deaths or injuries in motor racing. Don't misunderstand me. I am not blaming the marshals because it is not their fault that the training and, above all, experience is not good enough. The sport of motor racing should provide the facilities and the money for professionally trained and experienced marshals and if it has taken Tom's death to impress this upon the ultimate controlling body, then he will not have died in vain.

After the South American races I had a couple of almost uninterrupted weeks at home in Spain. I took the opportunity to catch up with my training and played lots of golf. The early spring is the best time of year in my area because the weather is fairly good but there are not too many crowds of people on holiday. I had one or two friends to stay and my brother came down for a couple of days to go through some paperwork. It was the first real opportunity to sit down and work solidly since last September when the racing got a bit exciting.

I had one trip to England during that time for the Tarmac Award and visited a racing car show in Germany. Apart from that, it was a most welcome change to have the opportunity to relax.

We were hoping to use the traditional Kyalami testing to do some hard work on the M26. A lot of people have asked me why we are bothering with the M26 when the M23 is still a winning car. Others have suggested that the M26 must be a failure otherwise we would have raced it by now as it was announced last July. The answer is that the continued success of the M23 had indeed hampered our progress with the M26 because while the M23 is still eminently capable of winning races there is no point in changing for the sake of it. At the same time, while we are still running the M23, there is little or no opportunity to develop the M26.

The South African GP was marred by the death of Tom Pryce © LAT

We have no doubt, however, that the M26 is a better car and will be ready to take over when we are good and ready. The new car has basically the same suspension details, has better aerodynamics, is lighter and stronger and will therefore be quicker. Make no mistake, McLaren Racing are professional enough to know whether something will work and are not too proud to dispose of a failure. We simply need time to test and hope to take advantage of the postponement of the Japanese GP to achieve this.

My accident in testing the M26 at Kyalami was caused by one of the bolts on the front brake calliper working loose and cutting a hole in the wheel-rim. There was an effective blowout and I investigated the catch fencing. I had a few laps in Jochen Mass's M23 after that (the team signwriter and entertainments officer, Lance Gibbs, covered up Jochen's name and the German flag which are on the car; over the flag he wrote in large letters: Union Jack) but we never really got going and I was a long way behind the front runners in unofficial testing.

Over the weekend I played a lot of squash and tennis and was very well looked after by my hosts. South Africa is the only Grand Prix where I do not stay in a hotel as I have friends who live near the circuit and it is a most welcome change.

The evening before practice started Jody and I were invited by ICL South Africa to race each other on a new computer. It was programmed for the Kyalami track and involved pushing buttons when decisions had to be taken. Jody took an early lead and led by nearly half a lap at one stage but I managed to get up on the line and win by half a second. It was a pity I didn't have quite the same edge later in the week but the event was great fun.

My brand new M23 arrived on the Monday and we did a couple of exploratory laps on the Tuesday before the engine blew up. As Jochen's had done the same thing we were slightly worried there might be a common fault so we put my Brazilian race engine in for official practice. The first day was a wash-out so we were left with the final hour of Thursday. It is important to remember that although it was an M23, my cat was absolutely brand new and had not turned a wheel before it arrived in South Africa. Straight out of the wrapper. It is an enormous credit to the team, both in the workshop and at the track that, apart from one or two minor adjustments, the car was immediately good enough for me to get pole position.

My hopes were not particularly high for the race. Carlos Pace was sitting beside me on the front row and a very confident Niki Lauda was right behind me. The drag from the start to the first corner at Kyalami is very long and I was expecting both of them to lead me on the first lap because of the 12-cyclinder acceleration. I also knew that my car would not be particularly quick on the long straights (it never has been, being a fairly wide-track car), and my only chance would be to try to keep up (gaining ground on the corners) and hope for the others to break down.

