All language subtitles for Race.To.Perfection.S01E03.480p.x264-mSD_track3_[eng]

(somber music)

(indistinct chattering)

- [Narrator] 70 years ago,
something special started.

(engine revving)

Formula One.

Man and machine in perfect unison.

Pushing each other to their limits.

Supported by teams

aiming for that top step.

- The name of the game was winning.

- [Narrator] Seeking perfection.

The road hasn't always been smooth.

(tires screeching)

We've marveled at great moments.

Had smiles brought to our faces.

(men laughing)

Cried with our heroes.

Witnessed incredible bravery

and terrible sadness.

(engine revving)

Moments, never to be forgotten.

For 70 years,

this has been their Everest.

(engine revving)

This is what makes them special.

This is the story of Formula One.

(somber music)

- I like going racing.

I've always been involved in racing.

I like the competitiveness of it.

I like the comradeship of it.

- There was nothing conventional
about Colin Chapman.

(engine revving)

- You know, Colin was a genius.

(engine revving)

- Frequently you're faced
with making a decision

between two evils

and you're gonna hurt somebody.

(engine revving)

We majorly go racing 'cause I like it.

(somber music)

- Colin Chapman was an exciting
man, a glamorous character

and the man will go down in history.

- [Interviewer] You think
you're still gonna win

the world championship?

- Oh, it's still a long
way to go, you know

but we have to try.

- He had intuition to get the car right.

It was also, he could
read exactly my comments

and could put on the car.

- Well have a go, see if
you can get him back on it.

- Colin Chapman could motivate people

over and above the norm.

- People would go to the
end of the earth for him.

- [Boy] Come on, Gad,
do a summersault, Gad.

(children screaming)

- Post-war I think if
you had a bit of a spark

then you could really stand
out and make a difference.

I guess his characteristics
of determination

and hard work and courage
and all those things

were just perfectly suited
to motor sport in particular.

- I think you have

to have the right
opportunities, most certainly.

I don't know that luck
really comes into it,

I think it's more a question of seizing

the opportunities that present themselves.

- Colin Chapman, he was a genius.

He was an out and out racer.

He lived for his racing.

- Colin was a phenomenal person

and he seemed to be able to do everything.

He could drive the cars
as quick as the drivers.

- What a terrible shame it was

that he had the shunt when he
got in the Vanwall at Reims.

We might've seen something
completely different.

(tires screeching)

(indistinct chattering)

- I think he had a break problem

and he went off and caught a marker stone

and so they couldn't fix the car

and so he didn't get to race it.

But then Lotus might have taken

a completely different course.

It could've changed the course
of history, couldn't it?

- My father was so busy
with the business growing

and his ambitions were so
big that I think he realized

that something had to go.

And having found Jimmy,

particularly 'cause of
his technical input,

it wasn't just he was quick

but he also understood the car
and they had a great rapport.

Jimmy was an extraordinary
man who was genuinely loved

by the team and the fans and the media.

He was one of those drivers who was quick

and would get the car home.

(engine revving)

Jimmy was the closest
friend that dad ever had.

In the same way my dad was

the perfect engineer for motor sport,

Jimmy was the perfect
driver for motor sport.

So you put those two things
together and that's exceptional.

- [Announcer] Jim Clark
crosses the finish line

to win the 500.

It is the culmination
of three years of effort

by car builder Colin Chapman.

And he dances down the
pits like a ballet artist.

- Unbelievable car.

I had been that time testing the BRM

and when I got into the Lotus,

it was like the Lotus
level of bite in the car

it was like it's with three inches

underneath the ground, the grip

and the BRM was like two
inches above the ground.

The car was so good

that I couldn't believe a car
could have that much grip.

But it was too fragile.

- [Narrator] Chapman's talent
has been to develop his cars

to the limit of what is allowed.

With the monocoque body,

he was the first to sit
the driver in effect

in the middle of the petrol tank.

- I was at Brands Hatch

when suddenly I saw a J B Krombag,

the Sport journalist and great friend

of Lotus and Jim Clark as well.

And he came into the
back of the pit Brands

and he was in tears.

I walked across to him,
what's up with you?

He said 'I've just heard

that Jimmy was killed at Hockenheim'.

- [Colin] I did get
very close to Jim Clark.

He was, I would say, my best friend.

Best friend I ever had.

Jimmy was in my opinion

probably the greatest racing
driver there's ever been.

I don't think there are any other drivers

in my experience in Grand Prix racing

over the last 10 years
that have ever equalled

the total race driver
concept that Jimmy was.

And this is the tragedy of motor racing

is when you do get close to a driver

and there is an accident,

of course it hurts you so much more.

- I can't imagine how he got over it

and not just the loss of Jimmy

but the loss of other team Lotus drivers.

Particularly when it's your car

which is on the track, you know?

And there was an initial
period, I think, of doubt

when no one really knew where dad was

and what he was gonna do.

That's when Graham Hill stepped in

and Bob Dance and together
the team carried on.

(engine revving)

- Put it back on?

- Yes, I should thinks so.
- Ask them to get it on.

