We know that voice: Simon Taylor as the race announcer in Rush

In Hollywood’s current roll-call, Ron Howard is an F1-stature director. Over the past 35 years this former child actor has directed some 23 feature movies, from Parenthood to The Da Vinci Code. A Beautiful Mind won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. Apollo 13 was praised for its accurate portrayal of the American space programme and nominated for nine Oscars, winning two.

British playwright Peter Morgan wrote West End hits like Frost/Nixon and The Audience, and has scripted more than a dozen films, including The Queen, The Other Boleyn Girl and Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy. He lives in Vienna: his wife, an Austrian princess, just so happens to be a friend of Niki Lauda.

When I heard that Howard and Morgan were collaborating on a major feature film about the 1976 battle for the world title between Niki Lauda and James Hunt, I was intrigued, but concerned. That was one of the most exciting, and most significant, F1 seasons ever, and I was there to witness most of it. But Hollywood’s past efforts to portray motor racing have not always been happy (although John Frankenheimer’s 1966 Grand Prix stands out). Then it emerged that massive efforts were being made to get the visual detail of the story entirely right, and owners of the actual 1976 cars were becoming involved. If anyone could get it right, Apollo 13’s director could.