James Hunt's 1977 F1 diary part two

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.

November 3rd 1977. After my Canadian catastrophe, I spent the next few days hobbling around but, having had another good look at the shunted M26, I realise how lucky I was not to have a broken leg or worse.

The deformable structure had really done its job well absorbing the impact, which must have been even greater than I imagined. The wrecked car has already been shipped back to Colnbrook to be rebuilt as a replica for racing car shows - the only salvageable piece being the engine. What with my ankle injury in the Superstars football event, I have been virtually off games since before the Italian Grand Prix. Surprisingly, my lack of training hasn't proved any sort of handicap.

It seemed hardly any time before we were off again, this time to Japan for the last round of the championship. It's a diabolically long flight to Tokyo, and we arrived exhausted. Two days of promotions - opening the new Marlboro Leisurewear shop in Tokyo and a GM promotion at the track - straightened me out, and by Friday out at Mount Fuji I was really feeling back in the groove.

The GP had the atmosphere of a club race: it was a combination of the end-of-term feeling plus the fact the pressure was off and everybody was happy that this was to be the last race of the season. The meeting was robbed of any sense of urgency by the pit lane being so wide and long and really empty - they restrict passes properly in Japan! This is a sharp contrast to somewhere like Zolder, where the pit lane is a seething mass of people - very dangerous, but charged with atmosphere.

In the first practice I drove my old car chassis M26/1 - the original tub which the boys had built up from components we carried as spares. The car suffered from power-understeer and didn't feel quite right even after we had fiddled around with the suspension and wing settings. Whatever we did, Mario Andretti was always a second or so faster, so I asked Alistair Caldwell to let me have a go in Jochen Mass's machine.

Hunt got on with Mass's car better than he did the old M26/1 chassis © LAT

Practice hadn't started on time, as there were no doctors or medical equipment available, so the two sessions had been combined into one long two-hour thrash, which gave us time to change the seats and pedals about. I liked Jochen's car much more than my own, but immediately felt the steering was lots heavier.

Hermann has been complaining about the steering on his car all season, and no one paid any attention, but I can assure you that if he complains with his muscles...

Although I went quicker in Jochen's car, I still couldn't match Mario's pace, although with fresh tyres and a good tow I got within 0.16sec of his time. But it was a flattering lap, and on my own, later, I wasn't able to equal it - the Lotus was immensely fast.

In the unofficial session, running full tanks, we realised we had a big tyre wear problem and were concerned that the rubber we had chosen wouldn't go the distance. Jochen found my car more to his liking - not that he had much choice - so everybody was happy, and once again I found myself sharing the front row with Mario.

In total contrast to last year, the weather was glorious. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and, surprisingly enough, not a trace of snow capping mount Fuji. I made one of my better starts, was happy to see Jody Scheckter in my mirrors - the Wolf had come up from the third row and I was pretty confident he would hold the others up, as Jody had had handling troubles all weekend.

My Marlboro-McLaren was really going well, and my principal adversaries, Mario and John Watson, were already in trouble. Mario had had another shunt after a bad start. He had tried to go round Jacques Lafitte on the outside, their cars had collided, and Mario ran off the road with broken steering. Wattie had ruined a front tyre and was in gearbox trouble, so things were looking good for me.

The yellow flags for the Villeneuve/Peterson accident hadn't slowed the pace much, as most of the debris was off the track.

A good start from the front row handed Hunt the early advantage © LAT

The spectators involved were in a prohibited area, which is very out of character, as the Japanese are usually so self-disciplined and orderly. This was the last place I expected this sort of thing to happen. It was particularly sad that the marshal who died was apparently in the process of clearing people back behind the safety fences.

Driving at medium speed, I was able to increase my lead at a second per lap, and was delighted to see that Jochen Mass had moved up into second place. B

ut just when it looked as if we had a Marlboro-McLaren one-two in the bag, Jochen's Cosworth development engine went bang!

I had had some problem with steering vibrations from the beginning of the race which increased towards the later stages. A front tyre had chunked, which had put everything out of balance, and the steering wheel had shredded my hands. So it wasn't until I was literally within coasting distance of the flag that I felt in any way confident of victory - especially after all the last-minute disappointments this year.

Leaving to get to the airport after the race was a real problem. The track is over 60 miles from Tokyo, and the roads are blocked solid. We had asked the organisers to lay on a police escort to enabled us to catch our plane, but for some reason they were unable to oblige, but had provided us with a driver who had his car waiting, ready to go, outside the circuit with orders to leave the minute the race was over.

Most of the others had already left when I jumped out and legged it through the crowd out to the car - we managed to make the plane by the skin of our teeth. The Japanese organisers had been very helpful, so I was disappointed to hear their reaction to our hasty departure, especially since they were aware of the problem from the outset.

Very few people realise just how demanding it is to drive a Grand Prix car because of the G-forces exerted on the body. Niki Lauda broke a rib just practising for the Spanish Grand Prix, and on this occasion Jacques Lafitte slipped a disc in qualifying, and was bent double on race day.