- Yeah, if you can, if you
can get it on, on time.

(engine revving)

Can we set the slow running up a sniff?

How difficult is that?

All right now, we'll do that
out in the paddock, right?

You're bringing it out again, now.

Are they're all back on?
- [Man] They're all back on.

- Right, it's all back on again.

- Now, wait a minute, wait a minute.

- Isn't it great?

(indistinct chattering)

(engine revving)

- The sort of standard he sets for himself

and his own mechanics,
more or less sets the tone.

And of course, you've got
to come up to that anyway.

And consequently and by example,
you get the standard set

which of course is a very high one.

- In '65 when I was a rookie,

Jim won and I finished third

and I became rookie there.

I says, 'Colin, someday, I
would like to do Formula One'.

And he said, 'Mario, when
you think you're ready,

you call me. I will have a car for you'.

(engine revving)

- People don't realize
he was extremely human

and close to the drivers.

(engine revving)

- Dude, you were white,
yeah, you're better now.

You're were pretty white 10 minutes ago.

I think you ought to sit
down, sit down in the chair.

- No, I can stand actually.
- Really?

- [Jim] I thought I won't be coming out.

- [Lady Crew] Do you want a break?

- [Jim] No.

(indistinct chattering)

(engine revving)

- [Colin] Are you sure that's all right?

- [Man Crew 1] Why, what else could it be?

- You didn't hit anything, did you?

Jim, you actually haven't
hit anything all the time

when you spun.
- No.

- No, he didn't hit anything.

- [Jim] It's more like that
was spun of (indistinct)

- You see the whole of the
rear suspension is in fact

hung on that gear box.

- Oh, yeah.

- Is that brace still there?
- Yeah.

- Then they're all on the same braces.

(foreign language)

- Here, Bruce, I don't
know how better to tell you

the gear box bell housing broke

and you know the whole
of our rear suspension's

hung on the gearbox, same as yours.

And it's just broken half in the middle.

(foreign language)

- You know, the bell
housing's got a hell of a load

and if you think about it,
that's all that's happened.

It's now broken in half.

I'm bringing Brown in, we're
not gonna run him like that.

(foreign language)

- You better have a look and see

if there's any cracks
in your bell housing.

(indistinct)

- When Colin Chapman
invites you to his office

I sit down in front
and I say 'Mr. Chapman'

he said, 'No, no, call me Colin'

and my legs were shaking.

I say I'm in front of Colin Chapman,

with all the history, Jim
Clark and Graham Hill.

(indistinct)

And I was there talking to
talking to Colin Chapman,

I couldn't believe it.

(crowd cheering)

- How're you doing?
- I'm good.

- Fantastic. Great.

- Thank you very much.

(indistinct chattering)

- Hey, take that off, you don't need it.

(indistinct chattering)

- Colin come to me and he
said, 'Emerson, I'm afraid

I'm getting too close to you

and I don't want to lose you'.

- I think you have to be prepared to make

some unpalatable decisions at times

'cause frequently you're
faced with making a decision

between two evils and you're
going to hurt somebody.

- All the drivers knew
how light and how quick

a Lotus could be.

We all would have driven
it because we want to win.

And he wanted to win.

Everybody knew when you drive a Lotus

this is the risk you take.

It's your decision, if you want to do it

I would have driven a Lotus, no question.

If I can win a championship.

- Lotus were renowned for innovation.

You know, the ground effect
cars, the twin chassis car

all sorts of things.

Lotus were always at the
forefront of innovation

and I think he led that.

That was his mantra.

That's what he wanted
to see for his people.

- Quite often in race
car building, designing

it's not whether you know,

but it's whether you
know the people who know

and you can put the right resource.

For example, on the ground
effect cars, Peter Wright

had done that work at BRM and
Colin knew to channel that

into getting the 78 and then the 79 going.

- With Colin, he expected
you to work 24-7.

There was never any kind
of relaxed time with Colin.

- Tony Wright said,
Peter, don't go to Lotus.

Which surprised me 'cause I've thought

as the next best after BRM sort of thing.

And he said, 'No, no.

He said, 'You're not ready for Lotus'.

And I had no idea what he
meant until years later

when I know exactly what he meant.

Colin Chapman was mercurial, very tough.

- [Interviewer] Does he got a temper?

- Yes, he's got a definite temper.

He doesn't lose it very often though

unless there is something that disturbs it

or, so there you can get him really going.

- In that first two years,
he'd fired me twice.

One time he took me
outside, took his hat off

the famous Colin Chapman hat,

threw it on the ground and
jumped up and down on it

while he was firing me.

And then I explained that
he was actually wrong

and he just picked the
hat up, dusted it off,

put it back on his head

and we went on with what
we were doing before.

- Didn't she signal to me?
- Don't hold him up.

- Listen to Colin, it's
his job to get past.

I'm entitled.

If I'm leading a race, I
don't have to give way, right?

- Okay.
- Colin, that is true.

Would you ask your driver to give way?

It's his job to find a way around.

