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You’ve seen Brad Pitt’s latest triumph – the surprisingly-good love letter to the race track, F1: The Movie – and you’ve decided you want more. Or maybe you’ve watched everything Drive to Survive has to offer, and your thirst has not been sated. I have good news: you’ve come to the right place, because not only do we have a list of incredible F1 documentaries and biopics for you to dive into, you’re going to understand the history of the sport far better at the end of this binge.
Here, we’ve pulled together 11 high-octane films to showcase the best of the best: from the founding of track favourite Ferrari, to deep dives into some of the most famous moments in the sport’s history.
We’ve got a need for speed, so lets cut to the chase: here’s the 11 Best Formula 1 Movies to Watch.
The Best Formula 1 Movies
1. Senna
Release Date: October 8, 2010
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 1h 46m
IMDb Rating: 8.5
Director: Asif Kapadia
Telling the story of one of the greats of the game, Senna follows the life and 10-year career of Brazilian world champion Ayrton Senna. During his decade on the track, Senna won the world championship three times, fostered a heated rivalry with France’s Alain Prost, and made waves in the sport due to his outspoken frustrations with the mechanisms of the Formula 1 racing league.
Senna tragically died on the track in what has become known as one of the bleakest races in F1 history, after a mechanical failure led his car to hit a concrete barrier while he was leading the 2004 San Marino Grand Prix. It’s an awful story, but one that led to significant safety revisions in the sport which has made it far safer for every racer that trailed in his wake.
The film is entirely made up of archival footage, with no interviews or talking heads: instead, you’re simply seeing the reality of what happened through Senna’s career, as well as footage of the man himself talking through his thought process and approach to racing.
2. Truth in 24
Release Date: October 25, 2008
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 1h 35m
IMDb Rating: 8.1
Director: Keith Crossrow, Bennett Viseltear
Narrated by The Transporter himself Jason Stratham, Truth in 24 chronicles Audi Sport’s efforts to take its fifth W at famous endurance race ’24 Hours of Le Mans’ in 2008 – a race in which victory is assumed by driving the longest distance in a single car during a 24-hour period.
The film follows Audi racers Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Dindo Capello as they prepare for the race, as well as their time in the drivers seat. Each driver takes charge of the car for over two hours before swapping out to a teammate, meaning the trio behind the wheel need to be in perfect sync to avoid any delay getting the vehicle back on the track.
You’d think a film about a hot, sweaty endurance race would be a slog, but it’s actually an incredibly interesting and poignant look at the lives of the men on the track, as well as the sheer hell they regularly put their bodies through.
3. Rush
Release Date: September 13, 2013
Genre: Docudrama
Runtime: 2h 3m
IMDb Rating: 8.1
Director: Ron Howard
Focusing on star drivers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl), Rush is a mile-a-minute dramatisation of one of the sports’ most heated on-track rivalries. The pair operated throughout the 70’s, and were championed as two of the most impressive drivers on the track: if not one another’s complete opposite.
The deeply focused Lauda, racing for Ferrari, and the brash and confident Hunt, racing for McLaren, dominate the screen, and Rush delivers a very human tale in what can sometimes be a very mechanical sport. Hemsworth and Brühl are incredible in their respective roles, and obviously the racing is stellar.
If you’re after something closely mirroring the recent F1 film, but a bit more grounded in reality (it’s still dramatised, after all), Rush is it. If you want a more accurate historical retelling of the relationship between the pair of drivers, check out number seven on the list.
4. Williams
Release Date: August 4, 2017
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 1h 49m
IMDb Rating: 7.6
Director: Morgan Matthews
Williams Racing has been an integral part of the F1 grid for decades, and Williams charts the beginning of its story. The film follows the rise of Williams’ founder and namesake, Frank Williams, as he builds the team around himself before, tragically, a near-fatal crash leaves him wheelchair bound. Rather than collapse, the Williams family rallies around Frank and cements the team as a force to be reckoned with.
Using a mix of archival footage—in some cases never before seen—and interviews with key players in the Williams story, Williams shows a candid and honest portrait of the namesake family’s guts, tenacity, and sheer willpower. It’s inspiring in all the right ways.
5. Weekend of a Champion
Release Date: December 18, 2013
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 1h 33m
IMDb Rating: 7.5
Director: Frank Simon
A re-edited version of the 1972 original (which was never publicly released save for a brief theatrical release in Europe), Weekend of a Champion follows controversial filmmaker Roman Polanski as he spends a weekend with world champion racer Jackie Stewart. Not just any weekend, though: the weekend of the 1971 Monaco Grand Prix.
What emerges is a touching, incredibly rare look behind the scenes of one of the biggest races in the world—especially at a time before the sport opened up its doors to the likes of Netflix’s Drive to Survive.
While the original was already captivating, the 2013 version adds a post-script conversation between Polanski and Stewart filmed in 2011, wherein the pair discuss the original film, as well as the work Stewart went to do in the sport to further the safety of other drivers.
