Best racing films and TV box sets to stream on YouTube
Racing Movies
- Last updated: November 7th 2023
YouTube has as good a selection of racing films to stream as anywhere. We've selected the best motorsport movies, documentaries and TV box sets for you to watch right now - updated for 2021
Jochen Rindt's story gets the full Sky F1 treatment
Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
You’ve watched Senna, you’ve exhausted Drive to Survive and you just can’t hack another vintage Grand Prix rerun. But fear not, there’s more high-quality motor sport viewing to be had out there, away from the safe harbours of Netflix, Amazon et al.
YouTube has a plethora of brilliant racing films, documentaries and TV box sets, and we’ve detailed a selection below. Be sure to check back for updates and additions.
Jochen Rindt: Uncrowned Champion
Jochen Rindt would win the 1970 F1 driver’s title, but didn’t live to see himself crowned champion
Bernard Cahier/Getty Images
It feels like the mercurial talent of Jochen Rindt is almost forgotten amongst the other fabled Formula 1 stories, but this documentary does a superlative job of shining a light on the series’ only posthumous champion.
Presented by Martin Brundle, the mercurial Austrian is given the tribute his incredible talent merits with various close associates featured.
Rindt’s friend and on-track rival Jackie Stewart describes the “definite human relationship” the close pair shared whilst his manager Bernie Ecclestone believes his driver was “the most talented”.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko shares personal stories of growing up with his school friend Rindt, as he remembers tearing through mountain passes in an older relative’s car, getting expelled from school and making their early steps together in racing.
“Austria as a Formula 1 country is only because he [Rindt] opened it up,” he says.
Rindt’s biographer David Tremayne gives an insight into the landmark events if the Austrian’s life, and Stewart recalls the true tragedy of Rindt’s untimely end.
We've selected the best racing movies on Netflix, as well as documentaries and box sets ready for you to watch right now - updated for 2021
By
James Elson
Privateer Dominic Herbertson is trying to make his mark, describing proceedings as “37 miles of pure pornography on a motorcycle”, whilst James Hillier explains his transition from amateur to professional whilst stepping up to the 1000cc class.
Riders reflect on what motivates them take on what is arguably motor sport’s most dangerous event, putting their lives on the line for negligible financial gain.
TT legend Milky Quayle walks viewers through an accident which left him close to death, and also analyses the riding skills and qualities needed to master the Man.
The first black person to drive an F1 car, Willy T Ribbs, has called for more F1 team owners and investors from minority backgrounds
By
James Elson
In a sign of the times, Tedd Kravitz beams himself into Ribbs’s Texas abode via video call to interview the first ever black man to drive an F1 car.
Taking on a more direct narrative role than in Uppity, the Californian speaks of the hurdles he had to overcome to make it in motorsport, particularly the sometimes open racism and discrimination he suffered.
Anecdotes include persuading Muhammad Ali to jog with him in Hyde Park, being given a test by Bernie Ecclestone and being managed by boxing impresario Don King, as well as become the first African-Amercian to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.
Most poignantly, Ribbs gives an in-depth take on what makes Lewis Hamilton a unique racer and a leading spokesperson in the worldwide fight against racism.
ENDURANCE: The Documentary about Porsche at the Two Toughest GT Races in the World
This documentary follows the German outfit’s GT effort in both the Le Mans and Nürburgring 24 Hours, with the two toughest endurance races on the calendar back-to-back placing unbelievable pressure on the team from top to bottom.
Set as the curtain call on the longest-ever World Endurance Championship season in history, the 2019 Le Mans race brought to a close a championship-winning season for the marque’s GTE drivers while the Nürburgring event was full of emotion.
Twice around the clock at two of motor racing’s toughest circuits ever in events that test the limits of drivers, mechanics and team bosses in the effort to be first across the line 24 hours later.
We've handpicked the best racing movies Amazon Prime has to offer, as well as documentaries and box sets ready for you to watch right now - updated for 2021
By
James Elson
Narrated by Jason Statham’s gravelly tones, this era of the blue-riband endurance events is seen as a golden age by some, with the German brand locked in a tight battle with Peugeot.
Audi gives unprecedented behind-the-scenes access as it searches for its fifth straight Le Mans win. In doing so they analyse what went right – and wrong – during previous attempts.
Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen, Emanuele Pirro and other Audi luminaries talk about their own challenges and personal struggles in taking on what many believe to be the greatest race of all.
One of the more left-field viewing options out there, but also evidence of the in-depth possibilities of the internet. Michael Fassbender: Road To Le Mans charts the progress of the Hollywood star as he tries to reach a standard driving standard worthy of competing at the ultimate enduro classic, whilst being tutored by the Porsche Driving Experience instructors.
Being an expert in dramatic effect, Fassbender manages to give the narrative arc of his learning process an emotional bent, bringing the viewer along with him.
The Irish-German film star scrapes and brands his way through Porsche Driving Experiences in a 911 before training for Supercup races with a full-blown RSR.
Season 2 sees Fassbender make the huge step up to the European Le Mans Series. Can Fassbender realise his Le Sarthe dream?