He's very quick, all he has
to do is find a space as he-

(engine revving)

- At one point I said

I gotta commit my career to Formula One

if it's gonna happen.

And I was already in my thirties

so I told him, I said
'Colin, believe it or not,

I don't have a ride'.

And he says, 'I wish I
had a decent car for you'.

I said, 'Do you have a spot for me'?

He says, 'Oh yes'.

He says, 'You want to drive for me'?

I said, 'But I don't have a good car'.

And he said, 'We'll make it good'.

And he said this to me,

he says, 'Next year's cars
are gonna make this one look

like a London bus'.

- Well, for years of course,
we've all been concerned

with the effect that air has
when it flows over the car

and we've been trying to
do our best to stop it

so it will go under the car.

What we're really trying to
do is to promote air flow

under the car in order to be able to come

to the underside of the car.

So produces a negative lift.

In other words, the air
passing under the car

helps to hold it on the road.

- He wanted you to finish the race with

no more than a liter of fuel in a car

and that costs us a world championship.

In '77, twice, leaner race

South Africa ran out of fuel,

the last lap leading.

In South Africa actually he
pulled some fuel out of the car

because I used to tell Bob Dance
put just a little bit more.

Colin got wind of it.

And so they siphon some
fuel out of my car on a grid

and I was on pole.

And I said, 'Colin, if
I'm leading this race

and I run out of fuel,

I'm going to take it out of your hide'.

The Sweden actually was
his fault in a sense

because he didn't have radio communication

and when I pulled in with two laps ago

they didn't have any fuel.

So by the time they got
it, I was classified sixth.

Any of those two races, we could have won,

it would have been a world championship

in '77 as well.

- Worked for him as an engineer

and basically he put me on the road

to go and visit various
suppliers and factories

to see if they had the
the will and the desire

to make some of the components
for a Formula One car.

So I guess it progressed
from there then to obviously

having some testing
then a year or so after

and then getting the first drive in 1980.

I think I went to a different
level of adrenaline that day

to have the great Gilles Villeneuve

breathing down my neck for that whole race

and fighting him for podium
place was sensational.

And yeah, it turned out
great and I finished that.

Colin was just so happy and so pleased.

And I think he was more pleased than I was

and it was just terrific for
the teams, terrific for us

and to get the first
trophy and take it back

to the Isle of Man was
a very proud moment.

- I always like to succeed
at anything I try to do

and I always like to try
to do anything better

than I see it being done before.

- There was a clouds of dust of a car

coming into the paddock
which was Peter Wall

who announced that during the night

Colin Chapman had died.

Everybody who worked for Colin
Chapman was affected by him.

So yes, we were stunned by that.

I don't know, like all
the stages of grief,

the first thing you do
is you don't believe it.

So I think we probably
went through the day

not really believing it.

There was undoubtedly an
emotion. I still feel it.

He was a great person to work for.

- It was just traumatic.

I didn't just lose a team
boss, I lost a fairy godfather

because without Colin and Hazel
and Chapman and the family

I'd never have had the opportunity.

It was very premature, very unexpected

and a big shock to the system.

- Not many people have
this incredible collection

of their father's achievements
and are able to work

with lots of people who
worked together with him

realizing those achievements.

- Look at his record, in his career.

I mean, he was a maverick in every way

and he was one not to
maintain the status quo.

He just want to explore
the limits in every way.

And some of them was costly

because deep down, he
wanted to give the driver

as much of an advantage as possible.

- The team, they played harder

but they really worked hard,
but evidently had great fun.

(somber music)

- At boarding school in Scotland,

which is when I was about 11, 12

up to 17, 18 or something,

I used to run around pretending

I was a racing car (grunts)
and all this other stuff.

(indistinct chattering)

- Dad's story is one of those fairytales

where he came from absolutely nothing

and he went on to achieve huge things

in the sport and dominate it.

- Frank was, how can I say it?

He had absolutely no money at all.

In fact, we once paid him 10 shillings

it was a ground floor flat,

to run naked round the flat

while opposite was a church

and they were all coming out of mass.

And then we locked him out of the flat.

I mean, it was that
sort of school boy antic

silly joke world that we lived in.

And he traded car parts,

which we all did,

selling to continental
Formula Three drivers

who couldn't get the wheels and parts

for Brabham's or Coopers.

And that helped sort of
fund your own racing.

(engine revving)

- I'd won quite a lot in the Formula Two.

That was evident to me, that I can drive

that type of car which
could possibly win races.

- In 1970 when Piers died,
was killed in an accident

and from that time on,
until the end of 1975

I had a very difficult period financially.

I sold control of what was then called

Frank Williams Racing
Cars, to Walter Wolf.

And basically that cleaned the slate

and we had a fresh start

although it didn't work out too well.

I left Walter, started a fresh company.

Patrick had joined that
company from day one

and together we set up what is now known

as Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited

with its good history of success to date.

- The start of Frank
properly in Formula One

I think was when he set up

Williams Grand Prix
Engineering with Patrick.

And he said to Patrick,
'Would you be on board'?

