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Niki Lauda
Photo: Hans van Dijk for Anefo / neg. stroken, 1945-1989, 2.24.01.05, item number 932-2315, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons22

Niki Lauda

Austrian racing driver (1949–2019)

Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian racing driver, motorsport executive, and aviation entrepreneur, who competed in Formula One from 1971 to 1979 and from 1982 to 1985. Lauda won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and—at the time of his retirement—held the record for most podium finishes (54); he won 25 Grands Prix across 13 seasons, and remains the only driver to have won a World Drivers' Championship with both Ferrari and McLaren.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Niki Lauda (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Feb 22, 1949, died May 20, 2019.1

About

Born and raised in Vienna, Lauda was the grandson of local industrialist Hans Lauda. Starting his career in karting, he progressed to Formula Vee and privateer racing in the late 1960s. After his career stalled, Lauda took out a £30,000 bank loan and secured a place in European Formula Two with March Engineering in 1971, making his Formula One debut with the team at the Austrian Grand Prix. He was promoted to a full-time seat in 1972, ending the season with a non-classified championship finish, while winning the British Formula Two Championship. Lauda moved to BRM for the 1973 season, scoring his maiden points finish in Belgium and earning a seat with Ferrari the following year alongside Clay Regazzoni. Lauda took his maiden podium in his debut for Ferrari, and his maiden victory three races later at the Spanish Grand Prix. After winning five Grands Prix in his 1975 campaign, Lauda won his first title, becoming the first Ferrari-powered World Drivers' Champion in 11 years.

While leading the 1976 championship—amid a fierce title battle with James Hunt—Lauda was seriously injured during the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, suffering severe burns and other life-changing injuries when his Ferrari 312T2 caught fire during a crash. He returned to racing six weeks later at the Italian Grand Prix, eventually losing the title to Hunt by one point. Lauda remained at Ferrari in 1977, winning several races on the way to his second championship and clinching the title at the United States Grand Prix. He eventually left Ferrari, where he was replaced by Gilles Villeneuve, and signed with Brabham in 1978, achieving podiums in every race he finished that season, with victories in Sweden and Italy. Amid a winless 1979 season for Brabham, which had moved to Ford Cosworth V8 engines, Lauda left the team after the Italian Grand Prix, and took a two-year hiatus from racing. He returned with McLaren in 1982, winning multiple races. After a winless 1983 campaign, Lauda was partnered by Alain Prost the following season, where he beat Prost to his third title by a record half-point. With seven years between his second and third championships, Lauda holds the record for the longest period in the history of the sport between World Championship victories, breaking Jack Brabham's record of six. Lauda retired after the 1985 season—taking his final victory at the Dutch Grand Prix—having achieved 25 race wins, 24 pole positions, 24 fastest laps, and 54 podiums in Formula One.

Outside of Formula One, Lauda won the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 1973 with Alpina, and the inaugural BMW M1 Procar Championship in 1979 with Project Four. In aviation, Lauda founded and managed three airlines: Lauda Air from 1985 to 1999, Niki from 2003 to 2011, and Lauda from 2016 onwards. He returned to Formula One in an advisory role at Ferrari in 1993, and was the team principal of Jaguar from 2001 to 2002. From 2012 until his death, Lauda was the non-executive chairman and co-owner of Mercedes, winning six consecutive World Constructors' Championships with the team from 2014 to 2019. Lauda was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1993.

From Wikipedia’s article on Niki Lauda, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

Lauda was born on 22 February 1949 in Vienna, Austria, to a wealthy paper manufacturing family. His paternal grandfather was the Viennese-born industrialist Hans Lauda.

Lauda became a racing driver despite his family's disapproval. After starting out with a Mini, Lauda moved on into Formula Vee, as was normal in Central Europe, but rapidly moved up to drive in private Porsche and Chevron sports cars. With his career stalled, he took out a £30,000 bank loan, secured by a life insurance policy, to buy his way into the fledgling March team as a Formula Two driver in 1971. Because of his family's disapproval, he had an ongoing feud with them over his racing ambitions and abandoned further contact.

Lauda was quickly promoted to the Formula One team, but drove for March in Formula One and Formula Two in 1972. Although the latter cars were good and Lauda's driving skills impressed March principal Robin Herd, March's 1972 Formula One season was catastrophic. Perhaps the lowest point of the team's season came at the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport Park, where both March cars were disqualified within three laps of each other, just past three-quarters of the race distance.

In 1973, Lauda took out another bank loan to buy his way into the BRM team. Lauda was instantly quick, but the team was in decline. Although the BRM P160E was fast and easy to drive it was not reliable and its engine lacked power. Lauda's popularity was on the rise after he was running third at the Monaco Grand Prix that year before a gearbox failure ended his race prematurely, resulting in Enzo Ferrari becoming interested. When his BRM teammate Clay Regazzoni left to rejoin Ferrari in 1974, team owner Enzo Ferrari asked him what he thought of Lauda. Regazzoni spoke so favorably of Lauda that Ferrari promptly signed him, paying him enough to clear his debts.

From Wikipedia’s article on Niki Lauda (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: sporting director, entrepreneur, aircraft pilot, Formula One driver.8

Personal life

  • BornFeb 22, 1949, Vienna9 10
  • DiedMay 20, 2019, Zurich11 12
  • CitizenshipAustria13
  • SpousesMarlene Knaus14; Birgit Wetzinger14
  • Children515

Lauda dated Mariella von Reininghaus from 1968 to 1975. In 1976, he married the Chilean-Austrian Marlene Knaus. They divorced in 1991. Lauda and Knaus had two sons, Mathias, a racing driver, and Lukas, who acted as Mathias's manager. In 1992, Lauda briefly dated racing driver Giovanna Amati.

In 2008, he married Birgit Wetzinger, a flight attendant for his airline. In 2005, Wetzinger donated a kidney to Lauda after the kidney he received from his brother in 1997 failed. In September 2009, Birgit gave birth to twins, Max and Mia.

Lauda spoke fluent German, English, and Italian.

Lauda came from a Catholic family. In a 2014 interview with Zeit he stated that he left the church for a time to avoid paying church taxes, but went back when he had his two children baptised.

From Wikipedia’s article on Niki Lauda (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

  • 1977BBC World Sport Star of the Year16
  • Date not recordedGrand Gold Decoration of Styria16

Sources

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