The Niki Lauda Story : Formula 1 Legend
The Story of Formula 1 Great, Niki Lauda
Niki Lauda was an Austrian Formula 1 driver born on 22 February 1949 in Vienna in a wealthy industrialist family.
You might think that that fast-tracked his career in Formula 1, but actually, Lauda’s family was against his ambition to become a racing driver.
This would later result in Lauda losing contact with his family due to their disapproval, as he searched for his place in ‘junior’ motor-sport categories such as Formula Vee or private Porsche sports cars.
Niki Lauda’s Early F1 Career
To fulfil his dream, Niki Lauda took out a serious bank loan, secured by his life insurance policy, to secure his spot in Formula 2 with March Engineering in 1971.
In his first year, Lauda was quick enough, but due to the declining Ford-powered car and team, his best result of the F2 season was just one-fourth place.
However, Lauda impressed March Racing Team principal Robin Herd, who secured him a position on his F1 team as well. In 1971, Lauda got his start in Formula 1. It was his Formula 1 debut on his home circuit in Austria on which he retired after 20 laps due to handling issues.
Interestingly, Niki Lauda raced in Formula 1 and Formula 2 for the entire 1972 season! Although he did not win in Formula 2, Lauda managed to grab three podiums in the process. Unlike his Formula 2 success, Lauda was miles away from any significant result in Formula 1 in 1972, just like March Racing Team.
Lauda’s racing career seemed very dismal at that point, especially when he took out another bank loan to buy his way into British Racing Motors (BRM) Team in 1973.
Similarly, like March, BRM were also a declining team at the time. The car was simply not reliable enough and its engine lacked power. In 1973, Niki Lauda finished only one race in the points (Belgian GP). However, although retiring from the 1973 Monaco Grand Prix due to gearbox issues, Lauda qualified sixth and at one point ran third.
This caught the attention of the great Enzo Ferrari, Scuderia Ferrari’s team principal.
Niki Lauda’s Ferrari years
In 1974, Lauda’s BRM teammate Clay Regazzoni left the team to drive for Ferrari.
Regazzoni and Enzo Ferrari had a lengthy discussion about Niki Lauda where Regazzoni spoke in high praise of Lauda. This made Enzo Ferrari sign Lauda for his team, finally allowing Niki Lauda to get rid of his debt and giving him a competitive racing car.
Lauda, however, had no significant respect for Enzo Ferrari’s authority (or anyone’s for that matter) and was very vocal and direct in criticising the car when it was not good enough.
1974 F1 Season
In the first race of the 1974 season, Niki Lauda immediately finished second in Argentina. He didn’t wait long for his first win also. It came in the Spanish Grand Prix where Lauda finished the race 35 seconds ahead of his teammate.
Many retirements that season stopped Lauda from achieving a more significant result, but he did manage to grab another win at the Netherlands Grand Prix and two more podiums.
However, that was far from enough to compete with Emerson Fittipaldi who won the World Driver’s Championship that year.
1975 F1 Season
The 1975 season did not start well for Lauda, although he managed to finish in points in all first three races before eventually retiring in Round 4 at the Spanish Grand Prix. Nevertheless, Lauda grabbed four wins and one 2nd place in the next five races!
Towards the end of the season, Lauda finished in the points in every race except one, managing one more victory and two podiums in the process. Such performances secured the World Driver’s Championship for Niki Lauda that year.
The cream on top of the successful season was his teammate’s victory in the Italian Grand Prix which meant that the constructor’s title went back to Ferrari after an 11-year-long drought!
Nürburgring Crash
1976 F1 Season
It is safe to say that this was Niki Lauda’s golden era. It was also the year when his rivalry with James Hunt peaked. He raced with confidence, his car was fast and it all started so well in the 1976 season.
Before his first retirement of the season in the 1976 French Grand Prix, Niki Lauda won four races and finished on the podium in the remaining three races.
This magnificent result was only confirmed in the next round in the British Grand Prix which he won and at that point had double the championship points of his rivals Jody Scheckter and James Hunt.
During the 1976 German Grand Prix, driven at the famous Nürburgring circuit, came a turning point in Niki Lauda’s career.
That year at Nürburgring, Niki Lauda got a flattering award for setting the fastest lap, driving this iconic 22-kilometre circuit in under 7 minutes! With every right, Niki Lauda was in favour of boycotting the race due to the official’s disorganisation and lack of resources, especially in the case of an accident.
Despite this, the race took place on 1 August. In the second lap, in a light left turn towards Bergwerk, Niki’s Ferrari left the circuit, hit the barrier and then caught fire.
