Momo Niki Lauda Steering Wheel

About the racing driver: Niki Lauda

“Niki” Andreas Nikolaus Lauda was born on February 22, 1949 in Vienna. He died recently, on May 20, 2019 in Zurich. At the age of 19 he started his racing career, at his first race he finished second, quickly moved on to the Formula 3 and into Formula 2. In 1971 he started racing in the Formula 1 for BRM and impressed Enzo Ferrari so much that he – with the encouragement of Clay Regazzoni – offered Niki Lauda a contract with Ferrari.

 

Ferrari needed success, for 10 years Ferrari couldn’t win a World Cup. Niki had a big stake of influence on the development of the car and spent a lot of time on the test track testing and developing the car. That year, Niki celebrated his first Grand Prix victory, but worked continuously on the car. In the 1975 season, he became World champion for the first time with the completely modified vehicle, winning  5 Grand Prix titles.

 

The following year, Niki Lauda was initially extremely successful with the car, until a tragic accident on August 1st, 1976. Out of a sudden, the car came off track, off to the right and hit a wall and immediately went up in flames. Several other race cars drove into the accident site, the race was canceled while four drivers tried to rescue Lauda from the burning car. He suffered a variety of burns – even on the face and burned his lungs hard. Until today, the cause of the accident was never officially announced. The poor accessibility of the route for rescue vehicles was one of the reasons to hold no more Formula 1 races on the Nordschleife. In consequence of the accident and efforts of Jackie Stewart, safety standards were significantly increased on racetracks.

 

After the crash, Lauda missed only two races and started again at the Italian Grand Prix, but he couldn’t win the title anymore, he finished as runner-up. In the following year 1977, however, Niki Lauda confirmed his skills and became World champion again with 3 Grand Prix victories in the season. The connection with Ferrari, however, turned difficult after Niki Lauda has signed with Brabham. In those two years with Brabham he had many failures of the car and ended his career – also to devote himself more to building his airline.

 

In 1982, Niki Lauda surprisingly returned to the Formula 1 and drove the much safer – thanks to carbon fiber reinforced – McLaren, but due to the rather weak Ford naturally aspirated engine McLaren couldn’t keep up with the competition. The next season, McLaren started with the more powerful TAG Porsche turbo engine and McLaren became the most successful team and Niki Lauda World champion for the 3rd time. At the end of the 1985 season, Niki Lauda finished his career after winning 3 World titles and 25 Grand Prix victories.