Lauda relives dramatic 1976 Formula One season on big screen
Even Hollywood can't exaggerate the thrills and spills of a year that saw Austrian come back from horrific injuries to challenge Hunt for title
Niki Lauda long ago laid to rest the ghosts of 1976 but the physical scars will always be with him and he would not change that.
The momentous and near-tragic events of that Formula One year, with the Austrian coming back from a fiery crash to battle Britain's James Hunt for the title, will be relived in cinemas this month with the release of a new movie Rush.
The film, directed by Oscar-winning Ron Howard ( Apollo 13, Cocoon, A Beautiful Mind), chronicles the relationship and rivalry of the fast-living, womanising Hunt - the eventual champion for McLaren who died in 1993 - and Ferrari's more clinical Lauda.
Lauda has seen it three times, including a gala premiere in London last week, and is delighted the story is being re-told.
"It really came across very well ... I was impressed. The first time [actor Daniel] Bruhl turned up I said, 'He really talks like me'. I see myself there and he did a very good job," he said.
"I am the bad guy in the beginning. There is a lot of swearing. But this is two different guys fighting for a championship. This is the real movie."
The film has also made the triple world champion look at his own story in a different light, seeing himself through the eyes of others and experiencing some of their shock.