Cold Open

It’s August 1st, 1976, at a race track in West Germany.

Thousands of racing fans have flocked to watch the German Grand Prix, the 10th race in this year’s Formula One season. While they wait for the event to begin, the spectators’ eyes are all glued to the blood-red Ferrari positioned second on the starting grid. 

Inside the cockpit, Niki Lauda, the world’s most famous F1 driver, flexes his gloved fingers and tries to block out the roar of the crowd. The 27-year-old Austrian has quietly dominated this year’s racing season, winning five out of the last nine Grand Prix. He’s expected to win again today — although some predict that James Hunt, the young British driver who has been Niki’s main challenger this year, could cause an unlikely upset.

Niki hardly blinks as he waits for the starter’s signal.

Flag drops… and the drivers screech out of the grid in a cloud of engine exhaust and burning rubber.

Niki floors the accelerator and takes off down the straight, a blur of red paint and black tires. When a left-hand bend appears up ahead, Niki downshifts and accelerates into the turn at over a hundred miles per hour. But as he does… his rear suspension fails.

His car snaps aggressively to the right, his wheels skid across the tarmac... and he slams into the fence with a sickening crunch. The Ferrari then corkscrews back out into the middle of the track, directly into the path of the other vehicles…

One driver careens straight into Niki’s car, which immediately bursts into flames. Within seconds, fire has engulfed the cockpit, licking up under Niki’s helmet, and burning him alive. Niki wrestles frantically with the seatbelt, but he can’t loosen the straps. And as the intolerable heat intensifies, an acrid black smoke fills his lungs. Niki realizes that there’s no escape... and that this was his last race.

Niki Lauda will survive this crash but only just. His burns will partially destroy half his face, and he will undergo reconstructive surgery to ensure that he still has working eyelids - he’ll need them to resume racing as soon as possible. But while Niki is recovering from his injuries, his rival, James Hunt, will seize the opportunity to pull ahead in the Formula One rankings, setting the stage for a dramatic showdown between the two adversaries at the Tokyo Grand Prix, less than three months after Niki Lauda’s near-fatal accident on August 1st, 1976.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is August 1st, 1976: F1 Driver Niki Lauda Narrowly Avoids Death.

Act One: Rivals

It’s July 18th, 1976, two weeks before Niki Lauda’s fateful crash.

Beneath blazing blue skies, the British Grand Prix is about to get underway at Brands Hatch, a race track in Kent in southern England. It’s the hottest summer on record, and as the thousands of spectators struggle to stay cool, the drivers and their teams mill around the pits, checking everything is in order before the race.

Niki Lauda crouches over his Ferrari, pouring coolant into the radiator. Short in stature and shy in temperament, the 27-year-old is nicknamed “Super Rat” because of his slight overbite. He is considered by many to be the greatest Formula One driver in the world and has the record to prove it. Niki has won four out of his last eight Grand Prix races, racking up fifty-two points in the process, twenty-six more than his closest competitor, the English driver, James Hunt.

James is everything Niki is not. He is a swaggering playboy, whose flamboyant lifestyle off the track frequently finds its way into the tabloids. But despite their many differences, the two drivers also share some key similarities. When behind the wheel of a car, both are utterly fearless - and wholly fixated on winning.

As Niki works on his car, his attention is drawn by an excitable huddle of reporters. Craning his neck, he isn’t surprised to see who’s at the center of the attention, it’s James Hunt, the fan favorite here in England. With a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth, James sweeps a hand through his flowing blonde hair as he answers reporters’ questions. He boasts that he’s feeling optimistic about today’s race. He finished first in the French Grand Prix earlier this month, and he’s confident that the momentum is with him. It’s only a matter of time, he says, before he pulls ahead of Niki Lauda in the points tally.

Niki shakes his head and turns back to his car. The Grand Prix champion doesn’t fall for mind games. He knows that if he maintains his focus, there’s nobody faster than him on the planet.

Half an hour later, the drivers assemble on the starting grid.

