The former Formula One driver Chris Amon has died at the age of 73 after battling cancer. The New Zealander spent 13 years in F1 across the 1960s and 70s, earning a reputation as one of the unluckiest drivers in the sport. He died in Rotorua Hospital in New Zealand.

Amon was part of a well-known trio of New Zealand drivers competing in F1 in the 1960s and early 70s alongside Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme, who both enjoyed more successful careers in the sport’s premier series.

• Like McLaren, with whom he won the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race in a Ford GT40 50 years ago, he founded his own team but Chris Amon Racing failed to achieve much success. Amon finished on the podium 11 times, also driving for Ferrari, March and Matra among 13 teams in a career that spanned 14 seasons.

• Bad luck was often cited as the key reason for his lack of success, with former world champion Mario Andretti once famously saying: “If he became an undertaker, people would stop dying.”

• He worked as a consultant for Toyota after his retirement and was awarded an MBE for services to motorsport in 1993.