The Ron Howard-directed Rush came out in 2013, which was right around the time I became a fan of Formula 1. That was the last time I saw the movie, which was based on a true story, starring Chris Hemsworth (just as he was about to become a franchise movie superstar) as James Hunt and Daniel Brühl as Niki Lauda. I had been seriously following the sport for about a year, and when the movie was released, I went on opening weekend. I was so excited. I loved it.
Formula 1 has found a new level of popularity in the United States in recent years. Netflix’s Drive To Survive is wildly popular, and Brad Pitt has a movie about F1 (called, simply, F1) coming out next month. The biggest race of the F1 calendar will be happening in the South of France on May 25. The Monaco Grand Prix, a legendary race known all over the world, is set to kick off on Sunday, and you can watch it with a Disney Plus/Hulu/ESPN Plus Bundle subscription.
In preparation for the Monaco GP, I sat down to watch Rush again, and while I still think the movie has some amazing moments and some fantastic performances, I was frustrated at the end. Today, I know a whole lot more about F1, both the history of the motor sport and how races are won and lost. Rush has some great racing sequences, but it gets much of the history wrong, and even some aspects of the races are wildly inaccurate. Let’s get into it.
The Rivalry Between Hunt And Lauda Was Intense, But Not Nearly So Tense
James Hunt and Niki Lauda were two of the top racers on the circuit in the mid-’70s. For three years, between the 1975 and 1977 seasons, they built an intense rivalry. Lauda won the championship in ‘75 and ‘77, and Hunt won in 1976. The movie is mostly about Hunt's winning year, in part because Lauda suffered a horrific crash at the Nürburgring towards the end of the season.
I won’t recap the story of the ‘76 championship, as the movie does a decent job of explaining the nuts and bolts of it. What I did get annoyed with was how Hunt and Lauda’s rivalry and relationship were pretty distorted throughout the movie. It’s true that they had a rivalry with each other, but it was much friendlier than the movie portrays. Hunt’s son even remembers the two being roommates early in their careers.
In the film, the two characters have a serious disdain for each other, something that just wasn’t true in real life, by any account. Sure, they might have talked a lot of trash to each other, and the two of them definitely fought hard on the track to beat one another, but they respected each other and their driving skills. That is something completely lost in the movie. They just hate each other for most of it, but seemingly begrudgingly accept each other’s place in F1.
That Wasn’t The Only History That Was Stretched, Either
It's not unique for movies to be historically inaccurate, but Rush is especially frustrating. In the movie, after Lauda holds his first press conference post-accident, a reporter asks him how he expects his marriage to survive after his disfigurement. Hunt takes exception to the question (understandably) and beats up the reporter after the presser. There is no evidence that this ever happened. It’s a fabricated story, likely included to show that despite their disdain, Hunt respected Lauda. There would be no need for such a scene had the truth about their friendship been present in the movie.
This goes for the final scene in the movie, too, when Lauda and Hunt meet at an airport and talk through their apparent differences, finally shaking hands in a sort of peace between the two. Again, there would be no need for this kind of silliness if their relationship had been portrayed accurately. Sure, it makes for a great resolution to the movie, but it was a meeting that never occurred and wouldn’t have gone down that way if it had.
The Racing Scenes Were Off, Too
Before I get too into this, I will say that many of the racing scenes are fantastic. The sequences are what make this a good movie. However, some of the ways the racing is depicted just aren’t all that reflective of what real F1 looks like. Unlike NASCAR, where “rubbin’ is racin’,” in F1, the drivers do everything they can to avoid contact with anything, especially their fellow drivers.
There are a few scenes that appear to show Hunt and Lauda bumping tires with each other, and while I suppose it could have happened, there’s no way it happened as often or as hard as it did. F1 cars are powerful but delicate machines. They aren’t stock cars like in NASCAR, that can handle some abuse; tiny bits of damage to any part of the car can greatly affect their performance. Not to mention that the cars are light, and even a slight bump can send them flying out of control. To avoid all of this, drivers are careful not to hit each other, lest both be in danger of crashing.
I Still Like The Movie, Just A Little Less
I think, in the end, if this had been a fictional story, instead of being “based on a true story,” I would have enjoyed Rush much more. It’s a great movie, with a lot of fantastic moments, both on and off the track. The acting, especially from Hemsworth and Brühl, is fantastic. The action scenes are exciting and leave you on the edge of your seat. It’s a great looking movie. It’s slick, fast-paced, and full of glamor, which are all reflective of F1.
It isn’t a true story, though, not in the strictest sense, and now that I’ve been a fan of the racing league for a long time, and I know much more about its history, the movie leaves me frustrated for not being a better-told story. James Hunt and Niki Lauda are legends in F1, and their real-life friendship was inspiring, so why mess around with that? At least I have F1 to look forward to on the 2025 movie schedule, and that is a fictional story.
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