Walter Wolf Racing had enjoyed a strong debut in 1977, with Jody Scheckter winning three races and finishing second in the Drivers' Championship. By 1978 the team retained Scheckter but results became harder to come by. When Scheckter departed for Ferrari at the end of that season — a move that would deliver him the 1979 World Championship — the team needed to rebuild around a new lead driver.
Harvey Postlethwaite, who had earlier designed the Hesketh 308 that gave James Hunt his first Formula One victory, was responsible for the Wolf WR7's design. The car followed the conventional layout of the era, built around the reliable Ford Cosworth DFV engine and intended to be a competitive mid-field contender.
James Hunt, the 1976 World Champion, was recruited to replace Scheckter. However, the transition immediately ran into difficulties: Hunt's frame did not fit the existing Wolf WR5/6 chassis, requiring engineers to construct the new WR7 at short notice before the season-opening Argentine Grand Prix. The rushed preparation showed in the car's performance — unreliable and uncompetitive throughout, the WR7 and WR8 rewarded Hunt with only a single race finish across his six starts.
Motor Sport magazine had warned at the season's outset that Hunt was a driver who would "quickly lose interest" without a competitive car, and that prediction proved accurate. After the Monaco Grand Prix, Hunt walked away from the team entirely, joining BBC Sport as a television commentator. It was a stunning exit that effectively ended his racing career.
Keke Rosberg was brought in to complete the season. He fared little better in terms of results, managing only one race finish himself. At the Canadian Grand Prix, Rosberg crashed WR9 heavily during qualifying, forcing the team to construct a hybrid chassis using WR8's monocoque; this rebuilt car was designated WR8/9 and raced at the United States Grand Prix to close out the year.
The 1979 season proved to be Walter Wolf's last in Formula One. Disillusioned by the lack of competitiveness, Wolf sold the assets of his operation to the Fittipaldi brothers — Wilson and Emerson — who were running their own Fittipaldi Automotive team. The WR7-series chassis were repurposed as Fittipaldi F7s and used in the early rounds of the 1980 Formula One season, driven by Emerson Fittipaldi and Keke Rosberg, giving the cars a brief second life under a different banner.
The Wolf WR7 is remembered less for its on-track achievements than for the drama surrounding it. The departure of James Hunt mid-season remains one of the more striking exits in Formula One history — a champion walking away not due to injury or contractual dispute, but out of frustration with an uncompetitive package. The car also represents the end of a small but romantically appealing team that had briefly punched above its weight. Harvey Postlethwaite went on to design cars for Ferrari and Tyrrell, while both Keke Rosberg and Emerson Fittipaldi continued racing well into the 1980s.