Oil magnate Walter Wolf started the 1979 season with a major change within his team: the arrival of former World Champion James Hunt, whose charisma perfectly suited the “Canadian” team owner. However, with Jody Scheckter moving to Ferrari and the English driver joining Wolf, a serious problem arose for engineer Harvey Postlethwaite, who had already worked with Hunt at Hesketh. The issue was Hunt’s height, as he literally could not fit into the chassis originally designed for Scheckter. As a result, the new Wolf WR7 had to be hastily modified ahead of the season-opening Argentine Grand Prix in January.
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| WOLF WR7, James Hunt Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1979 |
Unfortunately, Postlethwaite’s new car, featuring an aluminum monocoque chassis, a Ford Cosworth DFV V8 2993cc engine, and a Hewland FGA 400 five-speed gearbox, was aerodynamically in line with the times but proved to be a failure. It combined poor competitiveness with frustrating fragility. The WR7 had a wheelbase of 2667 mm and a low weight of 585 kg, but its mediocre performance and poor results led James Hunt to announce his retirement midway through the season.
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| WOLF WR7, James Hunt Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1979 |
His seat was taken by Finnish driver Keke Rosberg, but even with the updated WR9, which had slight aerodynamic modifications to enhance ground effect, the situation did not improve. Some records even mention a fourth car, designated WR7/8, which was actually just the WR9 rebuilt using the WR8 chassis after Rosberg's heavy crash in Canada, where the car was completely destroyed.
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| WOLF WR7, Keke Rosberg Zandvoort, Dutch GP 1979 |
After a disappointing season with thirteen retirements and only two race finishes, Wolf decided that his time in the expensive world of Formula 1 was over. He shut down the team and sold all its assets to Fittipaldi Automotive, with the WR8 and WR9 chassis becoming the Fittipaldi F7 for the 1980 season. Walter Wolf Racing was a classic "shooting star" in the colorful world of Formula 1 during the late 1970s and early 1980s, a short but prestigious chapter in the sport.
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| WOLF WR7, Keke Rosberg Zandvoort, Dutch GP 1979 |
In its three years of racing, the Canadian team had another unique feature: it only fielded World Champions. Jody Scheckter, James Hunt, and Keke Rosberg were the three drivers who raced for Wolf. However, there was also a fourth driver, Bobby Rahal, who drove the old WR1 chassis in the two North American races in 1978. While Rahal never became a Formula 1 World Champion, he was a three-time CART champion and the winner of the 1986 Indianapolis 500. In short, at Wolf, only champions were allowed.
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