Look out, NASCAR. 'Rush' and a new documentary shine the spotlight on a different bunch of race-car daredevils.


Chris Hemsworth didn't have to walk a mile in the shoes of James Hunt to play the Formula One racing champion in the new movie Rush. Instead he put his feet to the pedals.

The actor couldn't do any of the life-threatening corner turns or achieve the death-defying speed inherent in the open-cockpit lifestyle of an F1 driver.

Yet for some scenes he squeezed himself into one of the actual cars — sharing cocoon-like quarters with a clutch, accelerator and brakes — and was told by mechanics to be fairly aggressive in his driving.

"That led to quite a few fishtails in and out of the pits, which may or may not have been a good thing," Hemsworth says with a laugh.

The actor says he fell for F1 while doing the film, which chronicles the '70s rivalry between the British playboy Hunt and methodical Austrian racer Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl). And Hollywood is betting that Americans will develop a similar fascination with the internationally popular racing circuit.

Director Ron Howard and stars Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl share the real life drama that inspired their new film 'Rush,' which chronicles the 1970s Formula One rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda.

The documentary 1 (on iTunes and video on demand Oct. 1), narrated by Michael Fassbender, delves into the history of the rebels, lunatics, daredevils and dreamers seen on the big screen in Rush. Want more interaction? Get into the virtual seats of legendary drivers such as Mario Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi in the new video game F1 2013, out Oct. 8.

While the stock cars of NASCAR are the vehicles that captivate the American TV audience, Formula One is making a comeback here thanks to its new deal with NBC Sports and the United States Grand Prix in Austin, which held its inaugural race last year.

Compared with NASCAR, "Formula One is much more difficult, much more challenging. The cars are high-tech machines. And Formula One in the old days was very famous in America, too," says Lauda, 64, a three-time world champion. "If an American driver would switch over from NASCAR or Indy to Formula One, this certainly would get attention brought to it."

Paul Crowder, the British director of 1, grew up watching the four-wheeled exploits of Hunt, Jackie Stewart and their ilk, as they lived the high life off the track to offset the constant danger on it.

"When you were a teenager, you want to have that cool bravado, sunglasses, girl on the arm, drink in one hand, cigarette in the other and driving cars at ridiculous speeds," Crowder says.

Hemsworth didn't have any concept of F1 driving until he got behind the wheel of what he describes as "a go-kart on steroids." Rush screenwriter Peter Morgan had the same experience. While he drove one of Hunt's original cars only for just a few yards, he says "I've never felt so vulnerable."

Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) trade barbs before a race in Brazil.

Morgan adds that it was basically like sitting in an incendiary device.

"In a conventional car, you have so many things to protect you from that thought: plush seats, beautifully done interiors, soundproof windows," he says. "In Formula One, all that denial is stripped away. You're left in no doubt whatsoever that what you are doing is driving around on a bomb. And the actual cockpit is quite coffin-like — it even feels like you're off to meet your maker every time you start your engine."

A gambler's mentality was needed for drivers during the era of Hunt and Lauda, when some years saw two or three drivers die and many others injured. Michael Shevloff, a producer on 1, says today's racers enjoy many more safety measures. Still, while the sport has evolved, "I don't think these guys are any less fearless."

Crowder compares the drivers, then and now, to gladiators: "There is an absolute mind-set to getting into a car and driving it 200 mph feet-first. There's something very special about those guys. It's something even beyond bravado."

Contributing: Andrea Mandell

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