Hesketh

Hesketh Racing was the joyful aristocratic adventure of Lord Alexander Hesketh, who ran a Formula 1 team in the early 1970s with a famously relaxed, champagne-soaked style that masked a serious competitive streak.

Eschewing sponsorship and running in patriotic red, white and blue, Hesketh gave James Hunt his big break. The partnership reached its peak when Hunt won the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix in the Hesketh 308, a genuine victory for a privateer team funded largely by his Lordship's own fortune.

The cost of racing without sponsors proved unsustainable, and Hesketh wound down its works effort after 1975, but not before announcing both Hunt and the team as serious players.

Hesketh combined high-society flamboyance with genuine racing achievement, proving that a team could win a Grand Prix on style, money and the talent of a future champion. Its brief, glamorous run, and the launch of James Hunt, make it one of the most charismatic stories in Formula 1 history.