Hunt–Lauda rivalry

[1] Conversely, Hunt, famously nicknamed "The Shunt" for his aggressive driving style and charismatic persona, secured the 1976 World Drivers' Championship in the McLaren M23.

[2] Their rivalry peaked in the 1976 Formula 1 season after Lauda’s near-fatal crash at the Nürburgring, during which he suffered severe burns and inhaled toxic fumes.

Just six weeks after the accident, he made an astonishing comeback at the Italian Grand Prix, returning to the track with visible scars and a respirator.

[3] The 2013 biographical sports film Rush was based on this rivalry, including their admiration for each other, though replacing their real-world friendship with a more intense (sometimes even nasty) rivalry, before ending with a warm moment and Lauda's voiceover that Hunt was "among the very few I liked, and even fewer I respected."

While they were fierce competitors on the track, Hunt readily admitted that the two were good friends from their early days "gypsy(ing) around Europe together" in Formula Three, where they became "mates, not just casual acquaintances.