Jacques was very brave to race at all, and that fuel problem on the last lap when in second place was just too cruel.

October 20 1977. As only a week separated the United States and Canadian Grands Prix, there was little point in returning to Europe, so I spent several days in New York along with a pretty representative selection of the motor racing fraternity.

New York is an incredible place - it caters for every taste, and I really enjoyed my brief stay there.

We flew up to Toronto on Thursday night and drove out to Oshawa, the nearest town to the Mosport circuit. The track itself is superb - as long as you can stay on it.

It is certainly one of the better circuits from a driver's point of view: up hill and down dale, rather like Brands, but more difficult. The trouble is, the safety facilities are hopelessly inadequate and the organisation amateur to say the least.

First of the many dramas which clouded the weekend came when Niki Lauda failed to practise his Ferrari on Friday morning, although he had been there most of the week promoting the race for Labatt's brewers, who were sponsoring the GP.

With no chief mechanic, no team manager, and Reutemann and Villeneuve already present, I was not at all surprised to hear he had told Ferrari that very morning of his intention not to drive the third car. One can only put up with so much aggro.

Mosport can be a really thrilling circuit if you get your car well-balanced. In the first session I was just getting in the groove when an exhaust pipe cracked and I spent 20 frustrating minutes in the pits while Mario Andretti collected fastest lap. Practice had been a mess: first Ian Ashley flipped his Hesketh in a spectacular shunt which delayed practice and, later, my team-mate Jochen Mass hit the barriers causing another delay. These two incidents highlighted the deplorable conditions in which the race was due to be run.

Rain was the least of the drivers' concerns at Mosport © LAT

There were only 96 of the 200 or so marshals necessary (few of whom seemed to know how to use a blue flag), the crash wagon with cutting equipment was not available, and there was no rescue helicopter. The wooden posts holding the Armco barrier were rotten, and actually gave way when Jochen hit them, and he was launched across the track. Ashley had remained trapped for over 45 minutes as the marshals had no idea of how - and no equipment - to cut him free, and the helicopter had taken over an hour to arrive.

We spoke to the organisers who undertook to do their best to make what improvements they could before Saturday's practice but, frankly, it was too late and we had little alternative but to agree. It is high time we had a properly qualified person inspecting circuits, because we have known about Mosport for years.

Happily Saturday's practice passed without serious incident: probably because it rained non-stop and few drivers bothered to do anything but a few exploratory laps. We packed up early and returned to our hotel for an orgy of televised motor racing: the NASCAR Darlington 500 stock car race, Formula Atlantics round the streets of Quebec and, to top it all, CBS's coverage of the US Grand Prix. David Hobbs gave an outstanding commentary in the latter which was both humorous and highly informed, and the programme was really well put together.

There was a big panic in the pits just before the start of the race as to whether to use hard or soft front left tyres. The Goodyear people were worried about wear and roll, as all the rain had washed the track and it was particularly abrasive. We finally gambled on soft. Too many revs saw me make a lousy start, and Mario got away ahead.

In the early part of the race I was concerned about my front left tyre and kept a little bit back to get air on the front wings to reduce full tank understeer. After the race had settled down it became obvious to me that there was no way past Mario unless he either made a mistake or got caught up behind a slower car. I wasn't frustrated by the idea of finishing second, remembering that last year Patrick Depailler's Tyrrell was definitely quicker than me, but still could not find a way by.

Hunt suffered his worst F1 accident, but was able to walk away © LAT

I was almost resigned to second place when Mario, who had just lapped Jody Scheckter, came up to lap Jochen Mass, who was lying third. Trying to pass, the Lotus got out of shape coming out of the corner leading on to the straight, which enabled me to tow up and outbrake Mario into the next corner.

This brought me up behind Jochen, who slowed in Turn 2 - a left-hander that leads on to a short straight. He stayed on the right but by this time I was right up his chuff, going much faster, and was forced to go to the left; then suddenly, in one simultaneous manoeuvre, he too moved across to the left, hit the brakes and waved me through on the right. But I was committed, could not avoid him, and hit him up the arse.

He spun and I was launched onto the grass, careering through catchfences before slamming into the concrete retaining wall at a 60-degree angle, still travelling at over 100mph at the time of the impact.

Team manager Alistair Caldwell described the crumpled chassis as "turning left at the dashboard". This was by far the worst accident of my F1 career. My legs were trapped, but by removing the steering wheel and wriggling out of my shoes, I managed to extract myself from the remains, but still have some really nasty bruises to remind me of the close call. I was just about to set off back to the pits, feeling like I had got out of a tumble dryer, when I realised that I had left my shoes behind in the car and had to retrieve them. But someone had half-inched the steering wheel!

I was really disappointed and left for my hotel right away, but heard that when Mario's engine blew with only a handful of laps to go, a frustrated Colin Chapman tore off his headset and stamped on it. Mario and I seem to have had our fair share of bad luck...

