Lauda and Liddell – Speed Demons Building Deep Understanding

In the movie Rush, two Italians fortuitously come across a genuine racing legend. The movie tells the true story of the rivalry between two Formula 1 drivers, John Hunt and Niki Lauda. There is a scene where Mr. Lauda – only in his opening strides in F1 racing - asks his future wife Marlene, whom he has just met, for a ride to the nearest station. He had been unceremoniously left behind by his colleague who brought him to the party. As the car goes down the Italian country side, Marlene sings along with the radio. Mr. Lauda however can’t help noticing something. He turns down the music without Marlene’s permission and immediately her carefree smile fades. Here’s how the script goes. ‘What are you doing?’

‘You hear that noise when you accelerate?’

‘No.’

‘Your drive belt is loose.’

‘My what?’

‘Alternator. And when you brake, your foot goes all the way down. Means there’s air in the system.’

‘Anything else?’

‘No. Apart from the rear brakes are imbalanced. The front right wheel is flat, and it feels like a crack in the engine block...which explains why you’re drifting so much.’

‘How can you tell?’

‘My ass.’

‘What?’

‘God gave me an OK mind, but a really good ass, which can feel everything in a car.’

‘You don’t know what you’re talking about. The car is fine. And it just had a service a week ago.’

‘Not a good one.’

‘A very good one. From a proper garage. It cost a fortune. This car is good as new. Relax.’

Shortly thereafter, the car stalls as white smoke rises from the engine. Niki tries to fix it, but to no avail. He has a fan belt in his hand, but it has virtually disintegrated under the heat of the over-worked engine. He pushes a pen into a large crack in the engine, slick with oil and grease. ‘Nothing I can do here. The car needs a garage.’

Niki Lauda was not just a great driver. He did not just know how to manipulate a car at high speeds; he also understood cars; how they work, what causes them to perform at their best, when to go fast, when not to, what conditions could be dangerous, etc. In fact, – contrary to his own admission - he had a mind that could interpret the signals his derriere was giving him and make sound judgments about the condition of the car, and the consequences that will have on its functioning.

They decide to hitchhike to the nearest town. When Niki tries to stop passersby, no one obliges. At this point, the pretty Marlene asks Niki to step aside. A car with two Italians passes by, only to come to a screeching halt. They come out, and one gestures the two to his car. Here’s how the script goes.

‘An honor, please!!! But on one condition..’ He whispers into Niki’s ear who protests, but then slowly and reluctantly gets into the car and starts the engine. Marlene watches as the Italians strap themselves in with the seat-belts, tightening them...giggling like schoolboys.

‘Will someone please tell me what’s going on? Who are you, anyway? What do you DO?’

‘You don’t know? He’s a Formula I driver. Who just signed for Ferrari!’

‘Him? Never. Impossible! Formula 1 drivers have long hair, are sexy, have shirts open to here. Anyway, look at the way he’s driving!! Like an old man!!’

Formula 1 drivers are supposed to fit a pattern. Niki Lauda did not. Again, he is definitely not the first to be atypical. Consider a speed demon of another stripe - Eric Liddell, the Scottish Olympian from a century ago. Liddell was certain of God’s call on his life to be a missionary to China, but he also understood that, that same God had made him an excellent athlete. So much so that he was unwilling to go against his conviction to ‘keep the sabbath holy.’ That meant to him, that despite the pleas of the Prince of Wales who visited him on behalf of the country, Liddell would not run his Olympic race, scheduled for a Sunday. Unusual for any competitor, driven to win. His headmaster at school had described him as being ‘entirely without vanity.’

Mr. Lauda had a genius mind for racing and cars. It is as if God made him for that one special purpose. In Liddell’s case, it was as if he had internalized this grand Call. In the movie Chariots of Fire, the scriptwriter captured this sentiment well, when Eric is quizzed by his sister about whether he is moving in a direction where he could miss on God’s call. He responds ‘God has made me for China. But He has also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.’

Liddell had learned to fit the arena of meaningful accomplishment in this life, to a grander picture. Lauda had difficulties in doing that. After Niki marries Marlene, they honeymoon in Ibiza, Spain. That night she wakes to discover the bed is empty beside her and finds him on the balcony. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘It’s the enemy, you know. Happiness. It weakens you. Puts doubt in your mind. Because all of a sudden you have something to lose.’

Marlene cautions him. ‘When you call happiness an enemy, then it’s too late. Then you have lost already.’

There is a passage in the Hebrew scriptures where David is to be made king of Israel after the death of King Saul. Every tribe from Israel sends their representatives and troops to show allegiance and crown him king. The total number sent from the 12 tribes is 398,300. Out of that, there were a few ‘from Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do—200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command.’ That’s .05% of the people who came to support, who are credited with ‘understanding’.

Both Lauda and Liddell were excellent in their respective fields, but they employed different perspectives. For Mr. Lauda, the happiness that accompanies a blessing such as marriage takes away from his primary calling. For Mr. Liddell, speed – while not the heart of his calling - was a part of his calling and one he recognized to be God-given, and therefore to be delighted in. At the 1976 Grand Prix race in Nürburgring, Niki Lauda asked his fellow competitors to boycott the race as his expert sense told him it was dangerous. The safety standards were subpar. When they didn’t, he went against his better judgment and raced. In an ensuing accident, Niki was trapped in his car and was severely burned, the marks of which remained with him the rest of his storied life. Liddell on the other hand refused to compromise his belief that he should honor the Sabbath and therefore ran another race, which was not his strength, and still won Gold. Not that he would have cared if he landed silver. The very next year - 1925 - he went to China as a missionary, and died in a Japanese internment camp in 1945.

Niki Lauda had nothing to prove to a racing novice as was Marlene, and had a reasonable response to her disbelief. ‘No need to drive fast. It only increases the percentage of risk. We’re not in a hurry. No one is paying me. Right now, with zero incentive.’ Liddell had nothing to prove to the world! He was marching to a different drummer. There are very few of that tribe, and we need it to increase.