James Hunt was a larger-than-life character endowed with an undeniable charisma, but of course his greatest triumph was winning the 1976 Drivers’ Championship by a single point over his dear friend and rival Niki Lauda, which happened 50 years ago today.

For the latest instalment of F1 Icons, his son Freddie – who, like his father, found an immense love for motorsport – looks back on that remarkable season and the legacy Hunt built…

Unfortunately, in 1976 they didn't have the footage like they do now. Imagine if they had modern technology in those days – it would've been a joy to watch. I've seen as much as I can, and I've read an awful lot about it.

That year would be considered an incredible season in any sport, just the drama of it. Dad was a complete underdog there, in that no one knew how quick he was because he had never had a team mate in Formula 1 before.

To jump in the McLaren and get pole position in the first race in Brazil… I don't think Jochen Mass liked it very much because he thought he ought to be the number one driver. And of course, Niki qualified alongside him, which really summed up that whole year.

All the ups and downs of it and Dad's relationship with Niki came together to make it an unforgettable season. Most of the drivers got on very well because you had to respect one another on the track in those days, otherwise you’d end up killing your mate or getting yourself killed.

But it was wonderful and exciting – I can't imagine how incredible it would have been for the motorsport enthusiasts.

I've tried to put myself in their shoes, like I was seeing it from a spectator's point of view. As an enthusiast, it would've been the most brilliant, gripping season of all.

I think it was also one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the sport in terms of points – I searched it and he was 17 points behind Niki with three races left, so that alone made it one of the most dramatic, for sure.

But it’s the last race in Fuji that sticks out to me, particularly because it seemed like Dad didn't know where he was. He had to change tyres when not everyone else did, and I actually think he messed that race up!

He made a mistake by not cooling his tyres, but I don't know, maybe the other guys were all on a harder compound. You do see them driving through the puddles to cool them down, and Dad didn't do that. I reckon it was just too much adrenaline and focus, I guess, but who knows?

Other than that, the US and the Canadian Grands Prix stand out to me too. The pressure was off at that point and he wasn't thinking about the championship because he had just lost the points from the British Grand Prix.

Therefore, I think he just sort of threw caution to the wind, and that was it. He enjoyed the racing, won both the races and created a possibility to win the championship.

I think he drove very well in the second half of the season. He did in the first half too, but in the second he got his confidence, he got his rhythm, and his consistency improved, no doubt. He really stepped up to the mark when it mattered.

There’s no other way to describe his rivalry with Niki than as a great, exciting one. It's horrible when two rivals don't like each other, when they're at each other's throats. That's sad to see.

Dad and Niki were very good friends. When they were close to one another on the circuit… I'm not going to begin to speculate what was going through their minds at the time, but I imagine it was very difficult, and different to what’s going through two drivers' minds nowadays.

I didn’t know Niki particularly well. I only spoke to him a few times, mostly on camera actually, but there is a great story about their friendship. Before they reached F1, Dad got arrested and Niki went to bail him out.

This was in Germany or Austria, so Niki spoke the language, and I think this was when they raced in F3. He told the police: “No, no, you can’t arrest him. He can't spend the night – he's racing against me in the morning. You've got to let him out!”

I don't know how I’d sum up his legacy. He's fondly remembered, he is. I’m incredibly proud and I can't think of what other adjectives really – it’s just pride. I’m impressed by what he could do, and I have a tremendous amount of respect not just for him, but for all of those drivers in those days because it was absolutely lethal.

All I can say is he was kind, he was considerate, and he was respectful. Several people have told me that one of his lovely characteristics was that he could be at a dinner table with the Queen on one side and the binman on the other, and he wouldn't talk to them any differently.

When he was excited he could be volatile, as I'm sure you've seen from footage of him getting out of the car. On the other hand, he could be excited in a social environment and become terribly mischievous.

Someone once said they were waiting for a bus, the bus never came, and I think there were three of them. They had no alcohol, no nothing, pouring down with rain. They were sheltering in this bus stop, waiting for the bus which never came, but somehow Dad made it fun.