Jody Scheckter lucked out again and must have been surprised when he suddenly had to do another lap. I think everybody was happy that the race was over without a fatal accident and, although I regret the passing of Mosport from a driving point of view, I am happy that this was the last ever Grand Prix to be held there: next year - they say - the race will be run on a Toronto street circuit.

Let's hope that this time the organisers get their act together; running around the houses requires infinitely better co-ordination for it poses many additional problems. The people at Mosport were patently ill-equipped to handle a Grand Prix on a closed circuit even after years of experience, so the Canadian GP in 1978 could well be the centre of controversy unless radical changes are made.

October 13 1977. After the Italian Grand Prix, I stayed on at the Ville d'Este for a couple of days relaxing before setting off for Rome where Parmalat, the Italian milk products concern, had arranged a tennis tournament between the drivers and some film personalities: a pleasant combination of business and pleasure. Parmalat took the opportunity to kill further press speculation by publicly announcing their deal with Bernie (Ecclestone) and Niki (Lauda). Niki is taking his chief mechanic, Ermanno Cuoghi, and a Ferrari engineer with him, which has caused another rumpus at Ferrari, but should help considerably with the Alfa-Romeo side of the deal.

I managed to snatch a weekend in the sun at home in Marbella before touching down in London for a couple of days at the time the news of Mario (Andretti) staying with Lotus broke. This didn't surprise me, for had he wished to take up Ferrari's offer, there were serious contractual difficulties. The who-drives-for-who-backed-by-whom saga seems to have settled down with Gilles Villeneuve's signing for Ferrari - this was a principal move in the Grand Prix chess game.

The Canadian is a very good choice and probably well equipped to handle the testing of the new car and able to cope with Ferrari's internal politics. Although I think it highly unlikely, should Gilles and Ferrari really get their act together, they will be serious championship contenders, which is worrying. Remember, Jody Scheckter, who also got his F1 break with McLarens, nearly won the championship in his first full season.

There was a lovely story circulating at the Glen: it appears that when Alan Jones was on his way to Ferrari, having been picked up at Milan Airport by one of the engineers in a factory boxer, they came up behind a Mercedes speeding down the autostrada. The Mercedes dutifully moved over and Alan looked across to see Emerson's beady eyes boring into him. As I said before, everybody was down at Maranello but me.

Hunt, McLaren's Teddy Mayer, and Brabham chief Bernie Ecclestone © LAT

I was delighted that Jochen Mass, Hermann as he is affectionately known within the Marlboro-McLaren team, has got a ride with the new ATS March set-up. The idea of an all-German team is good for motor racing: and I am sure they will get a lot of support, and Hermann should blossom running as a number one.

The paddock was buzzing with the story that Ronnie Peterson was going back to Lotus, but I can't see Mario liking that too much - there is always a big strain on any team running joint number ones, even if Lotus have had more practice at it than anyone else.

I flew over to New York a week before the US GP to get some time with my girlfriend Jane Birbeck, whom I hadn't seen since the German GP, as she lives over there. Sean Connery, a neighbour of mine in Spain, arranged for me to play at the Deepdale Country Club and the course was magnificent - quite the best I have played on in the States. Not crowded either - there are only 53 members.

Up at Watkins Glen, which is located in the scenic Finger Lakes district of upstate New York, things went well for me from the first day. Nevertheless, practice was not without its excitements. Sitting on pole after the first session, I was turning in 1m 40.8s in traffic when Teddy Mayer signalled Stuck was faster. I had a clear road ahead so went balls out. It was a demon lap until the second last corner when I got out of shape, slid a wheel over the curb and crumpled it backwards into the rail. Walking meekly back to the pits, the Ferrari people told me that Stuck hadn't been quicker: Michele Dubosic had made a rare timekeeping error. Still no excuse for me and I looked suitably contrite when Teddy told me not to do it again.

There was no shortage of helping hands to straighten out the damage, as McLaren mechanics from both the USAC and IMSA programmes were there in force. "Hampton" Howard Moore, who looked after my Marlboro-McLaren M23 last year, was spectating along with Davy Ryan, Bill Sharp and Roger Bailey. The speed that they changed into overalls surprised me until Davy pointed out they had no chance with the local crumpet unless they wore the right gear. Playing, not spectating once again, is the name of the game.

Lauda clinched the title at Watkins Glen © LAT

Saturday's practice was wet and no real interest for me. Personally I can only drive fast in the wet when I am racing. I don't like to practice or test in the rain - the only thing it proves is you can hurt yourself or the car. I will race in any conditions as long as I can see where I am going.

The morning of the race I felt pretty relaxed: it was impossible to say whether it was going to be a wet or dry race, so there were no tactics to formulate. At the start, Stuck beat me away driving at an ideal pace, not too fast, but just enough to maintain Mario at a safe distance. I wasn't in a hurry to do anything about Hans, more trying to consolidate my position should it turn into a pit stop race and conscious that tyre wear would be a deciding factor. Hans obliged me by disappearing in a cloud of grass and mud, and as I sailed by, he was blipping his engine trying to get back on the track unaware his front radiators were hanging off. The track started to dry and it looked as if we would have to change tyres - conveniently it rain again.