And Patrick said, 'Well,
Frank, faint heart

never won fair lady'.

And that's how they started.

- I always got on fine with Frank.

He was always, as you well know

passionate and enthusiastic
about motor sport.

It struck me pretty early on

that he didn't know much
about the technical side.

- It might advantage of take a chance,

and whip it and put dries on to maximize

the possible dry running.
- [Crew] Yeah.

- 'Cause most guys are saying
(beep) no, do it next lap.

No, I won't do it now,
there's only 30 laps to go,

maybe I can just manage.

- We're gonna fill (beep)
into the drag until

it's absolutely impossible.
- Correct.

- And then we change.
- And then we change.

I'll tell you how much.

- I always remember about Frank.

I thought a guy that persuasive

is gonna go a long way
in racing, and he did.

But unfortunately at that state

didn't have near enough money.

- I think we've got the wrong mounting.

(engine revving)

Joe, have we got another wheel mounted?

(indistinct)

- Formula One is always very expensive.

It was very difficult
even to find the money.

Sufficient money.

- Everything that Frank did
was motivated towards racing.

So I had to become motivated
towards racing as well

so that's how we lived.

And we did live from hand to mouth a bit.

We did fail to pay our
rent in rented houses

and became evicted,

and were generally a nuisance
to everybody, I think.

- Frank never ever thought about money.

It didn't come into his head.

- He was basically

using the sponsorship money

that he earned each year,

that he obtained each year to
pay the previous year's bills.

He was actually having to...

For example for Cosworth Engines rebuilds,

he would have to go there and pay cash.

- We used to pay Frank

as they say in the trade, on the drip

which was about, I think,
a Cosworth rebuild then

was about 2000 quid.

So every week prior to the Grand Prix,

we were writing on a check
for a Cosworth engine rebuild.

- In 1979, we didn't have
either a motor home or a truck.

We used to go and get a rental truck

and just load all the flyway containers

because we had to have them
to go to Flyaway races.

And Roy Reader from McLaren,

who's the McLaren Truckee
used to get the cars off

when we got to the circuit

but because it took
everyone in the factory

to lift the cars onto the truck.

So by the end of that
season, we were winning races

and so we had an income,
but Frank wasn't one

for spending a penny

on something he didn't need
to back then, not a penny.

- You know, we'd have a
10 foot rental caravan

but people knew that William's team

has mugs of tea and a bun.

It wasn't much in the way of hospitality.

Frank could put his head on the pillow

and go to sleep for 10
hours, whatever the problem,

if the bailiffs were
turning up at the door.

He had just unstoppable
confidence in the future.

- Frank was wonderful.

He used to come and see me.

'Bernie could you do me a big favor?'

Yes, Frank.

'Is it possible you could lend me 2000'?

Which was a lot of money.

Sure.

Give him a check, and he said
"I'll pay you next week'.

Okay, Frank. Thank you.

Next week, Frank would duly
appear with a check for the 2000

talk about life in general.

And just before he leaves,
'Could you do me a big favor?

Could you lend me 2,500?'

- Mum really did play an
instrumental part in Williams.

Those boys said if your mum wasn't around

Williams wouldn't exist

'cause even going back to the 70s

it was really mom's money
that kept Frank going.

When he had none and the bailiffs
kept knocking on the door

it was mom that would sell her car

or sold our flat or whatever.

But even away from the financial aspect

she was always there in the background.

The always say that, don't they?

Behind any successful man,
there's always a strong woman.

She always said she was
Williams's biggest fan.

She cared so deeply.

- He used to call this a circus.

I don't know whether they
still call it a circus

but we were a bit like a traveling circus

'cause everybody knew everybody.

And I think that was a difference.

I think now, because of the
numbers involved in Formula One

you don't know everybody, but
when you're all the drivers...

- I think I would have
liked very much to race cars

for Frank Williams.

I liked Frank Williams right
from the very beginning.

If it hadn't been Ken Tittle,

then I think I would have done

and I think I would have stayed with him.

I think long-term relationships
are absolutely essential.

- I joined as a machinist when he was

in this factory in Redding
and then he lost the company

and he started again in Dicker

and I was the 11th employee
going back to Dicker.

So, you swept before you drove a truck

and you did whatever was needed.

And that was fabulous for someone starting

in motor racing as I was.

You even knew when the
bills weren't getting paid

'cause the bailiff would pop round.

That was the life and I
wouldn't swap it for anything.

- He was absolutely dedicated.

And where the rest of us
eventually left motor racing

and did other things with our lives,

there was no question that Frank
was going to never give up.

- He was very competitive, Frank.

Frank was a guy that went to win.

- Well, the name of the game is winning

and it's what motivates everybody here.

To win provides a lot of
morale, a lot of pride,

a lot of self satisfaction.

Being involved in racing
is the backbone of it all.

The bonus is the winning.

- We haven't got any indication overnight

on what the problem might be.

If we get a major problem
on full tanks tomorrow

like sort of solid staring or something

after the morning warmup, then
we just have to take a pump

on putting it right

- Patrick, passionate he wants to win

and he passionately wants
people to use his car properly.