Niki sits behind the wheel of his Ferrari. James revs the engine of his McLaren. The track stretches ahead of them, a sliver of tarmac weaving through wooded hills. For a moment, there’s silence, as everybody collectively holds their breath. Then the flag drops... and the summer air suddenly fills with the deafening noise, the combined roar of 26 of the world’s most powerful engines reverberating across the surrounding countryside.

Niki thunders into the first bend. The Austrian is renowned for his elegant and precise style, but on this occasion, he makes a blunder. He doesn’t notice another driver cut inside him, and the two vehicles come together before spinning across the track. James swerves – but he can’t avoid the obstacle. Within seconds, there’s a pile-up, as more cars come screaming around the corner and collide with each other, littering the track with debris and broken glass.

The race is stopped and a restart is called. At first, the organizers disqualified James, who breached the rules by taking a shortcut back to the pits. But the crowd is in uproar over the potential disqualification of the hometown favorite. They start chanting: “We want Hunt! We want Hunt” and the organizers’ verdict is overturned. James is allowed to race.

Following a successful restart, the event quickly becomes a two-horse race between Niki and James. Niki leads comfortably for most of the race. But as the drivers come into the 45th lap, James pulls ahead, sparking frenzied excitement from the stands. Niki fights hard to reclaim the lead, but it’s no use. James is driving the best race of his life, and when the checkered flag is waved, it’s James who has claimed victory.

The results of the British Grand Prix increased the tension of the 1976 Formula One season, narrowing the gap between James in second and Niki in first. But Niki thrives under pressure. And in just a couple of weeks’ time, at the German Grand Prix, he will have an opportunity to remind the racing world why he is the champion.

But, in the days leading up to the race, Niki will grow concerned about the insufficient safety measures in place at the German track. The circuit is 14 miles long and packed with tight corners. The ambulance stations and fire trucks are positioned miles apart, leaving certain stretches of the track without any emergency services. Making matters worse, torrential rain on the morning of the race will add to the dangerous conditions. Niki will introduce a poll among the drivers to boycott the race. But he will lose by one vote. The race will go ahead, and Niki, begrudgingly, will take part — a decision that will nearly cost him his life.

Act Two: Recovery

It’s August 1st, 1976, in West Germany.

Disaster has struck at the German Grand Prix. A mechanical failure has just caused Niki Lauda to crash into a fence. The fuel tank exploded and now the vehicle is engulfed in flames, with Niki fighting for his life inside.

Niki coughs and sputters as toxic smoke fills his lungs. Four-hundred-degree heat surrounds him and he can feel his skin peeling and bubbling inside his helmet. He tugs frantically at his seatbelt, but something is blocking the mechanism and he’s trapped.

Just as he’s about to lose consciousness, Niki feels a pair of arms haul him from the burning wreckage and lay him out on the track. Somebody removes his helmet and suddenly Niki can see sky above him. He gasps for breath, staring wide-eyed into the faces of his rescuers: the four fellow drivers who stopped to save his life. But then Niki’s vision becomes blurred. The voices around him grow muffled. And with the echoes of the roaring flames still in his ears, he blacks out.

Niki is rushed to hospital, where the doctors battle to save his life. He has sustained third-degree burns on his face, and the smoke has partially destroyed his lungs, which are rapidly filling with fluid. Niki falls into a coma as the surgeons operate. A priest is summoned to read him last rites. And his wife and mother believe he’s about to die.

But against all odds, Niki survives.

His right ear has burned away completely, as well as most of his hair and both his eyebrows. All of the skin on his forehead and scalp has melted. The doctors offer to perform extensive reconstructive surgery. But Niki declines. He knows that the recovery process from that surgery would take months. And as he lies in his hospital bed, Niki is not tortured by his injuries, but by the knowledge that his rival, James Hunt, will be seeking to take advantage of Niki’s incapacitation and surpass him in the rankings.

Ultimately, all Niki asks the doctors to save are his eyelids. He needs those to continue racing, which he intends to do as soon as possible.

Sure enough, just six weeks later, Niki is in Italy for the Italian Grand Prix. In the time that he was convalescing, his rival James closed the gap between them to just two points. And although his loved ones urge him not to return back to the track so soon, Niki is adamant. His determination to win trumps everything – even his family’s wishes.