The next 30 laps were dedicated to keeping the M26 off the racing line and straying into the wet patches wherever possible. One gets hyper-sensitive in these conditions and when the car started to bottom, I was terrified that I had a puncture like last year in Japan.

The gap to Mario was steady at around 16-17s as we moved into the last ten laps: and I eased appreciably for, among other things, the water gauge had pegged itself. Mario eased too, so imagine my surprise when, with three laps to go, the gap suddenly slipped from 14 to 3s. I didn't need to read my pit signals, Teddy Mayer was 25 feet in the air as I came by on my last lap with Mario right behind. I got the message and really took off - set my fastest lap, but constantly had to remind myself not to make the same mistake as Jack Brabham at Monaco.

Victory lane was complete chaos with everybody trying to get in on the act. Niki eventually joined me on the podium but Mario and Jody were nowhere to be seen. Niki thoroughly deserves his second championship - he was basically the only person who got it all together and kept it all together. Super Rat had some lucky breaks but remember in 1974 he had more than his share of bad luck. Niki's victory was the result of a lot of hard work at Ferrari, an immense amount of testing and self-control in a difficult political atmosphere. I was delighted for him and he seemed pretty happy about my win as well.

September 22 1977. The week before the Italian Grand Prix was pretty action-packed, although I managed to get a few days' rest at home in Marbella and hit the local backgammon scene before flying up to Switzerland to compete in the Superstars. The racing fraternity were well represented and I joined Jochen Mass and Jacques Laffite at the brand new sports complex in Bienne - the home of the Heuer timing people.

As far as I was concerned, it was not a great success, although I enjoyed myself immensely and won the football section before I tore ligaments in my ankle which forced me to retire. Apparently the story got exaggerated and caused some panic back in England, where they were busy posting me as a non-starter at Monza. Jochen did really well - you will have to wait and see how well until the programmes goes out on television later in the year - and, despite my retirement, both Jacques and I were placed.

That evening we flew down to Alassio, a small coastal resort between San Remo and Genoa, in a Cessna Citation - the same type of twin-engined jet Niki Lauda uses to go to work in. Jochen, Jacques and I joined Clay Regazzoni and some local heroes in - would you believe it - a steamroller race. What with one thing and another, we arrived a little late, led by a police car complete with siren and flashing lights.

The enthusiasm of the crowd knew no bounds. Fortunately, the machines had hand throttles, so my damaged foot was no handicap, but my navigation around the course seemed to startle Luisella of Radio Monte Carlo who was providing the lively commentary. I still got classified second behind Regazzoni, and we were presented with such magnificent trophies that you would have thought we had won the Italian Grand Prix. Later that evening the mayor made a splendid speech and gave us what sounded like the freedom of the City of Alassio of which, needless to say, we took full advantage!

Carlos Reutimann and Niki Lauda wouldn't be Ferrari team-mates much longer © LAT

The Italians are a really passionate people: they either love you or they hate you - there is seldom a happy medium. After the hard time they gave us last year, it was pleasant to see the other side of the coin, and I must say they really made me welcome wherever I went, with the exception of the mother of a keen racing fan who wouldn't let her charming daughter even have lunch with me. Clever mum!

The news that Niki Lauda was leaving Ferrari did not surprise me: it has been on the cards since the beginning of the season. If he does go to Brabham, like most people seem to think he will, it would be a very clever move. Gordon Murray is an excellent designer and hasn't come up with a duff chassis yet - there is little doubt that the BT46 could be the fastest car, and if they find reliability, the combination of Niki and Brabham would be dynamite.

There was also a great deal of speculation about who would take Niki's place at Ferrari, and they seem to have spoken to just about everybody but me! I can't really see them going for a newcomer - that's not their style - but until the No 1 spot is filled, the press are going to have a field day. Jody Scheckter, I suspect, would dearly love to drive for them and they seem pretty keen on him, but there are contractual difficulties with Wolf and I think it would be far too complicated; so things are likely to stay as they are. If they go for young drivers after all, the choice lies between Gilles Villeneuve, Eddie Cheever and Patrick Tambay, all of whom have been contacted by Maranello recently.

I seem to get an annual attack of brain fade at Monza - I've never finished there yet. The car was pretty useless and so was the driver. Despite the problem with my foot, I was well pleased when I put the M26 on pole (my fifth of the season), especially as the car is not that quick in a straight line. From then on things deteriorated rapidly. I was worried for my clutch when the red took ages to come on, and when it flickered Jody and Clay went charging past me.

I managed to get back into second place but my brakes were starting to play up and soon Mario Andretti got by at Lesmo, and a few laps later Carlos Reutemann's Ferrari nipped inside when I had a brakeless moment at the chicane which dropped me back behind my team-mate Jochen, who was running seventh. I was happily running around when I passed him by accident: we were coming up to the Parabolica and I hit the brakes, but couldn't slow up enough and very nearly T-boned him. Fortunately Jochen glanced over and swerved out of the way just in time.