Hunt was delighted to see Lauda winning again © LAT

In the event I led for the first few laps. I think Pace made a bit of a mess of the start because mine wasn't particularly good. It was quite clear that Niki would get me sooner or later and Jody wheeled me in fairly quickly, too. They both were able to catch me very easily on the long straight and eventually got up just enough to overtake me. I hoped I would be able to keep the others at bay even though I was having trouble overtaking back markers but Patrick Depailler got me with a few laps to go and I had to settle for fourth.

I was very pleased that Niki won the race. In my opinion, he has been driving very well since Canada last year and I have been expecting him to win ever since. The pleasing thing is that this will silence once and for all the critics and non-believers who were stupid enough to think he had lost his nerve. His car had all sorts of problems by the end of the South African race and he nursed it superbly.

Who would have thought that Jody Scheckter would be leading the championship after three rounds? I must admit that I wouldn't have done. The Wolf team undoubtedly thoroughly deserve their position. Their testing has been thorough and methodical, they have lots of confidence and Jody is driving well. They have so far had the reliability which new cars and new cars so often lack and I am delighted for Jody and Harvey, the original Hesketh designer.

Of the other drivers and teams, Jochen Mass, my team-mate, had a good race after a sensational start from the 7th row (6th into the first corner!). John Watson went well in the Brabham and Brambilla looked competitive in the Surtees.

I now have a very tight schedule of promotions and appearances before the Race of Champions. I go to Sweden, Denmark and Finland this weekend for Vauxhall and Marlboro and we are shooting a Texaco TV commercial next week. I am looking forward to racing in England again at Brands at the Race of Champions and hope you will all come and have a good day out. Although the Ferraris are not coming there will be a good opportunity to see the new Brabhams, the revised Tyrrells and the new Lotus among others. I hope I can repeat last year's victory but there will be plenty of strong opposition.

Finally, a couple of points that readers wanted me to talk about. One asked me for my comments on the six-wheelers. I am afraid I have never driven one and cannot really pass an opinion. Someone else wanted to know if I got tired while racing. The answer is an emphatic "yes," and that is why I try to keep as fit as possible in order to maintain strength and concentration throughout a race.

As I have been a regular reader of AUTOSPORT since my interest in motor sport started, I am delighted that I have been asked by your Editor to contribute a regular column to the magazine.

Subject to my having time to sit down and write something I will be putting a few words together after each race. Because it takes a day or two for me to collect my thoughts after each Grand Prix, the articles will probably appear in AUTOSPORT ten days after the race. I hope therefore to be able to tell something about what I am doing between races as well as during them.

If there is anything in particular you would like to hear my views on, then please write to the Editor and he will pass on the message. - James Hunt

Marbella, Jan 26 77. After a very relaxing few days in Uruguay I decided to try to take advantage of the South American weather and went up to Guaraja, which is the seaside resort for Sao Paulo. Unfortunately it was not one of my more successful holiday attempts because the weather was bad and I ate something that disagreed with me violently. Accordingly I thought it would be best if I went up to Sao Paulo and ensconced myself in the Hilton there so that I could get some sympathy from the rest of the team.

It was while on my way to Sao Paulo that my much-publicised meeting with the Brazilian police occurred. The road was under repair and they were making routine document checks on all drivers. Unfortunately my driver's licence was one of the documents stolen with my briefcase in Italy and, as my particular policeman did not speak much Inglese, I thought it would be simplest if we went to the "nick", which was only 100 yards down the road. I was greeted warmly by the local station sergeant and there were lots of handshakes and autograph-signing before I continued my journey.

Unfortunately the Brazilian press blew the whole thing into a major incident and announced that I had been arrested. It seemed to infuriate them in some way, and I certainly did not receive the warm welcome and reception that I received in Argentina. I suppose South American crowds are apt to love or hate the leading runners so that the race can be more exciting for them. I certainly don't expect to be loved everywhere I go, but I do sometimes feel that the local press make their own decisions about people and it is very difficult to change their minds.

