John Colum Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute (born 26 April 1958), styled Earl of Dumfries before 1993, is a Scottish peer and a former racing driver, most notably winning the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans. He does not use his title and prefers to be known solely as John Bute, although he has also been called Johnny Dumfries. The family home is Mount Stuart House on the Isle of Bute. He attended Ampleforth College, as had his father and most male members of the Crichton-Stuart family, but did not finish the normal five years of study.

Racing career

Born in Rothesay, Argyll and Bute, into one of Scotland's oldest aristocratic families and the descendant of a British Prime Minister, Johnny Dumfries/John Bute was heir to a large fortune. He turned his back on an expensive education at Ampleforth College and set about pursuing a career in motor racing.In 1984 Dumfries was the sensation of the F3 season, scoring 14 race victories on his way to winning, and completely dominating, the British Formula 3 Championship for Team BP (Dave Price Racing). He also finished runner-up to Ivan Capelli in the European Formula Three Championship that year. In 1985, he graduated to the newly created FIA International Formula 3000 Championship, initially competing for Onyx Race Engineering before switching to Lola Motorsport. It was a disappointing season, with a sixth-place finish in Vallelunga being the highlight of the year.In 1986 he made his breakthrough into F1, and raced a single season for the JPS Team Lotus. He was a late addition to the team, apparently as a result of Ayrton Senna not wanting Derek Warwick as a teammate.