They put a lot of time and effort

into engineering the best car
and then they have to give it

to these odd ball and
difficult characters sometimes

called racing drivers who have variables

and the kind of driver
he loved was clearly

the Jonesy's and Rosberg's and the Mantles

who just got a car and just wrung

every little last drop out of it.

- If a driver was a real brute in a car

and just slam that car around
the tracking, qualifying

and extracted the most out
of it, Frank loved that.

- Well, it's a very difficult thing.

It's like a jockey trying to race

the grand national on a donkey.

He needs a good horse as well.

You need a good jockey and a good horse

the same as you need a
good driver and a good car.

If you've got a bad driver and a good car

or vice versa, you won't win.

You've got to have a combination of two.

- Jonesy came in for that year

and then it just went very quickly.

It almost felt as if we
hadn't had these 10 years

of having non-qualifying races

and borrowing engines from Ken Tirell.

That 10 years almost
seemed not to have existed

because suddenly we were there.

It wasn't slow, it was
going from there to there.

- I went to the Williams
factory and I met Patrick

who was obviously unbelievably impressive

and later turned out to be probably

one of the best Formula
One designers of all time.

And then they had a word
on the car called Saudia.

And in those days in
England, they were the flavor

of the month in terms of
throwing Rolexes at people.

So I thought, okay, well
it was push comes to shove

I'll get a Rolex or something.

That was the FWO6 which turned
out to be a great little car.

It was probably just a little bit late.

It wasn't a ground effects car

but as a non ground effects car,

it was just a great car to drive

and we should have won one
possibly two grand Prix

in that car.

So I thoroughly enjoyed that.

Then of course, the following year

Patrick developed the FW07

and after Long Beach on the Monday

I went up to Ontario motor
Speedway to drive the 0 7

and then I hopped in it
and I couldn't believe it.

After about four laps, I came in.

I said, now I know why bloody Andredi's

winning all these races.

You know, the amount of
grip that it had going

in and out of the corner was fantastic.

And as it turned out, it turned
out to be the car to have.

(engine revving)

- My motivation to keep going?

I just enjoy racing, I'm a racer

and lots of people are like me.

I've only ever done that motor
racing in one form or another

either as a driver or as a
mechanic and now as an entrant.

It's never difficult to keep

one's personal motivation there.

I just enjoy it so much I couldn't stop

and I don't want to stop.

- Tragically, the accident
obviously affected

his life hugely

and must've really blunted
some of his success.

- When the accident occurred
with Frank, the road accident,

we'd been testing at Ricard

and Frank was doing a half marathon

on the Sunday of that weekend.

I had to get back as well.

So he said, 'Come on, we'll
go together to the airport'.

And at one point we were
breaking down into a tight corner

right-hander, and the back end jinked out

as he hit the brakes.

And I remember thinking
he's going quite quickly

and the last thing I
saw was we were heading

on the inside to what
appeared to be a stone wall.

And we were gonna hit the Stonewall.

And my natural reaction was just to get

into the crash position and bury myself

as low down into the foot
well area as I could,

waiting for this impact.

The car hit the end
and went up in the air.

Just complete silence.

I remember just thinking what is going on,

there's no noise now.

And then (claps) massive impact

as we landed nose down and then roof down.

There was a bit of a smell of
fuel but we were upside down.

The roof had caved in.

There was stuff everywhere,
as you can imagine,

all our bags and briefcases and blood.

And so all I thought about
was trying to get Frank out

through the back of the car,

trying to keep his neck
as stable as possible.

But I did manage to eventually get him out

holding him and all the time he was saying

'I can't feel my legs, they
feel as if they're floating'.

- Frank broke his neck
and he was in a band

his spinal cord very high up.

And he was to all intents
and purposes on his death bed

and it was only a courtesy
of his wife, Ginny

that he didn't die.

His lungs filled with fluid
and Jenny was being advised

let him go, let him go.

And she was sort of pumping
his lungs out and screaming

at the doctors to keep
him alive and whatever.

He owes the remainder
of his life to Jenny.

He's sadly not with us anymore.

- And eventually he
started to make progress

and he wasn't very interested
in doing all the physio

that people who have his injuries

should be interested in doing.

He was much more interested
in getting back to a race

and running the race team.

That's what got Frank going again.

(crowd cheering)

- I feel normal.

Maybe not quite as mobile
as I would like to be

but I'm enjoying being here
very, very much indeed.

And I'm glad that the team
is going very well without me

because I do also at the
same time feel a bit rusty.

Everything's happening
a bit quickly for me.

- I do think that drivers fit into teams.

Nigel was very much part of
the Williams family, I think.

I think he was one of the last drivers

who was closest to us in age

that once had a relationship with him.

When I think about Nigel, you
just always had this feeling

that he was always going
to give 100% or more.

- He's (foreign language) without doubt.

The most electrifying of all the drivers.

In my opinion none of the previous three

could get out of the car what he does

when he's on a qualifying lap.

(crowd cheering)

- He was hard to manage in some
ways, but he was very quick.