Mario Andretti took another win © LAT

Monza is not the place to have brake problems: you need to brake very accurately. After a lengthy pitstop to check that all was well, I went back into the fray again to try for fastest lap. A combination of brake and brain fade saw me finish up in exactly the same sand pit as last year. After the race, Teddy Mayer told me that they had fitted similar calipers to my car than Jochen's, as he is usually heavier on brake pads than me.

Mario drove a terrific race: I was particularly pleased we had taken the trouble to kiss and make up after the Zandvoort incident.

The Villa d'Este on Lake Como, where the Marlboro-McLaren team stays for the race, is one of the most beautiful hotels in Europe. I think the management there are getting pretty used to the racing people by now, but they still had difficulties in understanding why Herr Hans Stuck needed a swim - resplendent in Martini tie and blazer - at two o'clock in the morning, and why his presence in the pool acted as a decoy for the rest of the racing brigade.

Walter Wolf's dark blue and gold helicopter, buzzing the hotel every time he made his final approach to a neighbouring lawn, reminded me of times when Alexander Hesketh used to stay at the 'Dusty Villa', as the hotel is affectionately known. Things haven't really changed much...

September 8 1977. It's just not our year. Between me and John Watson, British drivers have been leading twelve grand prix this season (we both led in Argentina, France and Britain) and have collected the terrific total of one win. I hope that fortunes will change before too long but I'm afraid it's too late for this year.

My retirement from Sunday's race has already received a certain amount of news coverage and comment. As far as I was concerned it was a clear-cut case of Mario trying to overtake when the manoeuvre was not possible and the inevitable accident happened. Unfortunately, accidents are one of the hazards of motor racing and the guilty party almost always knows who he is.

That is why the thing that upset me more than anything about the whole incident was the way in which it was reported in the press. When I was interviewed after I came back to the pits I gave my version of what happened and asked those who had not seen it too watch it on the televised replay.

Mario, on the other hand, talked about it prodigiously and this seemed to imply to the press that the whole thing was my fault. That, at least, is how it appeared in most of the newspapers on Monday morning. If they actually did see the incident either live or on television and still drew the conclusion that I was to blame, then I have to say that they know less about motor racing than I know about writing.

Andretti spins after his contact with Hunt © LAT

On my way to Holland for the Grand Prix I went to England for the opening of the new Vauxhall showroom in Coventry and then on to Scotland for a couple of golf matches.

On the way to the dealership we stopped for breakfast at a transport cafe owned by a gentleman of Italian origin called Alex. He was extremely talkative and informed us that although he had never been very sporting he would undoubtedly have been World Cycling Champion had he put his mind to it. It took us quite a time to get away and we were only allowed to leave after he had given each of us his autograph.

The golf in Scotland was the annual Variety Club Charity Match and the BBC2 Pro-Celebrity televised series. I didn't play very well in the charity match but everything came together for the nine televised holes. I have a feeling that when the series is shown on television next year I may be accused of having rather a dodgy handicap.

After the race on Saturday I celebrated my birthday with all my family and friends who had made the cross-channel trip to Zandvoort. Luckily my mechanics did not have to rush back to England so they could come to the party at the campsite as well, so we had a very good evening. Our only problem was one of spectators who simply would not go away and we had to employ devious methods to disperse him eventually.

The Zandvoort race gets underway © LAT

The following morning I flew from Amsterdam via Norwich to Teesside to spend the day at a race meeting at Croft for Texaco who were sponsoring the meeting. Unfortunately my visit had to be cut short because my schedule had to be changed in order to catch flights affected by the various go-slows in the UK, France and Spain.

As it was, Texaco arranged for a private plane to take me home and I eventually got to bed at 5.30 the following morning. I apologise for that because the timetable had to be altered at short notice so I didn't get the chance to meet as many people as I would have liked.

During the week of the Italian Grand Prix I am taking part in the Swiss heat of the Superstars. The interesting thing about this heat is that there will inevitably be a racing drivers competition within the main tournament because both Jochen Mass and Jacques Lafitte from Grand Prix racing and Antonio Zanini the Spanish rally driver are taking part. I know Jochen and Jacques are very fit and I expect Zanini is as well, so competition should be very fierce.

And then to Monza. In view of what happened there last year I would dearly love to win in front of the Italian crowd. I doubt if the M26 will be super-competitive there with all the chicanes and I expect the Lotuses and 12-cylinder cars will be at the front after qualifying. However, the only thing I can salvage out of this year is a couple of wins to get into good shaped for another go at the championship in 1978.

August 25 1977. I am usually able to remain fairly philosophical about accidents or retirements in Grands Prix. More often than not it's a case of shrugging the shoulders and getting on with preparations for the next race. However I have to admit I was very disappointed when my engine blew up with 11 laps to go at the Osterreichring. I had a lead of about 26 seconds over Alan Jones and 35 seconds over Niki and was taking things very easy when the engine, which had only done about 100 miles before the race, expired.