Niki Lauda’s car was then hit by Brett Lunger, driving a Surtees, who got out of his cockpit relatively easily compared to Lauda.
Before other drivers could help him get out, Lauda had already inhaled large amounts of harmful gasses and fire seriously burned his face. Lauda managed to walk normally immediately after the accident but fell into a coma soon after.
Lauda was not absent for a long time, though. In fact, six weeks later he showed up at the Italian Grand Prix and finished fourth!
At the end of the season in the Japanese Grand Prix, Lauda retired due to heavy rainfall because he felt the conditions were not fit for racing and he couldn’t blink normally due to his burns. James Hunt, in his McLaren-Ford, managed to win the World Driver’s Championship that year, just one point ahead of Lauda, due to his magnificent driving at the end of the season.
Lauda’s Unbreakable Spirit
F1 Season 1977
In the 1977 season, Lauda’s relationship with Ferrari took a turn for the worse.
Ferrari was actively looking for Niki Lauda’s replacement. Nevertheless, Lauda managed to drive a very consistent season. He won three Grand Prix and managed to grab seven podiums in the process, six of those being second places.
He finished two more races in the points meaning he won points in every race he started and finished that season.
He secured his second World Driver’s Championship at the United States Grand Prix and then resigned in protest when Ferrari called “the anonymous” Gilles Villeneuve to drive the third Ferrari car in the Canadian Grand Prix.
1978 & 1979 F1 Seasons
For the 1978 and 1979 seasons, Lauda drove for Brabham.
The 1978 season was interesting because Niki Lauda retired on nine Grand Prix due to an unreliable Alfa Romeo engine. However, in the other seven races he did finish, he finished on the podium, managing two wins along the way.
The unreliable engine proved to be disastrous for the 1979 season where Lauda finished only two races. It was after this season that Lau
Lauda said to Bernie Ecclestone that he wants to retire and that he got “bored of driving in circles”.
And he did, in fact, retire. Lauda dedicated himself to entrepreneurship and founded Lauda Air airline company.
Niki Lauda’s McLaren Stint
Despite being successful with his airline company, Lauda couldn’t stay away from Formula 1 for too long.
In 1982, Lauda returned to McLaren for his final stint in Formula 1.
Although many were sceptical about Lauda losing his pace during the time away from Formula 1, Lauda won his first race for McLaren in the third race of the season at the United States Grand Prix West.
Despite grabbing another win at the British Grand Prix, Lauda’s McLaren was just not competitive enough to join the fight for the title.
His second season with McLaren was even worse than the first. Despite having a good start with two podiums from two races, Lauda managed to finish in the points only two more times that whole season.
Niki Lauda in action with McLaren
1984 Season & Championship Win
The 1984 season turned things around quite a bit, though. Although Lauda was forced to retire in six races that year, he managed to win five Grand Prix.
Furthermore, he finished second on four more occasions and one more time in the points. At the end of a truly competitive and intense season, Niki Lauda won his third World Driver’s Championship, just half-point ahead of a young Alain Prost.
His last season in Formula 1 was simply not good enough. Lauda finished in the points in only three races, while managing just one win at the Dutch Grand Prix.
That proved to be Lauda’s last victory in Formula 1 and it put an end to his 13-year-long driving career in the sport.
Niki Lauda’s Formula One Legacy
That was not the end for Lauda in Formula 1. Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari’s principal, offered him a consulting role at Ferrari in 1992, a post he held until 1995.
In the 2001 season, Lauda had a brief stint as a team principal of the Jaguar Formula 1 team, but that did not last long though.
In the meantime, Niki Lauda was a Formula 1 commentator on RTL-F1 TV channel for 17 years. Most famously, he was appointed as a non-executive chairman of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team in 2012 and receives praise to this day for his work with the team and his influence to sign Lewis Hamilton with Mercedes.
Niki Lauda died in his sleep at age 70 on 20 May 2019 at the University Hospital of Zürich.
Lauda’s legacy in Formula 1 is unmeasurable. Even when he stopped racing, he never actually left the paddock. He dedicated almost 50 years of his life to Formula 1.
His 1984 Championship was won by the smallest margin on record, by just half a point!
Niki Lauda participated in 178 Grand Prix’s and grabbed 24 pole positions in the process whilst winning 25 races in his Formula 1 career, which is 15% of all his career starts.
Lauda stood on the podium 54 times and bagged 24 fastest laps of the race. He managed to acquire 420.5 career points in his 13-year-long Formula 1 career, overcoming a major accident through half-way of his career.
Without a doubt, Niki Lauda is one of Formula 1 greatest drivers ever, whose legacy will continue to inspire future generations of Formula 1 drivers in years to come.
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