F1 legend James Hunt's racing driver son's six close family deaths force rethink

To say the Hunt family has a legacy of poor health is no exaggeration. Formula 1 legend James Hunt died at 45 from a heart attack, when his son Freddie was just five.

Freddie’s paternal uncle also died of a heart attack around 55, as did his maternal grandfather, at 65. Meanwhile, Freddie’s mother, Sarah Lomax, also died tragically young with breast cancer aged 57, and another two of his uncles on his father’s side also died of cancer.

So it’s perhaps not surprising with his family history of truncated lives that Freddie, 35, now a racing driver like his father, had begun to wonder if he inherited more than just a passion for speed. Freddie admits that when he was younger he didn’t really think much about his health but the death of his mum in 2014 really hit him.

“I was 27 when my mum died,” says Freddie. “I wasn’t in a very good place at the time. It really knocked me for six. The worst part is I didn’t realise she was going to die until a few weeks before she did. I thought she was going to beat it. Unbeknownst to me it was always terminal, but I didn’t get the memo.”

However, it’s only recently that Freddie has seriously started thinking about his own mortality, especially since he started a serious relationship with fellow racing driver Aimee Watts whom he met in October 2021.

“I’ve had so much loss in my life the idea of having any more really churns my guts,” says Freddie, who lives on the Isle of Bute in Scotland. “The idea of losing my fiancee Aimee, or any of my loved ones losing me is awful. I wouldn’t want anyone to go through that.

“The loss of a loved one is ghastly. It takes a small chunk out of me every time it happens. And it’s happened a few times. “It leaves me with a very empty feeling, and I don’t want it to happen any more. “I do what I can to live to a ripe old age. I would very much like to have children and I don’t want to die on them when they’re five years old.”

It was Aimee’s idea that Freddie “should go in for an MoT, as it were”, which was wise, he says. “To be honest I didn’t even know you could genetically test for cancer or heart issues. Aimee and her mum were saying I should look into it and then I learned about the Goodbody Clinic that did private tests and it all came together.”

The DNA testing, says Freddie, was unbelievably simple, It required him to take saliva swabs himself at home to identify whether he was at an increased risk of developing eight different types of cancer – including checks on BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes – and four different cardiac diseases.

“It took around six weeks for my results to come back,” he says. “And thankfully they show I don’t have a predisposition to any cancer or cardiac issues.” The results of his genetic tests have made Freddie a little bit more relaxed around his health.

But despite knowing that his genes don’t have any nasty surprises in store for him, he is keen to look after his health as much as he can. With a clean bill of health in front of him, Freddie has started 2023 focusing on his goal of winning the European Le Mans series later this year.

As well as regular cardio and weights sessions to keep his upper and lower body strong for his motor racing career, Freddie monitors what he eats carefully too. “I can feel that my body isn’t what it used to be,” he says. “I’m definitely taking more care now.”

Freddie took the Hereditary Cancer and Cardiac Disease DNA test from the Goodbody Clinic ( health.goodbodyclinic.com ). Prices from £599.