#alexander hesketh

[dailyjameshunt]

James Hunt with Alexander Hesketh. Date, location and photographer unknown, 1974 or 1975

[1337wtfomgbbq]

Ok im sorry for bothering but look at this pants and tie combo james is sporting here- absolute style (and Lord Hesketh is here!)

Okay, 1) don't be "sorry for bothering" cause you are not bothering sweety🤗

And 2) is it bad that my first thought seeing this was "Willy Wonker??"

[tflnrush]

[dailyjameshunt]

James Hunt and Ronnie Peterson

In honour of the birthday of James's close friend Ronnie Peterson, here's a round up of some favourite photos of them together. RIP Ronnie and James.

Three future legends: James Hunt with Ronnie Peterson and Niki Lauda at the winners' parade of a British F2 race in Cheshire, September 1972. Photographer unknown, photo from LAT Images

Ronnie Peterson, James Hunt and Alexander Hesketh at the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, 7th October 1973, photo by David Phipps

Ronnie and James at a charity cricket match the day after the 1974 British Grand Prix. Photo by David Phipps

Ronnie and his wife Barbro Edwardsson Peterson at James's wedding to Suzy Miller, 18 October 1974. Photographer unknown, image from Hulton Archive

James plays backgammon with Ronnie and Barbro at the South African Grand Prix, 1 March 1975. Photo by David Phipps

James and Ronnie with Niki Lauda at the title-deciding Japanese Grand Prix in 1976. Left hand photo by Bernard Cahier, right hand photographer not known.

James checking out Ronnie's rear end at the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend in 1977. Photo by David Phipps

James and Ronnie with Mario Andretti at Ronnie's home race, the Swedish Grand Prix, in June 1978. Photo by David Phipps

James and Ronnie with Mario Andretti at the Austrian Grand Prix in August 1978. Less than a month later, Ronnie died racing at Monza; James assisted his friend at the scene. Photo by David Phipps

[dailyjameshunt]

James Hunt with Alexander Hesketh and Colin Chapman, at the US Grand Prix in October 1973. Photographer unknown, photo by LAT Images

[dailyjameshunt]

James Hunt laughing with Alexander Hesketh at the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, 27 April 1975. Photo by Ercole Colombo

[dailyjameshunt]

James Hunt with Alexander Hesketh, date, location and photographer unknown. Likely 1975.

[dailyjameshunt]

Deep Dive Sunday: James Hunt's First Wedding

(This is my third attempt to write this post because TUMBLR KEEPS EATING IT)

On the 18th October 1974, James Hunt married Suzy Miller at Brompton Oratory in London. They were both absolutely gorgeous.

F1 Driver Marries Model isn't exactly news but James's first wedding did make the TV news - at the time, James was a leading British driver who had finished 8th in the championship in 1974, 12 days earlier. This clip features some period-typical misogyny, showing "Ronnie Peterson and wife... Mr and Mrs Graham Hill... Dennis Hulme and wife," arriving at the church.

The marriage itself only lasted fourteen months, and the story of how it unfolded and ended is (and will be) a whole other post. But the wedding day involves lots of lore...

Firstly, the proposal. I find this proposal story quite sweetly low-key. James and Suzy had been seeing each other quite casually, and he phoned her after being away for a few days. She said she'd been on a date and James asked why, since he hadn't been away for long. Suzy said the guy in question was very nice and had asked her to marry him. "You can't do that," James said. "I want to marry you."

Unfortunately James felt, almost immediately, that he'd made a mistake. The following day, he said to a friend "I may have done something silly." At his engagement party, James confided in his teenage sweetheart Ping that he had doubts. She advised him to come clean and be himself, but he didn't.

Not much is publicly known about Suzy Miller, apart from the men in her life (🙄). She was raised in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, by British parents, and became a model. Everyone in F1 who spoke about her seemed to like her, and James's mother called her "a super girl."

The wedding was paid for by James's friend and team manager, Lord Alexander Hesketh, who also served as his best man (and the wedding car had a Hesketh teddy bear on the front grille). It's been suggested that the whole marriage was Lord Hesketh's idea, but Hesketh denies this.

(Remember this photo, we'll be coming back to it later)

On the wedding day itself, James was extremely drunk. In his own words, from his friend Gerald Donaldson's biography,

The closer his wedding day came, the colder James's feet became. "Absolutely legless" was how he described the condition in which he walked down the aisle, because he could not face up to the mistake he was now convinced he was making. He wanted desperately "to cut and run and get out of the whole dreadful situation but was too chicken to do it. I just couldn't handle the whole scene so I went out and got blind, roaring drunk. For four days I went on the most stupendous bender of my life."

The only known photo of James's stag night, ft. Graham Hill, at Trader Vic's tiki bar, Park Lane, London. It may be for the best that no other photos survive.

After their wedding, Suzy and James went on honeymoon... but James brought Bubbles Horsley and Bubbles's new wife along. The marriage ended fourteen months later. Even James's mother blamed him for it, saying "I'm bound to say I love James dearly, but I'd hate to have him for a husband." James never said a bad word about Suzy publicly, barring one joke around the time of their divorce.

James's friends from his teenage years have said that he was raised in a middle class household with traditional values, and that his struggles often arose from the conflict between this background, his addictions, and his life as a driver. I think this comes through in the story of his first wedding - a more casual playboy would have broken the engagement, returned Alexander's deposits, and probably stayed on good terms with everyone. But James considered his proposal a big commitment he couldn't back away from, and he let this dictate his actions.

Brompton Oratory is a very beautiful church in London, close to lots of big museums. If you're in the area, it's worth looking inside if your tastes run to pretty churches. When I was there last, I lit a candle for James, and for Suzy (wherever she may be - I hope she's happy), and for anyone who has said, or heard, the words "I do" in the presence of doubts.

Final note - Lord Hesketh is still alive and has exactly the kind of Instagram account you'd expect. He posted that photo of he and James together in 2022, with the caption below:

He added his usual roster of hashtags - racing nicknames, everyone's names, nostalgia - but he added a few more.

#friends

#memories

#justmarried

#loveislove