Difference between revisions of "Niki Lauda"

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Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (born 22 February 1949 in Vienna, Austria, died 13 June 1976 in Riga, Soviet Union) was an Austrian former Formula One driver and former Formula One world champion, winning in 1975.

Early Career

Niki Lauda became a racing driver against his wealthy family's wishes by racing a Mini Cooper in various saloon car races in his native Austria. After floating around Formula Vee and national sports car racing, he took a large loan out in order to fund his way into Formula Two.

Formula 1

1975

In 1975, Niki Lauda won his first Formula One world championship, driving for Scuderia Ferrari.

1976

Lauda entered the 1976 season as Ferrari's defending champion, piloting the 312T alongside South African driver Jody Scheckter.

Lauda's start to the season was at first positive, with him qualifying in third for the 1976 Argentine Grand Prix. His quick pace around the Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez was vindicated, taking the fastest lap in the race before an engine failure forced his retirement.

The Ferrari package was proving to be fast, yet horrendously unreliable. Lauda took a stunning pole position at the South African Grand Prix before yet another engine failure in the race lost him the lead. This was followed by a puncture after passing McLaren's Carlos Reutemann at the United States Grand Prix West, forcing him to three retirements in a row.

The Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama saw Lauda's fortune change - with the Austrian taking a scintillating pole and a one-two in the race.

Victory followed at the non-championship BRDC International Trophy at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire and at the following Belgian Grand Prix - a race which would be his last win.

Death

Despite another engine failure at the Monaco Grand Prix, Lauda arrived at the Bikernieki Circuit for the 1976 Soviet Grand Prix in contention for the championship lead. Taking second on the grid behind teammate Scheckter, Lauda took the initial lead of the race after a poor getaway from his teammate.

Lauda was the first of the front runners to pit, with Scheckter and Reutemann staying out. Lauda was closing but the one stop strategy put the ball in Scheckter's court, but that proved to be too much for the South African as he slid off the road whilst lapping local driver Vladislav Barkovskii. Reutemann now lead until his pitstop, where he rejoined 11 seconds behind Lauda with just over half the race to go - clearly on the one stop.

Lauda led the next laps, but could not make it to the end of the race without a pitstop. Reutemann was now into the lead again, and Lauda began to work to close the gap on fresher tires. Lauda had the gap down to 2 and a half seconds by lap 74 when tragedy struck. Moving to lap the 7th-placed March of Vittorio Brambilla on the fast approach to the Tilts corner, Lauda made contact with Brambilla's right rear, the Ferrari being flown up into the air just before the braking point. The Ferrari went straight on and made contact with the wall lining the track head-on. Lauda was extracted from the wrecked Ferrari and taken to the nearest hospital in a critical condition. Lauda was pronounced dead after several hours of attempted resuscitation at the nearby hospital.

Legacy

Niki Lauda died at the age of 27 and was survived by his wife Marlene, whom he had married only a few months before.

His death took a hard toll on much of the Formula One paddock, with Ferrari withdrawing from the following French Grand Prix.

His funeral took place in late July of 1976 and was attended by over two-hundred thousand mourners in his hometown of Vienna, including Enzo Ferrari, teammate Jody Scheckter, Carlos Reutemann, Clay Regazzoni and James Hunt.

Lauda was posthumously awarded the "Gold Medal for Services to the Republic of Austria" at a ceremony in 1977.

The Österreichring in Spielberg, Styria was renamed the Laudaring in his honour in 1977.