1 (also known as 1: Life On The Limit) is a 2013 documentary film directed by Paul Crowder and narrated by Michael Fassbender. The film traces the history of Formula One auto racing from its early years, in which some seasons had multiple fatalities, to the 1994 death of Ayrton Senna, the sport's most recent death at the time of production. Extensive and often rare archival footage is used throughout.
This movie provides examples of:
- Anyone Can Die: This, unfortunately and disturbingly, was the case in F1 (and motor racing in general) during the period covered in the movie. Only the efforts of Sir Jackie Stewart to improve safety standards in the sport did this really start to change.
- Artistic Licence – History: Jacky Ickx's fiery crash in 1970 is implied to have happened at that year's Dutch Grand Prix. He actually finished 3rd in that race and the crash in question happened during the Spanish Grand Prix earlier in the season.
- Bloody Horror:
- We get to see Jochen Rindt's blooded up face after he breaks his nose in a crash at the 1969 Spanish Grand Prix.
- We also briefly see the badly burned face of Niki Lauda after he is extricated from his burning car at the 1976 German Grand Prix.
- Book Ends: The movie begins and ends mainly with Martin Brundle's crash at the start of the 1996 Australian Grand Prix.
- Bystander Syndrome: One of the most notorious examples of this in both the movie and F1 history in general is the fatal crash of Roger Williamson in the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix. His car suffered a puncture and crashed into an improperly secured crash barrier that launched the car into the air. The car landed upside down and caught fire as it skidded to a halt. Williamson was trapped in the car and only David Purley made an effort to right the car and put the fire out, neither of which he could do himself and the marshals, police officers and other drivers did nothing to help so Williamson died of asphyxiation.
- Cutting Corners:
- Drivers tended to prefer not to wear seatbelts during the era covered in the movie so that they would be thrown clear of the car in the event of a crash incase the car caught fire.
- Jochen Rindt is killed through a combination of the Lotus team running their cars without wings at the 1970 Italian Grand Prix, Rindt not securing the crotch straps on his safety harness, improperly secured crash barriers, Rindt crashing into said barriers, sliding under his seatbelts on impact, slitting his throat, a lack of basic medical attention, being placed in an inadequately equipped medical vehicle and being taken to the wrong hospital.
- Improperly secured crash barriers also contribute to the deaths of Roger Williamson and Francois Cevert in 1973 and Peter Revson and Helmuth Koinigg in 1974.
- The 1978 Italian Grand Prix is greenlit before the starting grid is properly formed, leading to a multi-car pile-up that results in Ronnie Peterson suffering leg injuries and later dying from an embolism.
- Documentary: Of the evolution of F1 safety standards from the 1950s to the 21st Century.
- Ejection Seat:
- Largely due to the mentality of drivers preferring to be thrown clear of the car in the event of a crash incase the car caught fire, rather than wearing seatbelts. Jackie Stewart is briefly shown speaking out to his fellow drivers about the importance of wearing seatbelts.
- An unfortunate forced example as a result of the car being destroyed as a result of crashing with the fatal accident of Gilles Villeneuve at Zolder in 1982.
- Every Car Is a Pinto:
- A collision between Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver in the 1970 Spanish Grand Prix leads to both their cars bursting into flames.
- This generally applied to Formula 1 cars of the era covered in the movie, as crashes tended to cause fuel to spill everywhere. This was especially the case in the 70s as the cars were usually designed with the fuel tank directly next to the cockpit.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Especially when it came to how often drivers got killed or seriously injured due to a lack of safety measures and a generally lax attitude to safety during the period covered in the movie.
- Niki Lauda withdraws from the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix (along with three other drivers) due to the extent of the torrential rain the drivers are racing in. Even the commentators are appalled at the drivers being allowed to race in such conditions.
- Lauda earlier tries to persuade his fellow drivers to boycott the German Grand Prix but is outvoted by James Hunt. Lauda proceeds to suffer a fiery crash on the first lap of the race.
- Foreshadowing:
- We see a brief interview with Bruce Mclaren from a 1968 episode of Blue Peter that was originally shown the day after the fatal crash of Jim Clark. Mclaren would have a fatal crash himself at the wheel of a racing car two years later.