He was very, very quick.

- They wanted to go out
there and do their bit

and it was a very British ethos, you know?

So it's quite fun carrying that sense

that you were carrying the flag as well.

- You would not have thought
that Damon could ever be

a world champion and I was totally wrong,

and I've expressed that.

Those day's it was the
worst thing you could do,

but he was very, very quiet

Rarely, if ever complained about his car

he just got on and drove.

- When it came to '96, Michael
had gone to another team

and wasn't really in the title fight.

So I got 100% support
from Frank and Patrick.

We had a new guy, we had Jack in the team

so they weren't expecting him...

They were expecting him to
take a year to settle in

which is sort of what happened.

And I got 100% support
and became world champion,

thanks to Frank and
Patrick and the whole team.

- I can remember when Frank
had won 100 Grand Prix

and Alexander Huskies
gave some sort of speech.

I don't know where it was.

And he said, winning
one Grand Prix, is hard.

To win 100 is quite extraordinary.

But I don't think that the
novelty ever wears off.

When you win a race its
an incredible feeling.

- [Announcer] A new winner in Formula One

it's Pastor Maldonado and Donna Williams

with their first Grand Prix victory

since Juan Pablo Montoya in 2004.

They realize why they come racing

and why they love Formula One.

(crowd cheering)

- We'd gone there as a family.

Turns out it was the last
race that our mom went to

which is deeply sad, but
I'm so pleased that she did.

(crowd applauding)

- The team was his life.

It was maybe the only thing
that he had apart from family

but I think it was maybe even
more important sometimes.

Sometimes I was even talking
to him, I said, 'Frank, for me

we need to buy everything from Mercedes'.

We need to buy the gearbox,
we need to buy the suspension.

And Frank said, 'I cannot'.

I say why?

'Because I have all my
people from the gearbox.

I cannot fire these people'.

The team is his life.

- Dad's two, I think,
serious incidents in his life

that have deeply affected him probably

more than he would ever let on

would be Pier's death and Ayrton's death.

Piers was a great friend of dad.

He'd met his, I think his
soulmate almost in Piers

and the same with Ayrton.

I know how much dad adored
Ayrton and wanted for many years

to get him to drive for Williams

and it finally happened.

And then the unthinkable
happened just a few months later.

That, for dad, I think
it was heartbreaking.

- I regard Williams as a great
Formula One team, definitely.

They've got the history,
they've got the record.

They currently haven't
got the (foreign language)

they should do.

- Frank is wholly unique

but every team prints
it's place, don't they?

Ron was unique, they'll
never be another Ron.

They'll never be another Colin Chapman.

- When you look at the results of Williams

compared to where they started,
they were the factory team.

They didn't have a really
big budget to start with.

It was purely because of Frank
and Patrick's determination

and hard work that got
them to where they were.

- Williams' legacy in Formula One,

I would say, should be

that people can still
become involved in the sport

and people can still achieve
great things in the sport

despite perhaps not starting
out with the means to do so.

Dad's story is one of those fairytales

where he came from absolutely nothing

and he went on to achieve
huge things in the sport

and dominate it.

As long as people like dad have been there

to prove that anything's
possible in sport,

people will keep watching.

- I surprise people

by telling them actually
I've never really liked cars.

And of course they don't believe me.

- Ron Dennis is one of the
real Formula One trailblazers.

(engine revving)

(exciting music)

(crowd cheering)

- What I do love is, I love making things

and I am fiercely competitive.

So Formula One provided

the perfect opportunity

to be in an extremely competitive world

and make beautiful things.

Because whilst not every Grand Prix car

has been aesthetically beautiful

they are normally made very, very well.

- Ron is famous for attention to detail.

By the way a lot of senior
people in motor racing are.

Jackie Stewart famously was, and is.

Bernie Ecclestone famously was, and is.

David Richards, Flavio Briatore.

All of these people like
presentational perfection

otherwise known as OCD
and none would admit that.

- I think in today's language,
I am a compulsive obsessive

and I have always been that way,

but mine sits in my mind

where it won't stop
analyzing, seeking perfection,

trying to find a better way to do things.

But at the same time

in an environment of phenomenal order.

If you open any cupboard in my home,

every can is completely aligned

and with the labels pointing to the front.

- It was attention to detail.

Everything had to be done just right.

I think he met Roger Penske actually

and saw the way Roger
did things, ran his team.

And you could see that
Ron was picking up on that

and saying that there's
no excuse for failure.

(engine revving)

- I wouldn't be here
without Roy Salvadori.

No question.

No question at all, for lots of reasons.

But you know, that was the
guy that gave me the chance.

That was the guy that nurtured me.

That was the guy that explained things

and gave me a compass heading

that I've followed all my life.

- Well, I'd known Ron a long time

because he had come
into Formula Two in '71

with an outstanding visual,

if you want to call it, operation.

Rondel racing.

A year but two, grab a BT 36

and they were the best prepared.

The scale of what Ron had created,

got backers who gave him
the funds to do this.