By the time practice started my tummy upset was not a whole lot better. We decided to miss the unofficial testing on the Wednesday because the track was damp and Teddy Mayer thought it better not to aggravate my insides. On the first day nobody could live with Carlos Pace, who was in devastating form in front of his home crowd.

James Hunt relaxes pre-race in Argentina © LAT

I have never been able to understand how the Latin Formula 1 drivers almost always "come good" on their home circuits. I obviously like to do well when racing in England in front of my home crowd, but I do not think I drive any faster. If anything I am more nervous before a big race at Silverstone or Brands Hatch because perhaps more is expected of me. On the other hand, Reutemann, Fittipaldi, Pace, Brambilla and Regazzoni always seem to fly at their home races and in practice. Interesting.

In the final practice session I managed to get it together long enough (between enforced pit-stops due to natural causes) to get pole position. There was actually nothing in it between me, Carlos Reutemann, Mario Andretti and Jochen Mass, and it was a very exciting last few minutes. Jochen finished up one hundredth of a second slower than Andretti, which prompted Teddy Mayer to come up with the useless piece of information that the difference represented 20 inches round the 5-mile Interlagos circuit.

On Saturday night the organisers had the track hosed and brushed so that all the rubber we had put down carefully over the past few days was removed. The Marlboro-McLaren team reckoned that tyre wear during the Sunday morning warm-up was double that during official practice because of the change in surface. We therefore set the car up with as much oversteer as we dared and hoped that everyone else would have the same problem as us.

After my usual cautious start and Pace's show-stopper from the third row, I settled into third place behind the two Carloses. I got past Reutemann on the third lap and then took Pace two laps later. He was a bit annoyed at the manoeuvre, because the nose and radiator of his car were damaged, but having seen it on television since I have no guilty feelings at all. Unfortunately it was not long before Reutemann caught me up again but, as he was not able to overtake me, I thought he must be having the same tyre problems as me. I therefore decided not to go into the pits because I thought we should both slog it out to the finish.

Hunt's McLaren at Interlagos © LAT

On the 21st lap, however, he went past me and just disappeared into the distance. I had to stay out one more lap so that I could warn Kojak (my chief mechanic) and the other boys that I would be coming in. After a good stop I set off in fifth place and, thanks to the new tyres and a few retirements, managed to get second place by the finish. Lole's tyres had just about had enough by the end, but he thoroughly deserved his victory because it turned out that Ferrari were the best prepared team on the day.

The win will have done a lot to the confidence of the Ferrari team, who are being hounded by everybody about the status of their drivers and the morale of the management. Let nobody think that Niki Lauda is finished, over the hill, or sulking that Reutemann has so far had the results this season. His nerve is very far from broken and I have no doubt that he will be very near the top of the World Championship in October. Ferrari are a very professional team and are now leading the Championship. This will only make Niki fight harder, and that is not a good sign for me and the other teams.

The Brabhams have shown very well in the South American races, even though they have not had much luck. The Lotuses are obviously fast and the Tyrrells will be near the front when it matters. I do not think Ken was very pleased when Patrick Depailler, who was five laps behind after a pitstop, wrote off his own car and Jochen's M23, and severely damaged John Watson's Brabham. I know Teddy Mayer was not very pleased, and I dare say Bernie was not either. However, they have plenty of time to make six new wheels before South Africa.

It is very nice to be home again, and my office in London has only arranged a couple of appointments for me between now and my departure for Kyalami for testing. I shall take the opportunity to play some golf and build up my training programme, which has not really got back to normal since all the pre-Christmas functions and tummy upsets in Brazil. Oscar (my German shepherd dog) and I have already been on several long walks since I got home yesterday, but unfortunately he has sore feet after some heavy braking while chasing stones on the beach.

Well, the South American trip has produced six more points than it did last year, so it is now up to me and the M26 to see if we can pick up a few more before we come back to Europe in May.