Top 5 F1 Films Of All Time - by John Thomas

Formula 1 racing has been linked closely with film lately, largely thanks to the 2013 release, and enormous success, of Ron Howard's Rush. You will likely recall that we offered a review of the movie some time back. At the time, we suggested that Howard's film may just have been strong enough to be considered the best F1 film ever made, though truth be told (thanks to several stirring documentaries) this is a more competitive field than many might believe.

With Rush now trying its luck on the awards circuit, however, it seems like a good time to follow up on our prior claim with a brief ranking of the top five F1 films ever made. And in case you haven't seen any of these, be sure to keep an eye out for them on Picturebox. This unique streaming movie service offers a bevy of films on a rotating basis, as a specialised panel of cinefiles shuffles through them every few months or so. Now that you know where to look, on to the list!

5. WEEKEND OF A CHAMPION
If you're looking for the best insight into the life of a racing champion - or at least, his mindset entering a major event - this should be a film you mark down. Produced by the great Roman Polanski, the film is a real life look into the 1971 Monaco Grand Prix and specifically follows legendary champion Jackie Stewart as he prepares for the race. It's a rare look. And that's not just in F1, but in sports in general, as it gazes into the true preparation and mindset of a champion.

1 - Film Review: Not just another F1 film

Yet another F1 film release? Right in the wheel tracks of the blockbuster successes of Senna and Rush, a documentary and a theatrical film respectively? Just like them based on the sport's past? What on earth can it offer over and above these? Well, in the case of 1, rather a lot as it turns out.

Even above and beyond the challenges outlined in the opening paragraph, the film-makers of 1 - a new film about the history of F1 - hardly could have asked for a more daunting set of objectives. Max Mosley told the film's director Paul Crowder at the project's outset that if he could 'capture why he's devoted 40 years of his life to F1 then he'll have succeeded'. In essence, the makers felt that their mission was to capture the essence of this the pinnacle of motor sport. Its glamour, its pace, its danger, and everything else besides. No mean feat.

Despite what it says on the tin though 1 isn't really a history of F1. Not exactly anyway. But nevertheless it can be said to have gone a long way to meeting its haughty mission statement.

Martin Brundle starts
 and ends the story
Credit: greenmashup / CC

The film starts not in the beginning, but on the starting grid of the 1996 Australian Grand Prix. Perhaps not the most obvious choice, but its reasoning soon becomes clear. The animated buzz of the assembled crowd, the rich colours resultant of the full-beam Melbourne sunshine, as well as the mass of team members and assorted hangers on crawling over the assembled cars - all in eager anticipation of the race, and season, start - are familiar. As is the gradual, aching build up of tension, eventually to be released as the cars are unleashed like feral beasts when the red light goes out.

But then...not long after we had a spectacular accident: Martin Brundle got his braking wrong and cartwheeled over several cars, his machine disintegrating as it did so. The car, by now a heap of wreckage, came to rest upside down in a gravel bed, and the seconds of time wherein there is no movement from the cockpit seem to stretch on like hours. All of the harrowing accidents, some fatal, that took place within the previous 24 months suddenly seem scarily redolent. Yet, before you know it Brundle emerges, in his own words 'without a bruise on his body' and then can be seen - accompanied by the roar of the crowd - hot-footing it down the pit lane to find Sid Watkins in order to get the OK to take the restart.