- Rondel racing was unofficially

the Brabham Formula Two team.

Ron sat me down one day and said,

listen I'd like you to come

and look after sponsorship
and that sort of stuff

and I'll pay you 10 pounds a week.

- I've got to be fair.

Without Ron Touranac
agreeing to loan me two cars

and a few other things falling into place,

I would have never succeeded.

- At that point, McLaren, they were going

through a very dark phase.

In 1979, their ground effect car,

which should have been the dominant car

turned out to be a
McLaren, which was an M 28.

It was probably one of the worst cars

that McLaren factory has ever produced.

Malboro who were the principal
backers of the McLaren team

were concerned that McLaren
had lost the plot, totally.

- I tried to convince them to drop

the sponsorship of McLaren
and sponsor my team.

Paul came back and said no,

it's not gonna happen.

I phoned up John Hogan and I
said, look, I have an idea.

Why don't I buy McLaren?

And he said, 'what do you mean?'

'How are you going to buy the McLaren?'

I said, 'If you told them that

you weren't gonna sponsor
them unless they sold to me

and let's say they sell half to me,

then maybe they would be faced
with no other alternative'.

- So once Ron became a part of the team

and John Bonard came with a
technical sort of knowledge

there's going to be a commitment
to a construction method

which had never, ever been
used in Formula One previously.

- Because of the ground
effect one way of improving it

was to make your ground
fit wings wider, bigger.

So you got more surface
area, more down force.

To get that, I had to narrow the chassis

and by narrowing the
chassis as much as I did,

I would've lost torsional stiffness

and general bending
stiffness of the chassis.

So I thought, how can I put that back?

I need another material.

I thought about, maybe instead
of an aluminum skin monocoque

I'll make a steel skin monocoque.

Well then, weight was an issue and so on.

And then I got a phone
call from Steve Nichols

who I knew from my indie car time.

- He told me he was developing a new car

for project four.

Wanted a stiff narrow
monocoque for the ground effect

type of cars that were in existence then,

and he said he was wanted to
use an innovative new material

to add stiffness and they
couldn't get anybody in England

to build it for him.

And so I said, well,
I guess you're talking

about carbon fiber then

and I might be able to help you

because I used to work at Hercules

and we used carbon fiber
in the rocket motors

for the Trident missile system.

- Ooh, Julie arrived at
Hercules aerospace and

with a sort of smoke
and mirrors performance

convinced them that on the
basis that no one in the world

ever had heard the company,

because everything they
did was top secret,

that this would be a project

that they could proudly be associated with

and they would get some reflected benefit.

And so we forged an amazing relationship

and the early examples of the chassis

weren't particularly cosmetically pleasing

but they were unbelievably,
torsionally strong, so stiff.

And that just became the catalyst

to the entire success of McLaren.

- The design was the car that
then became McLaren MP 401.

It became in effect the template

for what Formula One would go on to do.

- I needed to choose someone
when I considered Nikki

and I phoned him out of the blue

and said, 'Nikki, why
don't you come back'?

Nikki didn't say yes or
no. He just said, 'Okay'.

Now of course it was
very quickly on the posts

and so the rest is history, as they say.

(engine revving)

- He was the toughest guy
to beat, as far as I know.

The toughest guy.

So therefore this championship

is the most important one for me.

(crowd cheering)

- Portuguese Grand
Prix, 1984 was memorable

to say the least.

Prost was unbelievably positive in defeat.

We had one unbelievable
party that evening.

And of course ironically the
world championship was decided

by half a point because of
the race in Monte Carlo.

(crowd cheering)

- I think Ron is the most
visionary person I've worked with.

He's a guy that you can
have a conversation with

and leave the room and
feel truly motivated to go.

Most of us, if we're
lucky, we look like that

but things too often, we look down there.

Ron looks he's right up there.

- When I first started with Ron at McLaren

I came up to be a manager
of small teams like ATS,

other racing and shadow.

I was always balancing the money.

So when I got to McLaren and Ron said

if you want something that's going

to make the car faster, buy it.

Don't care how much it costs.

Don't you ever worry about money.

I worry about money, you
get the best for the team.

Wow, that was just like
a breath of fresh air.

(somber music)

(indistinct chattering)

- I look back on that race in Adelaide,

it wasn't bad luck.

It was a bad decision.

They didn't stop for tires

and the tire failure was not

the result of a puncture, it was worn out.

And they just took the wrong decision

about how they manage their
tires and when they changed.

So I think that they lost
the world championship

but at the same time we won it,

not because of their bad luck

but because of our better decisions.

(crowd cheering)

Looking back on it, of course it was

that moment of vindication

for John and for myself

for taking that really adventurous step

into the world of carbon fiber.

And of course now not
only every Formula One car

but most competitive cars,

you are much better heavily
strapped into a survival cell

than any other type of accident.

(engine revving)

The best thing about, Oisin was
intelligence and rationality

so, much as he had the
odd Brazilian flare up

you could have amazingly
deep conversations with him.

And I think I understood him
better than anybody else,

everyone on the planet,

because I was in a period of his life

which was the most intense
period of his life,

all the success of his life.