- Jochen Rindt suffers a broken nose when his Lotus crashes out of the 1969 Spanish Grand Prix. He would be killed a year later when his Lotus crashed during practice for the 1970 Italian Grand Prix.
- The theatrical poster for the movie depicts Roger Williamson's burning car skidding to a halt.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Though, given most of the crashes are depicted via archive footage, this is not always the case.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Almost the result of the fatal accident of Jackie Stewart's teammate Francois Cevert after he crashed into an improperly secured crash barrier during practice for the 1973 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.
- He's Dead, Jim: This is to be expected, given the recurrence of archive footage of fatal accidents. At one point, Jackie Stewart is informed of the death of Roger Williamson after winning the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix.
- Kill It with Fire: Drivers being killed or seriously injured by their cars crashing and catching fire was common during the period covered in the movie, the most unfortunate and notable examples include:
- Lorenzo Bandini in the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix.
- Piers Courage in the 1970 Dutch Grand Prix.
- Roger Williamson in the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix.
- To make matters worse, in the cases of Bandini and Williamson, both drivers survived the initial crash but Bandini later died from his injuries and Williamson died of asphyxiation while trapped in the car.
- Averted with Jacky Ickx in the 1970 Spanish Grand Prix after his and Jackie Oliver's cars collide and burst into flames.
- Also averted with Niki Lauda when he crashes out of the 1976 German Grand Prix and his car bursts into flames, largely thanks to four of his fellow drivers working together to extricate him from the car.
- Also averted with Ronnie Peterson in the 1978 Italian Grand Prix but he later dies after suffering an embolism.
- Mistaken Identity: This unfortunately was a contributing factor in the death of Roger Williamson in the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix. Most observers, particularly the other drivers, thought David Purley was the driver of the burning car and was trying to save it.
- Narrator: Michael Fassbender, with (then-) current and former racing drivers and other people involved in F1 recounting their experiences of what is covered in the movie.
- No One Could Survive That!: Some of the non-fatal crashes leave this kind of impression, the most notable of which include:
- Niki Lauda's fiery crash at the Nurburgring Nordschleife in 1976, although he came close enough to actually dying to be read the last rites.
- Martin Brundle at Melbourne in 1996.
- Robert Kubica's crash in the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix is briefly featured near the end.
- Off with His Head!: The death by decapitation of Helmuth Koinigg when his car slid under improperly secured crash barriers in the 1974 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen is briefly described.
- Old-School Dogfight: The movie properly kicks off with footage of air-to-air combat during World War 2 before quickly switching to the subject of motor racing.
- Shout-Out:
- Slashed Throat: The fate of Jochen Rindt when he crashes during practice for the 1970 Italian Grand Prix, due to a combination of not fully securing his safety harness and crashing into an improperly secured crash barrier at high speed.
- Spectator Casualty: Four spectators are killed when a rear wing failure causes Rolf Stommelen's car to crash out of the lead and into the spectator area during the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix.
- Surprise Car Crash:
- A non-fatal example as Jody Scheckter is collected by several of his fellow drivers when he spins off and becomes stranded in the middle of the track during the 1973 British Grand Prix.
- Niki Lauda's burning Ferrari is hit by another car (which, in turn, is hit by a 3rd car) after coming to rest in the middle of the track following his crash in the 1976 German Grand Prix.
- Time Skip:
- The movie starts off in World War 2 briefly before quickly progressing to the 50s but mainly focuses on the 60s and 70s (specifically the period between Lorenzo Bandini's death in 1967 and Ronnie Peterson's death in 1978), before quickly progressing through the 80s and 90s up until the 21st Century.
- The pre war era of motor racing is briefly alluded to during the Title Sequence.
- Title Sequence: Mainly covering the pre war era of motor racing and the formation of the Formula 1 World Championship in 1950.
- Watch Out for That Tree!:
- A fatal example as double World Champion Jim Clark is killed when his car crashes into trees during a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim in April 1968.
- Averted with Martin Brundle in the 1996 Australian Grand Prix but he does confess to fearing this was what was going to happen to him.
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The Woobie: Team Lotus, they are quoted as having lost five drivers, three of whom are depicted in the movie.