Until the last few laps, the Grand Prix meeting went very well for us. Our testing the previous week was curtailed after about 30 laps when an engine went and, as we were looking in reasonable shape and I had had a chance to look at the new chicane, we decided to call it a day and go home. After we left, Goodyear appeared with some new tyres, a softer compound, which made all the times we had done look a bit ordinary. We were not unduly worried, however, because we reckon the M26 will be reasonably competitive on soft or hard rubber now.

I was quickest in the first session of timed practice but Niki got his act together in the second session and nudged me off the pole. On Saturday morning it rained and, although it dried out for the final hour, the track was not as quick as it had been the day before. I was fastest in that session but it was not good enough to swap places with Niki.

On Sunday morning it was pouring with rain - for the third year running at the Austrian Grand Prix. We tried the car on full tanks in the wet and it behaved in the most extraordinary manner. As there was very little we could do about it in the time available we had a long thinking session and guessed the settings for the race. We changed one or two things an almost ludicrous amount but the car worked really well, both in the early part of the race when it was damp and then when it dried out.

Hunt was thrilled to see Alan Jones and Shadow win © LAT

Mario Andretti, after leading the first few laps, was the first retirement just when I was about to have a go at passing him. It was then a matter of stretching my lead and holding on to it and I have to say that it was very easy indeed. It was a bit like Argentina this year all over again until the gremlin struck.

The M26, as it had done in England and Germany, behaved itself extremely well and a new chassis should be ready for me in Holland. It has taken us longer than we hoped to get it right and it is not perfect yet by any means, but at least the faith we've all had in it has been justified and it has been competitive in the past four races.

I am very pleased that Alan Jones and the Shadow team have won their first Grand Prix. Alan Rees, the team manager, gave me my first works drive when he was with the newly formed March team in Formula 3. I have always admired him as a team manager and he has worked very hard indeed to keep the Shadow team on its feet through many disappointments and shortages of money. Alan Jones always tries hard and with no little skill in every racing car he drives and they all must be absolutely delighted to get their first success. It was a very popular win.

Niki Lauda picked up another six points with his annoyingly reliable Ferrari. It is going to take something out of the ordinary for anyone to catch him now and, although he deserves to win the championship again through sheer consistency, it has to be said that the rest of us have almost handed it to him on a plate. Niki's car has been the 'class' of the field on only two or three occasions this season and yet he consistently hangs in there with a second or third place while the rest of us are blowing up engines, running out of petrol or crashing into each other.

A very wet Osterreichring prior to the race © LAT

I do not know whether he will be driving for Ferrari next year, but I imagine there will be a bit of a rush for his place if he does leave. It is almost incredible to think that 12 months ago he was still on the danger list in hospital and there were serious doubts about whether he would race again. Now here he is poised to take his second World Championship with five races to go. An incredible achievement.

Two drivers I felt sorry for (apart from myself) on Sunday were Jochen Mass and Gunnar Nilsson. Jochen had a pit-stop when his temperature gauges went berserk after an exhaust pipe had broken. In fact his engine was alright and it was only the hot gases from the exhaust pipe attacking the gauges. He lost about 40 or 50 seconds accordingly and drove every well to finish sixth. Gunnar started way back on the grid and was the only driver to start on wet tyres. He got himself up to fourth before he stopped to change to dries and then he had a good run through the field to third place before his engine blew up.

After the race I was very lucky to get a lift back to England on my way home to Spain. I was booked on the Constructors charter flight to Gatwick but, as I had a very early start on Monday morning, I gratefully accepted the offer to fly back to England straight after the race.

I was extremely lucky, because the charter was delayed and diverted to Stansted where there were no taxis or hire cars available. As it was 3.30am by this time I understand that one or two people expressed their dissatisfaction. Spare a thought for the mechanics who had been working flat out for 3 1/2 days - particularly the Lotus lads who had to go all the way to Gatwick to pick up their cars and then drive back to Norfolk past Stansted airport.

Last weekend I visited Britain to play in a charity golf match in Scotland. That was followed by the BBC2 televised Pro-Celebrity series from Gleneagles which was very good fun. From there I travel to Zandvoort to see if I can pick up the same number of points that I have had at hat circuit for the past couple of years. We have not yet sacrificed the Championship, although I am bound to say I am not optimistic. We will just keep scratching away, try to win a couple more races this year and see what happens. You never know.

August 11 1977. At the time of writing we are still not absolutely sure of the cause of my retirement from the German Grand Prix. After about 15 laps the engine started to make a noise which suggested a broken exhaust pipe but apparently the initial inspection after the race did not confirm that.

Whatever the problem was became academic about 10 laps later when the mechanical fuel pump failed. I actually thought the engine had blown up although I had not heard any noises, but when the mechanics got to the car they were able to start it up on the electrical pump and drive it back to the pits. In case anyone is thinking that I could have finished the race using the electrical pump, allow me to reassure you that unfortunately the little electrical pump is not designed for that sort of thing all on its own!