And I saw him wrestle with things

that never came to the surface

because they weren't things

that were directly taking
place within Grand Prix racing.

It was very much things that
happened in his private life

that I managed to help
him with both as a friend,

but also as someone that
I felt mentored him well.

So some of the crisis is in his life.

- The most important thing to all of us

is to keep the good moments.

And I had a tremendous time.

The records speak for
themselves, the results

the championships, and
I leave friends behind.

And I think that's the best way to do.

Leaving friends behind, winning last race,

coping in an extremely difficult season

with the technical
reasons that we all know

and winning five races.

It is tremendous.

- Ron's vision meant that
he could see somebody

like Lewis as a teenager
going so well in karting.

And who knows where Lewis'
career would have gone

if Ron hadn't have picked
him up and helped him

through those stages into what was then

a winning Formula One car.

- I met Ron in 1995.

My dad was like, that's
the guy that built the cars

that Ayrton used to race, the McLaren's.

And I'd been such a fan
watching Ayrton race them

and that was my dream.

Probably that the MP 404
was like my dream car.

And so I was like, okay, this is the guy

I need to go and speak to.

- He asked for my autograph.

Two years later he came back,
asked for my autograph again

and there was a brightness
and determination on his face.

Now, at that time I was a bit bored.

It's the truth.

I sort of said, okay, I've
been thinking about it.

Here's the deal.

I will sponsor your future seasons

but you have to understand,

you've got to do everything I say.

And then to his disappointment,
I said, well first thing is,

you're going back to school.

- Initially, when I got signed

I didn't feel any pressure,

but as I come to realize
the opportunity that I had

over the next couple of years

it felt like a lot of pressure.

- It wasn't so much about
forcing him into education.

It was more keeping him in a normal life.

- He created an opportunity
for me that no one else

had the kindness in their heart to do.

We spoke to so many people.

It's interesting today.

I see people who, who now support me,

who back then when we tried to sell them

the dream of being the first
black Formula One driver

or black family in the sport,

and they didn't support us back then,

or they thought it was
impossible or they laughed.

Now they're supporters.

But Ron was the only one
that saw something in me

that no one else did

but I feel forever indebted to him

and I forever have a huge
amount of love for Ron.

- Lewis Hamilton. Lewis,
you won the GPG race.

Do you think you might be standing here

next year on the grid?

- Hopefully.

It's a fantastic feeling to be here.

I just hope I can sit there next year.

- Okay, and do you think
you'll be ready for it,

fully ready for it?

- I think so.

- I went to Fernando and I
said, Fernando, by the way

I've decided to put Lewis in the car.

And he thought for a moment, and he said

'Does he want to win the constructors'?

Meaning that he didn't feel that Lewis

was going to be much of a threat

or much of a points scorer,

which I look back on and smile about now

because, how wrong he was.

(siren blaring)

(indistinct chattering)

- My memory of the race is vivid.

(crowd cheering)

It was a calculated risk.

We knew that we had to be

in a good position on tires
at the end of the race.

(engine revving)

And it nearly went wrong,
but it didn't go wrong.

(engine revving)

(crowd cheering)

Yes, it was two corners for me

and when Lewis got past,
yes, people were slow

to realize what was happening

and certainly Ferrari was slow

to realize what was happening.

(crowd cheering)

But, we won.

We knew where we had to
finish and that's what we did.

(crowd cheering)

Uncharacteristically of McLaren

we started on the basis of
let's win the world championship

and don't worry about winning the race.

The world championship is
won over the whole season.

(indistinct chattering)

There are very few people

who really understand what it takes

to win consistently in Formula One.

- Congratulations on the constructor's.

(indistinct chattering)

- There are many people
who believe that they do

but that only makes winning
a little bit easier.

That particular weekend,
that particular last lap

had its share of emotion,

but I didn't feel at all lucky
coming out of that race win.

- [Team] Hip Hip!
- [Team] Hooray!

- Ron, as team Principal won more races

and more world championships than anyone,

including Enzo Ferrari,
including Colin Chapman.

That's Ron's place in Formula One history.

You can't say better than that.

- Ron's achievements at McLaren.

I mean, unreal.

From where he took that team from

and what he built it into.

- And the warmth within McLaren under Ron,

impossible to discern from
outside, was very real.

- He's achieved a lot in his
long career in Formula One

and you've got to remember
that also Formula One

from the 80s to the 90s to
now, it's changed so much,

but he's always been there fighting.

- The whole team performed very well.

That's from the guys back in the factory,

the race team has put a big effort in

to do a 7 second pit stop.

After working that hard,
it's a credit to all of them

and it's good to be part of it.

Throughout my history with McLaren

I would often say to people that McLaren,

if it was a book, I would be
merely chapter in the book.

The best moment for me

was the day I drove away
on the 1st June, 2017,

because it was the full
stop on my chapter.

It wasn't a negative

and it was just the point at which

I felt it was complete.

Next day, I got up and completely focused

on all the other things
I want to do in my life.