James Hunt: The man, the myths, the legends - and our favourite tales

* To quote a 2010 Daily Mail headline: 'Turbo charged by lust: How Formula One womaniser James Hunt slept with 33 BA stewardesses before race that made him world champ'.

The small print was just as eye-catching.

Legend has it that the hotel Hunt hunkered down in ahead of the 1976 title-deciding Japanese GP also served as a stop-off point for BA staff. 

James Hunt remembered: Watch Sky F1's unique three features

"Every morning there was a fresh supply of females," team manager Alastair Caldwell reported. James would bounce up to them in his shorts and bare feet, say, 'Hello, I'm James Hunt,' and take them straight upstairs for a party. This happened every day for a fortnight."

For much of his career, Hunt had 'Sex, Breakfast of Champions" embroidered on his racing overalls.  He later updated the motif with the message 'Sex is a performance thing.'

* Due to his robust driving style, Hunt was nicknamed 'Hunt The Shunt' after his F3 stint. However, FIA president Max Mosley later declared: "He didn't actually shunt more than anyone else; it just happened to rhyme".

* As a matter of routine, Hunt would throw up before a race - partly because of nerves and partly, it was said, due to the effect of the previous night's frivolities.

* Hunt drank two bottles of rosé during his debut as a co-commentator on the BBC and spent the race with his leg, in plaster after a skiing accident, on Murray Walker's lap.

* "All l can say to that is bulls***," Hunt memorably concluded midway through the 1980 Monaco GP when Murray Walker reported that driver René Arnoux had attributed his lack of form to a change of engine type.

"Well, anyway…" continued Murray.

Television commentary has never felt quite the same since.

* Even apparent setbacks failed to shake Hunt's insouciance.

When his supermodel wife Suzy Miller left him to marry Richard Burton, Hunt assured the actor: "You've done me a wonderful turn by taking on the most alarming expense account in the country."

Burton had left Elizabeth Taylor for Miller and reputedly paid Hunt $1m during the divorce settlement.

* When Hunt joined McLaren in 1976, he refused to sign a clause in his contract stipulating he wore a suit and tie to sponsor functions. Instead, Hunt often appeared barefoot in only a T-shirt and jeans.

When Hunt opened a nightclub after his motor-racing career, he named it Oscar's after his German Shepherd.

The dog was also given membership of Hunt's golf club so it could accompany him on rounds.

* The party continued even after Hunt's death from a heart attack at the age of 45. A sum of £5,000 had been set aside in his will so that his friends and family could give him a suitable send-up. Attendees were summoned with invitation stating: 'It is James' wish that you get p***ed.' Cheers.