John Colum Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute (26 April 1958 – 22 March 2021),[1] was a Scottish peer and racing driver, best known for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1988.

[2][3] 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.

[2] Heir to a large fortune, the young Dumfries was educated at Ampleforth College, which he left at the age of sixteen and set about pursuing a career in motor racing.

In 1985, he graduated to the newly created FIA International Formula 3000 Championship, initially competing for Onyx Race Engineering before switching to Lola Motorsport.

[9] Bute also participated in the 1-hour endurance race in the 1988 British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park with fellow ex-F1 Briton Guy Edwards for Andy Rouse's Kaliber Racing team in Ford Sierra RS500, finishing third overall and in Class A. Bute ranked 616th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2008, with an estimated wealth of £125m.

He lived with his family in London and at his ancestral seat, Mount Stuart House, 5 miles (8 km) south of Rothesay on the Isle of Bute.