James Hunt won the 1976 Formula One World Championship, a dramatic season later portrayed in the film Rush.
Driving for McLaren, Hunt finished the 1976 championship one point ahead of Ferrari’s defending champion Niki Lauda. The season included controversial disqualifications, changing weather, fierce political disputes, and Lauda’s near-fatal crash at the Nürburgring. Lauda returned to racing only weeks later, setting up a tense finale in Japan.
At the rain-soaked Japanese Grand Prix, Lauda retired because conditions were too dangerous. Hunt finished third, enough to take the championship by a single point. Ferrari won the manufacturers’ title, so Hunt’s drivers’ championship should not be confused with the team championship.
Rush, released in 2013 and directed by Ron Howard, dramatized the Hunt–Lauda rivalry. Chris Hemsworth played Hunt and Daniel Brühl played Lauda. The film captures the broad sporting story, though it heightens their rivalry; in real life, the two drivers were friends and had shared an earlier professional history.