Posted on 08/05/2009 7:57:45 PM PDT by Chode
This will be a general purpose thread for F1 news and pings that really don't require a thread of their own.
Amen ma!
The linked article I'm afraid doesn't come close to telling the half of it.
Hunt always flew British Airways and always stayed in the same hotel where the BA air crews (to include the "stewardesses") overnighted. Which made the hotel's lounge his private meat market. Over his seven year F1 career, he averaged more than one conquest a day, often two at a time.
Hunt frequently staggered into the paddock on race day obviously having come straight there from another tryst, Babe Ruth-like, reeking of sex and cigarettes. If it affected his driving, no one ever noticed.
According to Gordon Murray, Hunt was late for the driver introductions at Fuji in '76, where he clinched the WDC after Lauda retired due to the downpour, because he was in the gent's room being serviced by a Japanese flag girl.
At the '77 Canadian GP, Hunt shunted (see what I did there?) then punched the corner worker who was trying to get him off the circuit and headed in the direction of the pits (video here). The FIA fined Hunt $2000 (+$750 for walking unsafely back to the pits) and the corner worker sued and won in court.
He had a German Shepherd he frequently took to posh west end London restaurants with him for dinner. He'd even managed to get the dog an associate membership at his golf club so "Oscar" could "take the air" with him as he played his round.
When Hunt was racing for Baron Hesketh, whose chief occupation was burning through his inheritance, His Lordship created a hospitality division for the F1 team that made sure alcohol and loose women were never far away or in short supply. And if you needed to get somewhere, there was a fleet of Rolls Royces, a helicopter, a business jet, and a yacht, yours for the asking. Add to that the ass-kissing that comes standard with being an F1 driver and you can see how easy it would be to let the celebrity go to your head.
It shouldn't surprise you that Kimi Raikkonen sometimes races snowmobiles under the nom de guerre "James Hunt."
Sorry, I meant Murray Walker.
Thank you!
Thank you, just right!
if you can, thx...
CODE 3 FREEPATHON ALERT- We need to collect the last $10,689 in the next 5 days!. THANK YOU to all donors who brought us this far!
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4286514/posts
Cadillac F1 Wants to Become a Full Works Team by 2030
https://www.thedrive.com/news/cadillac-f1-wants-to-become-a-full-works-team-by-2030
The $175,000 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Is the Performance Bargain of the Decade
https://www.thedrive.com/news/2025-chevrolet-corvette-zr1-is-the-performance-bargain-of-the-decade
F1 still crapping on Mikey A. They sure hold a long grudge against him.
Saw a show last night about the nasa Moon program and the Mercury 7 Astronauts were sold new Corvettes for $1.00 (except John Glenn who got a Station Wagon for being a Family Man) on the condition that they would trade the car back in for the newest model so the Dealer could sell the traded in Vette to a retail customer...
One Corvette Please...
.
Then I’m tapped out.
lol...
They didn't buy the Vettes, the leased them. NASA got bent out of shape when GM gave Allen Shephard a '62 Vette because they don't allow their 'Nauts to endorse any product, and accepting a free car might be viewed as an endorsement. So GM leased them their Vettes for $1 a year. Which NASA didn't carp about because they didn't "own" the car.
I’m a Ford guy but my old friend
Larry Curry took me around the Indy
Track in his Corvette at 100 mph and it seemed kinda slow!
Mario Andretti speaks out after new Cadillac F1 role confirmed
In 2023, when the FIA opened an expression of interest for potential Formula 1 teams, the most qualified candidate that applied was an entry from Andretti Global. Despite an initial acceptance from the FIA, Formula One Management ultimately denied the application.
Undeterred, the Andrettis stepped aside to allow Cadillac F1 to take over — a move that the FOM firmly approved of. Still, Mario Andretti has been invited to join the board of directors as an advisor. It’s a move that the 1978 F1 World Champion deeply appreciates.
For many American motorsport fans, there is no one quite like Mario Andretti.
Born in Italy before his family was uprooted by conflict, the young racer soon made his mark on the dirt ovals of his local Pennsylvania race tracks before progressing up the ranks of the US racing ladder.
This is a driver whose skill knew no boundaries.
Though he was invited to compete in Formula 1 as early as 1968, Andretti was so successful in America that making the international jump would have been a foolhardy move.
After all, we’re talking about a man who won three IndyCar championships and one USAC Silver Crown championship before his full-time F1 career — which isn’t taking into account his victories at iconic races like the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and the Pikes Peak Hill Climb.
When he made the decision to go full-time in F1, he did so with an American team, Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing.
But when that didn’t quite work out, well, Andretti had left such a deep impression on Team Lotus boss Colin Chapman that there was somewhere for him to land.
However, Andretti is grateful to still be so active in racing, regardless of where he’s doing it. That comes down to the ongoing efforts of his son Michael, and of his grandson Marco.
“A lot of it started with Michael becoming a team owner,” Andretti explained to PlanetF1.com, “otherwise I wouldn’t have had a home at all these different disciplines.
“This sport is still our life.”
Andretti admitted that he never personally had any dreams of becoming a team owner, and that his focus has primarily been on the driving.
With his son Michael leading the charge, however, Andretti has been able to stay active as a driver coach.
“Michael is stepping aside a little bit, trying to enjoy life in a different way,” Andretti explained.
“But I still like to have involvement, and when I was invited to still be with the Cadillac team and have some say about drivers and all that — that’s what interests me more than anything.”
right? iirc the lines are painted to look like 55mpn at speed
*
Mario is and probably will forever remain the only person to have won the WDC, the Indy 500, and the Daytona 500.
I have a CT5-V Blackwing. If I take traction control off, it will spin the tires at 60 mph if I floor it. It has a claimed top speed of 206 mph.
I remember looking ahead trying to see where the Turns Where !?!
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Nothing but GRANDSTANDS !
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