Hunt, Hesketh and Monaco

James Hunt is ready to climb into his Hesketh 308B ahead of qualifying for the 1975 Monaco Grand Prix, while team boss Lord Alexander Hesketh watches on (picture-above). The Brit qualified in eleventh, drove a strong race, but lost a lot of time in the pits due to a slow pit stop when he decided to change to slick tyres, and finally retired on lap 66 when he tangled with Patrick Depailler’s Tyrrell at Mirabeau. Accident that left him unharmed but fuming.

Niki Lauda led the race from pole position in his Ferrari 312T, but in the closing stages, his oil pressure was fading and Fittipaldi (McLaren) was closing. With three laps left, the gap was down to 2.75 seconds, but the Austrian held on, giving Ferrari their first Monaco Grand Prix win in 20 years. Although always fast in the Principality, James Hunt was never going to win the Monaco Grand Prix.