MovieChat Forums > Senna (2011) Discussion > James Hunt the prophet (Suzuka 1989)

James Hunt the prophet (Suzuka 1989)

posted 13 years ago by xav1991
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Last night I watched the entire 1989 Japanese Grand Prix... and I was astonished by how prophetic James Hunt was during the race ! About 10 laps before the Prost/Senna crash, Hunt said that 'if Senna tries to overtake, he (Prost) will take him off' ! Murray Walker then tried to calm Hunt down by saying it wouldn't come to that. And just after the crash, before Senna even restarted the car and before he cut the chicane, Hunt said that Senna would be disqualified, while Murray told him it wouldn't come to that !!

[–] Conquerer13 13 years ago

Well, the disqualification they both talked about was misguided even though they were correct, for the wrong reasons. They mentioned he'd be disqualified for the jump start from the stewards, however the DQ came from cutting through the chicane by using the escape road. Jump starts from stewards were illegal that year except if a car was in a dangerous position, as Senna's car was in at the middle of a chicane.

But as for the first point, yes, Hunt was a World Champion and knew very well what was going through both of the drivers' minds more than someone like Walker would have. Plus Hunt just had that rougher, battle-hardened mentality in him, and even during that same race he seemed to believe Prost was right for taking out Senna because he could win the championship that way, and that it was Senna's fault cause he should have known he would do that.