Niki Lauda (photo below) is an Austrian race car driver who has won three Formula 1 championships in 1975, 1977 and 1984. He won the last two victories after he survived a terrible disaster in 1976, in which he received serious burns and almost died. Lauda founded and runs two airlines (Lauda Air and Niki), and also advised Ferrari, was the manager of Jaguar and the head of Mercedes AMG Petronas.
Early biography
Niki Lauda (Andreas Nikolaus Lauda) was born in Vienna on 02.22.1949, in a wealthy family. Social status was both an obstacle and a success for him. Although he later became successful in business himself, to the dismay of his family, it was obvious that he was not suitable for this role. However, family ties came in handy when he needed to borrow money to finance his performances. He took up this sport not because he went to competitions or was crazy about race winners, but from the inborn interest in cars that Nicky Lauda showed in his youth. When he was 12 years old, relatives who came to visit, allowed him to park their cars. As a teenager, he already had his Volkswagen Beetle convertible, in which he drove around the estate of a relative.
Nicky first took part in competitions in 1968. It was a climb uphill, in which he took second place. After that, despite his father's insistent demands to stay away from the races, he competed in riding uphill, and then in the Formula Volkswagen. He did not remove the Formula 3 car from the trailer to race throughout Europe. In 1971, he abandoned Formula 3 in favor of Formula 2.
On the way to the big leagues
Thanks to the business reputation of his family, Lauda was able to obtain loans that otherwise would not be available. He used them to buy a place in Formula 2 in March 1971, becoming a partner of Ronnie Peterson, and the next season he tried himself in Formula 1. He convinced Louis Stanley of the British BRM team to sell him a seat. During all this, he got into debt, which would be enough for a small banana republic. Dates of payments did not coincide with the receipt of money from car racing. But the abilities of Lauda forced to pay attention to him. As if in a fairy tale, at first Stanley began to pay him, and then Luca Montezemolo from Ferrari called before his financial house of cards collapsed.
Career at Ferrari
Laude managed to break the contract with Stanley, and he began his thorny journey with Ferrari. In his debut 1974, he won the first of 26 victories in Formula 1. Together with teammate Clay Regazzoni, they challenged the championship. Lauda won it the following year in a car that was technically far superior to any other. He had 5 victories and a huge margin from second place. Later, the Austrian racer called the 1975th "incredible year."
Accident at the German Grand Prix
The championship, which Lauda could call the most memorable, he lost. In sports at the top level, something must go wrong. But powerful machines with unusually high levels of kinetic energy are involved here, so when something goes wrong, people can suffer severe damage or die. Nicky Lauda (photo given in the article) was seriously injured at the German Grand Prix in 1976, speaking at the old Nurburgring. These were dramatic events that had never happened before. Lauda was the leader with a significant advantage, despite the presence of a crack in the ribs that he received as a result of a tractor collision when he was transporting his property in Salzburg. Playboy “Formula 1” James Hunt practiced a risky driving style and almost touched the Lauda car with his McLaren, despite the fact that his victory at the British Grand Prix was canceled due to alleged technical violations.
By the beginning of the German Grand Prix, Hunt was 23 points behind the Austrian. After an early stop to change “wet” tires to smooth treads and the Bergwerk corner pass, the Lauda car shifted to the right, collided with a fence, bounced back along the highway, collided with Brett Lunger and caught fire. Several drivers, including Lunger, Guy Edwards and fearless Arturo Merzario, were able to pull the Austrian rider out of the burning wreckage. Despite the fact that after the accident, Niki Lauda was able to get up, it soon became apparent that his injuries were serious. Hot, toxic gases damaged his lungs and blood. His helmet partially collapsed and he had severe head burns. Lauda fell into a coma. For some time his life was in question. However, he recovered and returned to the cockpit 6 weeks after the accident.
Hunting Rivalry
During the recovery of Lauda, 2 races took place, and Hunt approached him. The victory at Brands Hatch was returned to him on appeal, and he won at Zandvoort. Lauda's return to Monza gave him an amazing 4th place and 3 points. Hunt won both North American stages, and the Austrian driver, due to problems with the suspension, had to stay with nothing in Canada and be satisfied with third place in Watkins Glen. Impressive results reduced Hunt's lag to 3 points, and only Japan remained on the calendar. The race began in the pouring rain, and after two laps Nicky Lauda stopped talking about the madness of driving in such conditions, abandoning the fight. Perhaps he was right, but still suffered from the consequences of the Nurburgring accident. The rain soon passed, Hunt took third place, despite the late change of tires, and scored 4 points, which were enough to get the title.
Hunt has won eight races against four at Lauda and six of the last nine. When he failed, he always came back. When the opportunity presented itself, he used it in the true spirit of the championship. The Austrian racer put himself in an uncomfortable and tense situation: while still leading the standings, he experienced the physical and mental consequences of a very serious accident. He could have won the season, but in Japan he showed delightful sanity in the face of tremendous pressure from external circumstances.
Going to Brabhem
In 1977, Lauda went to his second championship, despite the fact that he won only 3 races, and then quickly left Ferrari in Canada. Farewell was not friendly, although he later revised most of his criticism of the team (and ultimately became for her a kind of minister without a portfolio).
In 1978, rider Nicky Lauda went to Bernie Ecclestone and Gordon Murray from the "Brabham". Success from this trio could hardly be expected. The 12-cylinder Alfa could not cope with this task. Ecclestone was busy financing Formula 1. Lauda's only real achievement during the two seasons with Brabham is the infamous Fan Car. Lotus began to make great strides with ground effects, the goal of which was to reduce air pressure underneath the car to increase traction and cornering speed. The Brabham moved the radiators to the rear of the car and cooled them with a large fan, rather than a free flow of air, as was the case with the side radiators in normal mode. Of course, the fan was used to remove air from under the car, which increased downforce. Lauda and John Watson went to great lengths to hide this fact. On this machine, Nicky won the only race in Anderstorpe in 1978, but the car never competed again, since the fan was immediately banned as against the rules.