The night before the race, Niki stands before a mirror in his hotel room, carefully removing the bandages from his scarred face. He winces as he inspects the blistered, seeping wounds.

But the following day, Niki arrives at the track on time, pushing his way through the gaggle of reporters all asking him to comment on his remarkable return. Niki looks up and spots James Hunt staring at him. The English driver’s expression is incredulous. He’d heard that Niki was intending to race today, but he had to see it to believe it. James flashes a winning smile. But beneath his calm exterior, Niki can tell his competitor is nervous.

But later, while waiting for the starter’s signal, it's Niki who starts to panic. He takes a deep breath and tries to stop his hands from trembling. But the scenes from the crash replay in his mind – the smell of burning petrol… the taste of smoke in his lungs… the indescribable pain…

He shudders and tries to block out the memory.

Then the race begins, and to the amazement of the spectators, Niki is almost back to his best. He is not quite firing on all cylinders, but he drives with precision and elegance and finishes fourth. James, meanwhile, loses control of his McLaren and spins off the track, never even finishing the race. When Niki removes his helmet at the finish line, his bandages are soaked through with blood and the fluid from his blisters. He doesn’t care – because he’s back.

Niki’s return sets up a thrilling end to the Formula One season. James Hunt will come roaring back and win the next two Grand Prix, in the US and Canada. Those victories will put him within just three points of Niki, and with only one race left in the season, everything will be decided at the Japanese Grand Prix in Tokyo. There, in the shadow of Mount Fuji, Niki Lauda and James Hunt will pit their courage against one another, in the ultimate showdown between the two fastest men on earth.

Act Three: Tokyo

It’s October 24th, 1976 in Japan; two months after Niki Lauda’s crash.

The world’s best Formula One drivers have gathered in Tokyo for the Japanese Grand Prix. With the snow-capped summit of Mount Fuji looming in the background, the drivers and their teams wait anxiously at the side of the track, staring up at stormy skies.

Torrential rain lashes down, accompanied by powerful gusts of wind and rolling fog. These are lethal conditions for racing – but word from the organizers is that the race is going ahead. The television companies have spent too much on media rights, they can’t afford to cancel the event now.

Niki Lauda paces around the shed, his heart pounding. The thought of driving in this monsoon fills Niki with dread, but the stakes are too high for him to back out too. He’s three points ahead of James Hunt in the rankings. All he needs to do is finish ahead of his rival and he’ll be crowned champion for the second year running.

Niki pulls on the balaclava he’s been wearing under his helmet to protect his scar tissue. Then, with a sharp intake of breath, he puts on his helmet and steps into the rain.

Drivers get into position on the starting grid. James swivels around and looks Niki in the eye. Niki raises a hand in greeting, and James returns the gesture. A feeling of mutual respect and admiration passes between the two competitors. But then they snap their visors down and turn their attention to the race.

The flag drops and the drivers roar away. But it quickly becomes clear that Niki’s misgivings were well-founded. The cars slip and slide across the soaking-wet tarmac. Behind the wheel of his Ferrari, Niki considers pulling out. He pictures the faces of his family and ultimately decides that his life is worth more than a title. After two laps, Niki pulls into the pits. His team rushes around him, asking what’s wrong with the car. But Niki tells them the truth – nothing’s wrong with the car. It’s the track, it's just too dangerous.

After Niki’s withdrawal from the race, James Hunt will go on to finish third, gaining enough points to secure the championship. But, even without the victory, Niki Lauda’s legacy will stay intact. In the course of his career, Niki will win a grand total of three Formula One championships, establishing himself as one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport. In 2013, the Hollywood movie, Rush, will tell the story of Niki’s iconic feud with James Hunt — a thrilling rivalry that could have ended much earlier, had Niki Lauda not survived his horrifying crash on August 1st, 1976.

Outro

Next on History Daily. August 2nd, 216 BCE. During the Second Punic War, Rome suffers one of the most catastrophic defeats in military history.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mischa Stanton.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Joe Viner.

Executive Producers are Alexandra Currie-Buckner for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.