6. 1: Life on the Limit
Release Date: January 10, 2014
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 1h 52m
IMDb Rating: 7.9
Director: Paul Crowder
While most F1-related films feature warnings around the danger of the sport, 1: Life on the Limit goes all in on highlighting the drivers that lost their lives throughout the sport’s nascent growth period, and the men that took pains to make F1 a far safer sport. Narrated by Michael Fassbender, 1 charts the path from the 60’s through to the present day as rapid changes within the sport lead to faster and faster cars and, as can be expected, a rising number of on-track fatalities.
You’d think every driver would want things to be as safe as possible, but there’s a surprising amount of pushback from many of the men behind-the-wheel as new safety initiatives are brought in. It all amounts to a fascinating watch—one that hyper focuses on one aspect of the sport that is both incredibly important and largely unseen.
7. Hunt vs. Lauda: F1’s Greatest Racing Rivals
Release Date: July 14, 2013
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 59m
IMDb Rating: 7.8
Director: Matthew Whiteman
A TV Movie documenting the on-track rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt, Hunt vs Lauda takes a decidedly more archival approach to the story when compared to the dramatised Rush. Using a mix of on-the-track footage and new interviews, Hunt vs Lauda tracks the events of the 1976 F1 Championship: a season more intense than most, with Lauda suffering a near-fatal crash that saw him out of action for six weeks before returning to the track wearing a respirator in order to race.
While the pair had incredibly different approaches—both on the track and off—Hunt and Lauda actually stayed pretty close friends throughout their careers, despite the fact they were often fighting for pole position. Another fantastic behind-the-scenes look at the sport, as well as the characters that make it as exciting as it is.
8. McLaren
Release Date: May 25, 2017
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 1h 32m
IMDb Rating: 7.3
Director: Roger Donaldson
If there ever was an underdog story in F1, it’d be the story of Bruce McLaren: a humble New Zealander who kickstarted the eponymous dynasty. A prodigious racer, McLaren entered the sport a nobody and left it with a team named after him, and while the film showcases the journey of how McLaren gets to that point, it doesn’t dive particularly deep into what kind of man he was.
It’s a missed opportunity, as when McLaren inevitably meets his end on the track, there is little room for reflection. Still, if you’re more interested in some fantastic archival footage of F1’s heyday (as well as some jarring dramatisations, most likely used to plug holes where the filmmakers couldn’t secure footage), McLaren provides.
9. The 24 Hour War
Release Date: November 22, 2016
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 1h 39m
IMDb Rating: 7.2
Director: Nate Adams, Adam Carolla
Another look at the infamous Le Mans race, though this time delving back to the early 1960s, when Ford and Ferrari were locked in a battle for supremacy. Funnily enough, Ford decided to take Ferrari on after the Italian Stallion rejected the American automaker’s bid to partner up, making this movie something of. a revenge tale.
While it focuses on the infamous 1966 Le Mans race, The 24 Hour War also intersperses its archival footage with interviews with many of the still-living racers, mechanics, and team staff, leading to an incredibly insightful look back at the events surrounding the race as told by the people that were there. Make no mistake, though, the movie is made by gear-heads, for gear-heads.
10. Ferrari: Race to Immortality
Release Date: November 3, 2017
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 1h 31m
IMDb Rating: 6.9
Director: Daryl Goodrich
Following on from The 24 Hour War, you might want to know a bit more about how the great Ferrari got started. 2017’s Ferrari: Race to Immortality takes us back to the 1950’s, where Enzo Ferrari – namesake of the brand – led the team in red to supremacy. Race to Immortality tends to focus on the drivers, specifically Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorne, detailing what it was like for the men behind-the-wheel during a time the sport was arguably at its most dangerous: if you’re one of those people that pine for a time where the sport was more rough-and-ready, you’ll get some kicks here.
While the film is ostensibly about Ferrari, it also details the wider context of F1 in the 1950s, as well as the kind of man Enzo was – pushing his drivers in ways that would probably see him removed from the sport today.
11. Truth in 24 II: Every Second Counts
Release Date: March 26, 2012
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 1h 23m
IMDb Rating: 7.4
Director: Rob Gehring
Again narrated by Jason Statham, Truth in 24 II takes a look at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and follows Audi’s preparation and efforts to take the victory in 2011. It’s rare to get a sequel in the world of racing documentaries, but this isn’t exactly a traditional sequel—rather, Part II follows a different team, featuring entirely different drivers, and was made by a different production team. There’s definitely something lost in the process of moving on from that original team, even if the drivers on show here—Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer, and Benoît Tréluyer—are all fascinating in their own rights.
Even so, Part II follows in the footsteps of the original, showcasing the mental and physical torture drivers put themselves through in order to get their team, and car, to cover as much ground as possible within the 24-hour time limit. It’s not glamorous, but it is inspiring.
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