In 1979 in Canada, exactly 2 years after saying goodbye to Ferrari, in the middle of practice, Lauda suddenly decided that he no longer wanted to participate in competitions, and quickly left Formula 1.
Return
Nicky Lauda returned in 1982, by his own admission, for financial reasons. The airline he founded was going through difficult times. He signed with Ron Dennis and McLaren a contract for 4 races. His partner was John Watson.
The return of Lauda coincided with a great war of riders with FISA and FOCA. One of the most noticeable skirmishes occurred in 1982 in South Africa. FISA introduced the so-called super license for Formula 1 drivers so that marginal talents couldn’t get into the cockpit of the car. FOCA member owners (with the clear connivance of FISA) used the licensing process to link drivers to their teams. Most riders, including Lauda with his insightful look at all financial matters, saw this trick and refused to sign. In South Africa, the FISA threatened to remove them from racing due to a lack of licenses. Lauda and Didier Pironi, head of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, organized a resistance movement and arranged for most drivers to lock themselves in the hotel’s conference room while Pironi made arrangements with FISA head Jean-Marie Balestra. The authorities made concessions before the start of the competition, in which the Austrian racer took 4th place.
It didn't take Nicky Lauda much time to start winning again. In Long Beach, he won the third race since returning. This season, he also came first in Brands Hatch. There were no victories in 1983, but the 1984 season, Lauda finished at the top of the standings. Although he won the 1984 championship with a margin of only 0.5 points, he seems to have humbled his usually faster rival and new teammate Alain Prost for most of the season. Laude did not like the risks that he considered unnecessary. He did not double his efforts when things went badly. He did not make sacrifices for the benefit of the team (although he would have done it for himself). He often had good cars and talented teammates - Regazzoni, Roiteman and Prost. Lauda had the self-confidence that usually happens with megalomaniacs. Probably all three of his championships were like that because he wanted this for some other reason.
Personal life
Nicky Lauda married Marlene Knaus in 1976. They had two sons: Matthias, who also became a race car driver, and Lucas, who is the brother's manager. Lauda has an illegitimate son, Christoph. In 1981, Nicky Lauda and his wife divorced.
In 2008, he married a second time to Birgit Wetzinger. His wife is 30 years younger than him and before her marriage worked as a flight attendant in his airline. Birgit donated her kidney to Laude when his brother refused a transplant in 1997. In September 2009, Birgit gave birth to twins, a boy Max and a girl Mia.
On August 2, 2018, it was announced that Laude had successfully undergone lung transplantation in his native Austria.
Honesty and directness
An important part of Lauda’s attitude towards his rivals was that he was as impartial and honest with himself as with others. In the late 70s, a meeting was organized between him (the current world champion) and Muhammad Ali. Lauda left there in perplexity. Not because of the hype surrounding the famous boxer, but because Ali seemed to believe in his legend himself. So the Austrian racer could not afford to be mistaken.
An interesting case occurred after he left the race for the second time. One of his Boeing 767 aircraft, after flying from Bangkok, crashed and crashed in the jungle, killing several hundred lives. Lauda rushed from Austria to the crash site. Examining pieces of the plane, body, and undergrowth, he single-handedly discovered evidence indicating a malfunction of the reversers. Lauda played an important role in disclosing information useful in determining the cause of the disaster. He went straight to England, where he was able to test the theory on a Boeing 767 simulator, and then immediately held a press conference at which he declared with typical clarity and conciseness that he knew the cause of the accident and that this was not the fault of Lauda Air, but the problem of the Boeing plane . The official investigation, which ended about a year later, came to the same conclusion.
This ruthless bluntness came in handy in countless interviews during his racing career. While Hakkinen demonstrated that he would not tolerate stupid questions, coughing and blinking, looking at the floor and repeating the answers again and again, Lauda did the same with a few quick, smart, well-aimed phrases.
Final Motorsport Farewell
After his third championship, Nicky Lauda in Formula 1 did not last long. His second and final departure occurred in Adelaide in 1985. The breakup was typical of his approach to racing and to life - quick, without further ado and not looking back. At one point, he flew on his Maclaren in a long straight line. Suddenly, the front brakes failed, and he headed for the exit zone directly to the wall. Stopping, he got out of the car and, without looking back, disappeared behind the barrier. He only thought about how to quickly fly away from there.
Many of Lauda's actions may seem somewhat impulsive. But he is probably not so harsh as pathologically decisive. His extreme hostility to frivolity probably explains such things as his sudden departure from Ferrari in 1977, the equally fast break with Brabham and Formula 1 in 1979, and his struggle with the Austrian Airlines monopoly »By creating your own airline. Laude was unsympathetic non-punctuality. By his own admission, those around him, including his family, often had to arrange their lives in accordance with his needs.
Unique personality
Lauda was vigilant and not at all sentimental when it came to money. For example, he insisted on paying for autograph sessions. These and other personal traits clashed him with other egos on his life path. When playing for the Ferrari team, Nicky Lauda, the very opposite of the Italian, never enjoyed the love of fans like Gilles Villeneuve or even Mansell. Nevertheless, he became a legend of his time. Of course, partly because of the Nurburgring accident. But first of all, it was the result of the unique impact that his personality and skills had on the sport. Perhaps there were better riders, but there was never a second like that.