Niki Lauda’s Formula 1 Master Class

Niki Lauda in the 1985 Monaco Grand Prix, thanks to the Cahier Archive

Head back to 1985 and settle in for a wonderful lesson in Formula 1 thanks to Niki Lauda and the classic documentary, Niki Lauda Explains Formula 1.

Directed by Francis Megahy, this 1985 documentary sees the three-time Formula 1 World Champion explaining the sport in impressive detail, while providing his own unique insight along the way.

He discusses the development of Formula 1 cars and the engines that power them, looks at driving techniques and even examines race strategy. We get a peak under the skin of Lauda’s 1982 McLaren, a behind the scenes look at the McLaren factory and explore the McLaren pits.

It even has a nice little pre-Top Gear bit where they pit the McLaren F1 car against a 1.6-litre Ford Sierra, “amongst the most advanced road cars in volume production”, driven by ’76 World Champion James Hunt and a Porsche 928 driven by John Watson for a lap of Silverstone.

Going into remarkable depth, and illustrated beautifully by Lauda just off the back of winning the 1984 championship, this is a fascinating look at the sport in its high-power turbo era with a dominant team and dominant driver.

Get comfortable, and enjoy.