Hunt vs Lauda: great rivals, better friends

“I’ll never forget Niki’s attempt to psyche me out on race day at Watkins Glen,” recalled Hunt, who will be the focal point of 1970s Formula 1 celebrations at the 83^rd Goodwood Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport next year.

“I always got up at eight o’clock to be at the circuit at nine. Knowing full well what time I had my call booked, Niki barged into my room at seven o’clock. He was fully bedecked in his overalls and stood to attention over my bed and said: ‘Today I win the Championship!’ And then he marched out again. I thought that was hilarious.”

The anecdote, well-known in racing circles, has long revealed the truth about one of Formula 1’s greatest rivalries. One that is far more engaging than the hackneyed, uneasy stand-off pedalled by that cliché-ridden Hollywood movie Rush. Not for the first time, motor racing fact is far more entertaining than scripted, cooked-up fiction.

Hunt and Lauda first encountered each other on racing’s nursery slopes, in Formula 3 back in 1970, when both lived in London. For a time, it’s said Hunt even stayed at Lauda’s flat, and they quickly bonded as kindred spirits. “James had this air of confidence and you couldn’t help but like him,” said Lauda in a biography written by Maurice Hamilton. “That’s why I will always think of him as an open, honest-to-God pal. He was my kind of guy. We would become cast as rivals in 1976, but we would always be good friends.”

Their battle that year, McLaren pitched against Ferrari, is considered ‘Year Zero’ for modern F1 as we know it today. Its intensity, heightened by controversial disqualifications, Lauda’s horrific accident at the Nürburgring and a dramatic climax at Fuji, gripped both the media and fans around the world. Off the back of Fuji and Hunt’s last-gasp World Championship glory, the BBC started showing highlights of every Grand Prix. The TV age and everything that came with it arrived with Hunt vs Lauda.

The Dutch Grand Prix of 1975 offered a glimpse of what was to follow, when Hunt and his privateer Hesketh saw off Lauda’s Ferrari during the buck-toothed Austrian’s first title year. The stakes were raised at season’s end when Hunt, left high and dry by Hesketh, was plucked by a McLaren team reeling from Emerson Fittipaldi’s shock defection to his brother Wilson’s Copersucar-backed Brazilian team. Now in a heavily revised and still potent four-year-old M23, Hunt was primed to take on his friend across a full season.

Except it took a while for the battle to really kick in. Lauda won the first two races and team-mate Clay Regazzoni claimed Long Beach. Hunt and McLaren finally defeated Ferrari at round four, Jarama — only to lose the win via disqualification for a minute width violation. After Lauda won again in Belgium and at Monaco, his lead over Hunt was 48 points versus 15. A second consecutive title beckoned, surely.

But then fortune began to swing. Hunt won at Paul Ricard and was handed back his nine points from Spain when McLaren’s DSQ appeal succeeded. Just in time for Brands Hatch and one of the most dramatic British Grand Prix ever. Hunt’s McLaren was damaged in a first-corner melee between the two Ferraris, triggered by Regazzoni. There were fears of a fan riot if the British hero was barred from taking the restart, but Hunt passed Lauda to eventually win his home race. Light the blue touchpaper and stand back.

The Nürburgring was next. Initially, Hunt was delighted with his victory, until he learnt just how badly hurt his friend really was in the fiery accident at Bergwerk that had stopped the race. Lauda’s injuries had been played down at the circuit, but it was the damage to his lungs rather than his terribly charred scalp that almost claimed his life.

As Lauda retreated to Ibiza to heal, the F1 world inevitably kept turning in his absence — and Hunt made up ground. Fourth in Austria, another win at Zandvoort, and ahead of Monza James had closed to within two points. Lauda, furious at Ferrari’s hiring of Carlos Reutemann to replace him, felt compelled to rush his return.

