Motorsport is rich with stories from across the decades.
But with a couple of exceptions, few have really been adapted to film.
We’ve had the likes of Rush and Le Mans ’66 but very little else.
And while we have plenty of motorsport documentaries coming out, there’s a tonne of Hollywood potential too.
So here are 5 stories that Hollywood would be crazy not to sink its teeth into…
1. F1 – Brawn GP and the 2009 World Championship
The finest writers in Hollywood could only dream of writing a script as delicious as this one.
After Honda pulled out of Formula 1 in 2008, it was a miracle that Brawn GP in its new guise even made it to the starting grid to begin the 2009 season.
So for Brawn GP to then go and win not only the Constructor’s Championship, but the Driver’s Championship as well (Jenson winning it and Rubens coming third) just makes the story even more remarkable.
From early success at the start of the season to having to keep the competition like Red Bull at bay, it’s a brilliant narrative.
It was an incredible story that brought tears to people’s eyes and there’s been nothing like it since.
For this alone, it deserves to be immortalized through a cinematic adaptation.
2. Aston Martin & the 1959 World Sportscar Championship
Featuring stars like John Wyer and Stirling Moss, this is the story of an almost guaranteed victory that soon turns into an incredibly hard fought one.
With the backdrop of the gorgeous Goodwood circuit and all the trimmings that came with it in the late 1950s, this is perfect for some Hollywood nostalgia.
Racing against the clock in a beautiful Aston Martin DBR1, can Moss turn things around and achieve the impossible? Stick a soundtrack over it by someone like Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders or Hans Zimmer and you’ve got yourself a winning formula.
It’s also perhaps a lesser known tale, which really adds to its appeal. You can smell the Oscar already.
3. Hamilton Vs Rosberg
The 2016 F1 World Championship saw Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg go head to head for a third time.
But this time, the gloves were well and truly off.
The Spanish Grand Prix in particular proved this point as the two famously came together on the opening lap of the race.
With more close wheel to wheel action and controversial moments throughout the year, the civil war at Mercedes truly ignited.
It was also the year that a certain Max Verstappen made the step up into the Red Bull team, thus adding more spice to the story.
With a life long friendship being royally put through its paces in one of the highest octane environments in motorsports, it’s a tale just begging to get the Hollywood treatment.
4. Fangio Getting Kidnapped in Cuba
Back in 1958, World Champion Juan-Manuel Fangio was shockingly kidnapped at the Cuban Grand Prix.
Taken at gunpoint from his hotel in Havana by Cuban Revolutionaries working for Fidel Castro, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this story is indeed a work of fiction.
But it isn’t.
If the above doesn’t convince you that this would make for a great period thriller with a Formula 1 backdrop in the early days of the Cold War, then I don’t know what will.
5. F1 Anthology Series
Netflix has thrived with its ‘Drive to Survive’ Series. So why not go back and relive the best bits from the rest of F1 history?
Fangio, Moss, Hill (both of them), Hunt, Lauda, Prost, Senna and Schumacher all have rich histories that should be written into film history.
You would have Hollywood stars lining up around the block to join the Formula 1 Cinematic Universe in no time, so why should Marvel and DC have all the fun?
Alternatively, through archive footage and interviews, both then and now, you could also make some truly awesome documentaries about F1’s history.
Either way, the F1 stories of yesteryear are guaranteed money makers that would please fans both old and new.
