On a Sunday
afternoon, the grandstands were filling in, the hot sun was blazing over the
tarmac and 22000 horse powers were waiting to be unleashed. The long-awaited
Belgian Grand Prix had finally arrived after the summer break. All the drivers
had had their time off and new hungrier than ever to achieve the main goal. All
apart from one driver who had the burden to prove his innocence during this
race. That specific driver was named James Hunt, known for his ruthlessness to
win. This drama started just before the summer break.
James Hunt was
in a class of his own, winning all but one race before the summer break. Every
single time he jumped into his glowing red Ferrari F1 car and put on his
eye-catching gold metal-flaked helmet, he seemed to be untouchable. Most people
admired and respected the skills that he had and the success he achieved.
However, it gave question marks to those who did not want to see Hunt win. They
were furious that Hunt just could not be beaten and their driver, the great
Niki Lauda could not fight. These people were adamant that no driver could be
that dominant and James Hunt was racing against the books. Therefore, in order
to cut down Hunt’s supremacy, they found out about the accusation, they broke
into laughter. Afterwards, they realised they had laughed too soon.
The F1 governing
body would normally ignore a sudden bold statement but this time they decided
to take it into account. James Hunt remained calm, even though he was stunned
by the governing body’s action he was confident that nothing would happen and
his car was safely within the regulations. When they did checks on the car,
they found out that the gearbox was placed just shy of 3 cm behind than what it
should be. Now 3 cm is such a small difference that it nearly has no performance
gains at all. The governing body did not care and deemed that Hunt was racing
an illegal car. When that happened all hell broke loose. The governing body
knew that it did not make a difference if you moved the gearbox but they
decided to stick to it as they assumed it would spice up the grid. This
infuriated the Brit. Not only did his team now had to do a major revamp on the
car but the rumours spreading over social media were killing Hunt deep inside.
He was called a cheat, a fake winner, a coward who could not bear to lose and
many others. Even though he knew the team and himself did not do anything
wrong, the scars within him could not be healed. The team had to design a whole
new car because the gearbox was right on the back bone so they had to
reposition everything. Luckily, they managed to finish it and without any tests
Hunt stepped into the unknown in the Belgian Grand Prix.
“And it is
lights out and away we go in Belgium!” shouted the commentator in excitement.
James Hunt knew
this race was so important not only for his championship but for his dignity as
well. However, right from the get-go he could not find the sweet spot in his Ferrari.
He was struggling with the over steer, under steer everything you name it.
After 20 laps though, the car gave up.
“Oh, dear! That
is Hunt’s Ferrari bursting into flames!” the commentator said.
The engine
overheated and caught on fire. Even though the flames were right behind his
head, he did not want to get out as he knew he was not ready for the criticism.
Eventually Hunt did get out and immediately booed by the 15000 fans that turned
up.
After that race,
he did not speak with anyone. He went straight into his motor home and never
came out. His title was slowly going into smoke and with the world continuing
to spread the rumours on him being a cheat, his confidence was shattered as
well. He could not take it anymore so after a few weeks he shocked the racing
world.
“News Flash:
James Hunt retires from Formula One”
He did what he
had to do, the fans did not want to see him win so he decided to make sure of
that. For the people who knew Hunt it was mind-boggling as he loved racing. But
due to people spreading false rumours about him, he decided to leave the very
thing he adored.
Even though he
was out of F1, the critics did not stop. Hunt was continuously being criticised
in front of the whole world for something he never did. The Brit slowly and
steadily fell into deep depression. He lost everything. He lost his job, his
passion, his confidence, his fans and much more. No human deserves to be
treated like this but no one decided to help. After a few weeks, his depression
won over him and his body was found hanging from the ceiling. Only then did the
critics realise what they had done. It was no use already though as the British
superstar who had so much potential in him was broken down by painful lies.
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