James Hunt

He may have only led the World Championship for one race but that was enough for James Hunt to deliver the 1976 Formula 1 title. Charismatic, good looking and engaging – this gregarious but at times volatile Englishman was the darling of the British press who generated column inches on the front pages as well as the back. His epic battle with Niki Lauda is now the stuff of Hollywood – the 2013 movie Rush taking Hunt’s fame to a whole new audience, two decades after his premature demise.