I arrived in Germany for the race not very optimistic about my chances because during testing the week before the 12-cylinder cars had shown a distinct superiority. Although I was quickest of the 'Formula Ford' cars there was no way we could live with the Ferraris, Ligier and Brabhams on Hockenheim's power straights.

It is a long time since I have been to Hockenheim. In fact, my last appearance there was in the Hesketh-Surtees F2 car just before my first Grand Prix at Monaco. There were two heats of the F2 race on that day and I failed to start in both. I broke down on the warming-up lap in both heats when the metering unit failed. It was the famous occasion that some of you may remember when Bubbles Horsley was asked by an assembled company of journalists what had happened to my car.

Back in the Hesketh days with Lord Alexander, Bubbles and Harvey Postlethwaite © LAT

'Well,' said Bubbles, 'you are not going to believe this. James set off on the warming-up lap. No problems. Out of the stadium into the forest. No problems. Suddenly, without any warning, a bloody great buzzard flies out of the woods, lands on the airbox and starts pecking away at the metering unit. Broke it completely.' I am not sure, but I think there are still some journalists who are not quite sure whether to believe that or not!

But I digress. We were pleasantly surprised to be quickest after the first session on Friday and we spent all Saturday morning on full tanks getting ready for the race. Again the old M26 understeering problem crept in but it wasn't as bad as it had been in Dijon or Anderstorp and we were reasonably confident that we could be in good shape for the race.

Once the hectic final hour of qualifying started it was clear that the Wolf, Ferrari and Brabham teams had been working hard in the morning too, because they were immediately quick. We tried hard in the last few minutes to get pole position back but an amazing time by Jody, helped a little by a tow from his brother Ian, gave him fastest lap comfortably. I was not unduly surprised to be slower than Wattie and Niki and after a good warm-up on Sunday morning when the car felt a lot better on full tanks, I thought I was in good shape for the race.

I managed to get a reasonable start and got to the first corner ahead of Niki. The only trouble was that once we got on to the long straight he drove past me as if I wasn't even there! The power of the Ferrari was fantastic and although Jody and I could keep up with Niki during the early part of the race because we were quicker through the stadium, there was just no chance of our getting past because we could never get near enough on the straight. Apparently Mario had exactly the same problem with Carlos Reutemann until the Lotus's engine blew up.

Hans Stuck got a home podium alongside Niki Lauda and Jody Scheckter © LAT

Niki drove faultlessly and, as has been the case this year, the Ferrari was immaculately prepared. It will be very difficult for anyone to catch or pass Niki now, particularly as there did not appear to be the chinks in the Ferrari armour that appeared last year. Jody did well to finish second and Hans Stuck was a happy third place man in front of the enormous German crowd. I was pleased to see Patrick Tambay pick up a well-deserved point because he drove for much of the race without fourth gear and it was only his second or third Grand Prix.

The silly season for driver changes always seems to get underway in earnest at the German Grand Prix. All sorts of rumours abound and there were some terrific driver/team combinations discussed over the weekend. In case anybody does not know, I am under contract to Marlboro, Texaco and McLaren for next year at least, so can safely sit back and look out for team managers in dark glasses and large overcoats meeting well-known drivers behind motorhomes and in the back of transporters. From all the rumours I have heard, it would appear that I am the only driver staying with the same team. Everyone seems to expect wholesale changes. I should not be at all surprised to see very few changes but you never know: anyway it's always very interesting to speculate to oneself.

From Germany I go to Austria for testing and then home for a few days' golf and possibly house-hunting. Somebody, somewhere, seems to have the idea that I am about to move (some say I have already moved) to Brussels. This is not strictly true. I have considered moving to Brussels and might do so at some stage but for the moment I am happy in Spain and am likely to stay there for a while.

The Austrian Grand Prix will be interesting this year and I imagine there will be a huge crowd, particularly if the weather is good. Last year neither Niki or any Ferraris were there (for rather different reasons) and the crowd was pitifully small. The 12-cylinder cars should go well and it would be nice for John Watson's luck to change so that he can repeat his great victory there a year ago. I have to got to win to keep any slim chance of retaining the championship and I dare say that Niki would quite like to do well. I am looking forward to it.

July 21 1977. It goes without saying that the win on Saturday could not have come at a better time for me and the whole team. Everybody was, I think, more relieved than anything else because we have all the time been convinced that the M26 was capable of winning a race or two. We knew we had to win one soon before the critics totally wrote us off and it was particularly gratifying to do it in front of the British crowd.

After the French Grand Prix I came to Silverstone for a day's testing to prepare for the race. Most of the teams were there and Mario Andretti in the Lotus was very quick indeed. In fact, I was quite gloomy about the prospects for Silverstone because the car felt all right but was simply a lot slower Mario and Niki.

