James Hunt may have had the glamour and good looks but it was Niki Lauda’s
tale that punched hardest in BBC Two’s fine documentary about the great
Formula 1 rivals, Hunt vs Lauda. As his Ferrari manager, Daniele
Audetto, recalled how the Austrian driver returned to racing just five weeks
after his horrendous crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix had melted large
amounts of the skin off his face as well as most of an ear, it was hard to
feel anything but admiration for the man colloquially known as the Rat
because of his rodent-like features. As Lauda prepared for his comeback race
Audetto spoke of how, when Lauda removed his balaclava, “his face was a mask
of blood – my God, how can he race?”
