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LIST: If you're on the lookout for F1 documentaries, you can't go wrong with these

So the paddock is open again and the horses have bolted and gone on the rampage to get the 2015 F...



LIST: If you're on the loo...
Golf

LIST: If you're on the lookout for F1 documentaries, you can't go wrong with these

So the paddock is open again and the horses have bolted and gone on the rampage to get the 2015 Formula 1 season underway.

With the engines warming up for another title battle between Mercedes'Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, it's the right time to be giving budding F1 fans a few recommendations in terms documentaries covering the sport.

Some of these documentaries below are well known, but for those who don't follow the sport very closely, they are definitely worth watching.

 

Grand Prix: The Killer Years

Last year's horrific accident for Marussia driver Jules Bianchi at the Japanese Grand Prix was a moment that really jolted the F1 fraternity and fans. Not since the black weekend of Imola 94 (when Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger died) had the sport had to confront such a situation. Thankfully in Bianchi's case, he is still alive with hope that the young Frenchman can regain consciousness someday.

But for the drivers of the 1960s and '70s, death and life-threatening injuries were part and parcel of the sport. That is the era which Grand Prix: The Killer Years looks to portray and it does so brilliantly.

It highlights the risk that drivers were taking, just how often they had to  confront deaths around them at a time when drivers seemed more of a family than they do in the current F1 paddock.

As former three-time champion Jackie Stewart said in the documentary: "In my period of driving, there was only a one out of three chance I was going to live. There was a two out of three chance I was going to die."

But it also shows how drivers' lives were almost taken for granted by F1 organisers with a distinct lack of consideration in terms of track design and safety features.

One of the key figures in the documentary is Stewart who speaks eloquently about the death of racing legend Jim Clark and went on to become a pioneer on driver safety. 

Last year he spoke to The Pat Kenny Show about advances in driver safety during a wide-ranging interview:

 

Senna

Many of you have probably seen this. But if you haven't, it's a documentary that goes beyond Formula 1 into a character study of one of the sport's complex all-time greats.

Released in 2010, the documentary by Asif Kapadia won its fair share of awards and deservedly earned plenty of plaudits.

When I say complex, Ayrton Senna was a sportsperson of great depth, but also someone willing to push the limits on the track.

That is exemplified by his tumultuous rivalry with Alain Prost and his power struggles with the sport's authorities, and all of this is portrayed in great detail with archive footage and contributions from those who spent time around the late three-time champion.

 

Driving Ambition: A Season with Eddie Jordan

With the way Formula 1 has changed financially over the years, it is unlikely a privateer team like Jordan would thrive to the same degree as they did during the '90s.

This documentary follows the team led by Irish owner Eddie Jordan during the 1998 season, a campaign in which they picked up their first ever race win, with a 1-2 finish at a attritional Belgian Grand Prix. 

It does give an insight into the pressure Mr Jordan was under from sponsors, as well as his dealings with his former driver Ralf Schumacher who struggled to keep the car on the road and also develops itchy feet.

Here is a clip from the documentary, showing the behind the scenes view of that victory in the rain.

The documentary is narrated by Liam Cunningham, who Game of Thrones watchers will know as character Davos Seaworth.

Around the same time (about 1997 or '98), I also remember ITV used to screen a series Life In The Fast Lane which was similar to the Jordan documentary in that it followed the old Benetton team.

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