One of the encouraging things was how well Gilles Villeneuve went in his first-ever appearance at Silverstone and in an F1 car. I remember racing against him (and losing) at Trois Rivieres in Canada last year and being very impressed with his obvious talent and his professional approach. He was immediately quick in testing in my last year's M23 chassis and was very constructive in his comments over the car's performance.

I have long been a believer, and have often repeated it, that you either have or you don't have the ability to drive an F1 car and the performances of Villeneuve and Patrick Tambay, who had a most impressive first outing, fully supported this. There are some people who reasonably successful in other formulae but will go on driving F1 cars for a long time and never be quick. The others may not have a great deal of success in other formulae but take to Grand Prix cars like a duck to water. It is mainly a question of their getting the opportunity to prove themselves and that is often a matter of luck.

After testing I went home for a few days' rest and recuperation before coming back to England. I was due to go to Monte Carlo for a Philip Morris backgammon tournament but was allowed leave of absence so that I could get some golf and tennis at home. One Niki Lauda was in South Spain while I was there so I was able to play host to him for a few days.

Gilles Villeneuve settles in at McLaren for his F1 debut © LAT

I had a disastrous journey to England because the airline I was flying with decided to go strike while we were in mid-air between Madrid and London. Apparently the airline staff at Heathrow refused to accept any further flights and so we were diverted to Paris. Unfortunately we had to land at Orly Airport and it is difficult, if not impossible, to get a flight from Orly to Heathrow or Gatwick. There were a lot of people on the flight who were extremely irritated and were becoming punchy, to say the least. Fortunately I remained fairly relaxed (I sometimes get quite cross with airlines!) and was lucky enough to get on a Varig flight which happened to be taking off at the time. Even so, I was five hours late arriving in London for the launch party for my book which was a pity because a lot of people were kind enough to turn up.

Qualifying on both days went fairly well. We were quickest on Thursday but were concerned that the understeering problem would recur as soon as we filled the car up with petrol. Our fears were well founded because on Friday morning in the untimed session the car was not good on full tanks. We had a long thinking session about it after practice and decided to change the settings to see if we could cure the problem.

We then ran the car on the new settings on "empty" tanks in the afternoon and were pleased to be able to record about third or fourth fastest time. We were pretty sure that our Thursday time would be good enough to keep pole but kept an eye on the others (particularly Watson) and were ready to revert to the original settings if necessary. Fortunately it was not, and we felt fairly confident that the new settings would suit the car on full tanks. In the Saturday morning warm-up we were unofficially quickest on full tanks and so felt fairly good about the prospects.

Hunt heads the field at home © LAT

The start was vital and basically I bogged it. The clutch felt very strange and at one stage I thought my race would last about 50 yards. Fortunately I eventually got away in fourth place and set off after the leaders. It took me a couple of laps to get past Jody who clearly was not very happy with his car and was not able to keep up with Wattie and Niki. I quite quickly closed up on Niki but had a problem getting by him because he was really flying on the straights. Apparently he developed a brake problem so I scratched past him and he very quickly dropped back.

I have to admit that it is very unlikely that I would have beaten Wattie had he not developed a fuel problem. My car was handling slightly better than his but the old problem of getting near enough to have a go at passing him reared its ugly head. There was no way that John was going to make a mistake and we both knew that all he had to do was to stay there and I would be able to do nothing about it without risking falling off.

In Holland last year the boot was on the other foot when John was hounding me for lap after lap in his Penske. On Saturday I was putting as much pressure as possible on John but until he pitted I was not at all confident of winning. It was then a question of soldiering on to the end even though I was given a bit of a scare by the team who told me to slow down to conserve fuel. I did what I was told but was so convinced there would be no problem at the end the first thing I did was to bet Teddy Mayer that there would be more than five gallons in the tank. I won the bet.

After the race the crowd was magnificent and I am very grateful for the fantastic support they gave me. I felt desperately sorry for John Watson because he did everything he had to in order to win. I repeat what I said last week: his day will come and his luck will change because that is how it works in motor racing. He is driving a good car for a very good team and is remaining cheerful despite everything.

The day after the race I played in a cricket match for the Lord's Taverners against the Duke of Gloucester's XI, in aid of the National Association of Boy's Clubs. Unfortunately it poured with rain most of the day but quite a good crowd turned up and they saw a few overs.

My bowling figures were at one stage rather impressive (2 for 2), thanks to some superb catching by John Taylor, the British Lions rugger player, and John Conteh, but then Mike Smith of Warwickshire and England came in so I rapidly asked to be taken off. Batting was a problem because the pitch was so wet but I managed to score about 17 runs before being caught by the same Mike Smith. Personally I thought it was rather bad manners of him to take the catch but I suppose his reputation was at stake as well!

On Monday I spent a hectic day promoting my book Against All Odds in London and Birmingham before flying home to Spain. It's a long time since I raced at Hockenheim so I'm making no predictions about the result. It's nice to be back at the front for at least one race, although we've got a long way to go before we can say we have 'turned the corner' with the M26.