It remains among the greatest comebacks — not just in F1, but in any sporting arena. How Lauda battled his own initial fears and overcame the pain of his raw wounds, seeping blood into his balaclava, resulted in the finest fourth place ever known. Hunt was genuinely pleased to see his friend return and, like everyone, was left in awe of his bravery. On the other hand, he’d failed to finish after a collision and now lost further ground in the title race to another disqualification. This time it would stick.

Ferrari, furious at perceived British bias at Brands, had protested Hunt’s victory in Kent and the hearing was heard during the three-week break between Monza and Mosport. Lauda turned up in Paris to support the cause, making a point of showing off his scars and heavily bandaged head. But was that blood or just ketchup, wondered uncharitable McLaren team manager Alastair Caldwell?

Hunt arrived in Canada to the news he’d lost his British Grand Prix win. His furious mood wasn’t helped by news of Lauda’s appearance at the hearing and, whipped up by a stirring press, the rivals — for the first and only time — turned on each other. Hunt had been a vociferous supporter of a growing crusade among the drivers for improved safety in the wake of Lauda’s accident, but now stated: “To hell with safety. All I want to do is race.”

When Marlboro moneyman John Hogan arrived in the hotel dining room in Bowmanville, he found his two friends on either side of the room, clearly at daggers drawn, each beckoning him over to join them instead of the other. “What the hell has got into you two?” he asked.

Happily, the war didn’t last. A natural and healthy sense of perspective pulled Hunt and Lauda back to their senses. Team politics and a media frenzy, that was all this was. Sure, it fuelled Hunt to dig out the drive of his life at Mosport for what’s considered his greatest win — but this was only the World Championship, it wasn’t worth falling out over.

“The press was winding us both up badly and we both got irritated,” admitted Hunt. “For a few hours we hated each other, but we got it sorted out by shaking hands after the race in Canada and our good relationship continued.”

As they headed for Watkins Glen, the gap between them was eight points, and despite Lauda’s comical early-morning wind-up, Hunt was once more on a mission. He won again, Lauda was third and now they were separated by three points with just Fuji to come.

What a day, under leaden skies and in a mist of rain that created ridiculously perilous conditions. The 1976 Japanese Grand Prix would likely have been cancelled were it happening today, but back then the world was watching, and it was deemed there was simply too much to lose. Beyond Monza, Lauda’s decision to put his life and his principles before the World Championship and withdraw on lap two is the second bravest F1 act ever committed. What a remarkable man.

Ferrari tech chief Mauro Forghieri always maintained the Monza comeback was a folly, that Lauda returned too soon, that had he taken longer he would have been mentally prepared to race at Fuji. Perhaps. But Lauda was also right to take a stand. Still, the consequence was to open a door for Hunt.

Running second to Mario Andretti’s Lotus, Hunt was comfortably on course to win the title. But a drying racing line was causing excessive tyre wear. Long before tactical pitstops became a thing, he chose to stick it out — until his McLaren’s left-front began to fail with just five laps to go. After a 27sec stop, Hunt was now fifth and the Championship was slipping from his grasp.

But on fresh wet-weather rubber, the McLaren carved back up to third place — without Hunt fully realising it. He thought he’d come up short and was furious with his team, until the reality of Teddy Mayer’s three fingers held up before his face allowed the penny to drop. James Hunt was World Champion — by a single point.

Lauda found out as he reached the airport terminal, the downcast expression of Ferrari’s Japanese exporter who met him proving the tell-tale. But characteristic logic and the cool reason that governed his career (and life) allowed Lauda to quickly come to terms with what he’d lost. “I didn’t lose the Championship in Japan, I lost it at the Nürburgring and by missing two races,” he’d state years later. “Anyway, I was happy that James had won it. He was my mate.”

“I just wish we could have shared it,” said Hunt. Such words from others might have been written off as a meaningless platitude. But somehow coming from Hunt, we can believe this generous sentiment was genuine. He and Lauda were great rivals — but more importantly, better friends.

The 83^rd Members' Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport takes place on the 18^th & 19^th April 2026. Tickets are on sale now for GRRC Members and Fellows.

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Images courtesy of Getty Images.