1976 Formula - 1

James Hunt stayed out. On slick tyres. In a typhoon. He drove like a demon possessed, sliding and spinning, surviving a collision, clawing his way up the order. He only needed third place to win the title. He finished third. James Hunt won the 1976 World Championship by one point. He partied for a month. But history has been kinder to the man who lost.

Today, you can watch it all in the brilliant film Rush (2013). But remember: the movie had to tone it down. Reality was wilder. 1976 formula 1

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On a soaking wet, grey morning, Lauda—who had famously called the track "dangerous" and tried to get the race cancelled—relented to pressure from Hunt and the organizers. On the second lap, approaching the fast left-hand bend at Bergwerk, Lauda’s Ferrari suddenly veered right, slammed into an embankment, and exploded into a fireball. James Hunt stayed out

Niki Lauda went on to win two more world titles (1977, 1984), become a successful airline entrepreneur, and serve as a sage non-executive chairman for Mercedes. The burns never healed entirely, but the character behind them only grew stronger. He drove like a demon possessed, sliding and

Lauda finished fourth.

He was trapped inside the burning cockpit for over a minute. Fellow drivers Arturo Merzario, Guy Edwards, and Harald Ertl—heroes in their own right—pulled him from the inferno. Lauda had inhaled superheated toxic fumes, searing his lungs and bloodstream. He suffered third-degree burns on his face and scalp. He lost most of his right ear. The last rites were read to him in the hospital. Doctors told Niki Lauda he would be lucky to live. They told him he would never race again.