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Schumacher’s flaws are compelling in Netflix documentary

Schumacher’s flaws are compelling in Netflix documentary

For almost seven years, the champion driver has been cared for in private following a serious head injury from a skiing accident. As a consequence, the documentary has an elegiac feel.

Michael Schumacher at the 1994 Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka.  

Formula One must be the most dangerous of spectator sports. Cars reach speeds in excess of 300km/h, requiring drivers with lightning-fast reflexes, steely nerves, an intuitive feel for the track – and luck. If something goes wrong with your steering column when rounding a bend at 180km/h, no amount of skill will prevent a catastrophe.

Such a sport appeals to larger-than-life personalities who get their kicks from things that would frighten the life out of most of us. It’s a diverse group, in which champions have emerged through winner-take-all contests. In Ron Howard’s Rush (2013) – surely the best feature film about Formula One – James Hunt is a handsome playboy; his opponent, Niki Lauda, is small, abrasive and calculating. Their rivalry resembles a medieval romance played out with late-20th-century technology.

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Original URL: https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/schumacher-s-flaws-are-compelling-in-netflix-documentary-20210920-p58tam