Movies And Shows To Scratch Your Motorsport Itch

For better or for worse, the world is -- by and large -- starting to come out of lockdown. This includes motorsport too as we countdown to the start of the F1 and MotoGP seasons. Meanwhile, here are some motorsport movies and TV shows to watch when you have some free time to get your racing juices really pumping. 

Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2019 - )

This one is clearly a no-brainer. With less than a month for the 2020 F1 world championship, what better way to get a deep dive into motorsport’s biggest travelling circus? Owing to Mercedes and Ferrari’s refusal to allow Netflix’s camera crews access for the 2018 season, fans got to see the trials and tribulations of Red Bull Racing and the midfield teams like never before. And Haas F1 Team principal Geunther Steiner became an overnight star on account of his foul-mouthed but passionate tirades. Season two was released earlier this year to allow fans to recap the 2019 season, and this time champions Mercedes and Ferrari had joined the party too. A must watch for any F1 fan, but the series also pulls in those who don’t even follow motorsport. 

From Cervera to Tokyo (2016)

The biggest asset to a racing series is its participants. And while no rider pulls in as large a following as Valentino Rossi, the successor to his throne as king of MotoGP definitely comes in second. From Cervera to Tokyo goes deep into Marc Marquez and Repsol Honda’s successful effort to win the MotoGP premier class crown.

It was a season-long battle with Rossi and Yamaha, which was made even more significant by 2016 having a more level playing field than before. Control tyres from Michelin, standard electronics, and performance concessions to non-winning teams brought the field closer than before. Marquez and Honda overcame a difficult pre-season testing program and early season troubles, which led to the Spaniard winning his third premier class title. Fast forward to the present day and he has won three more. Seeing a breakdown of the season when he beat Rossi in a straight fight adds context to his current domination of MotoGP.

WRC Unfiltered (2019) 

The holy trinity of global motorsport is incomplete without the FIA World Rally Championship. WRC Unfiltered takes fans behind the scenes of a motorsport series like no other. The WRC puts cars and drivers in a top-speed dash across a variety of surfaces and roads where you wouldn’t dare go fast on a bicycle, let alone a state-of-the-art, 400+ bhp rally car.

Four episodes cover the challenges of four different rounds of the 2019 WRC season. A deep dive into this extraordinary motorsport series is a must see. 

Grand Prix (1966)

The release date of this movie will make you wonder what it is doing on this list. But no list of motorsport movies should omit this all-time classic. A labour of love by American director John Frankenheimer, Grand Prix is a fictional account of the 1966 Formula 1 World Championship. Some of the biggest stars of Hollywood and European cinema were in the cast list and a major studio (MGM) released it to both commercial and critical acclaim. The film made almost 21 million dollars in North America alone when it was released. 

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And that was 1966, adjusted for inflation that comes to 162 million dollars in today’s money. It also won three Oscars at the 1967 Academy Awards for best sound effects, best film editing and best sound. What made the film even more impressive was that the actors drove the cars themselves at iconic grand prix venues like Monaco, Zandvoort, Brands Hatch and Monza. Coupled with actual race footage from the 1966 season -- you will spot many actual F1 champions in the movie -- the film is a three-hour thrill ride. It will hook you in from the opening credits and keep you captive right till the end. 

In my humble opinion it is still, by far and away, the best motorsport movie or documentary made to this day and that includes a classic like Le Mans (1971) and recent releases like Senna (2010), Rush (2013), and Ford v Ferrari (2019). 

Unlike the recent films, Grand Prix is contemporary for its time rather than anachronistic. It pulls you into the world of Formula 1 Grand Prix racing and serves to inform and entertain in equal measure. Not too dissimilar to Formula 1: Drive to Survive. And it achieves this feat in an era before CGI. 

Raw escapism at its very finest.