Happy Birthday Niki Lauda: The Legend who conquered Fire and Fear

There was one F1 driver who was the son of a millionaire in Austria but still took a bank loan to become a Formula 1 driver. We are talking about the legendary Niki Lauda who proved everyone that he had more skills than money to become one of the greatest drivers with his resilience and fearless attitude on and off the track.

In his 12-year career, he went through many highs and lows. But the biggest thing that stayed with him was his never-give-up attitude and bravery to face fear. Though the legend is not with us, we celebrate his legacy and honour him with a special gratitude post for making F1 one of the safest car racing series in the world. 

Happy Birthday Niki Lauda

The Rich kid with no Money

Niki Lauda was born on 22, February 1949 in Vienna, Austria. He was born during a time when Austria was a war-torn country. His grandfather Hans Lauda was an Austrian industrialist, so Lauda was a born rich kid. Once he showed interest in Formula 1 racing, his family didn't support him.

So, Niki Lauda took 30,000 Euros from a bank using his family name and secured a place in the European Formula Two team. He had to invest his loan money into Formula 2 to have a driver seat and with that, he proved himself and secured many race wins and sponsors.

Formula 1 debut

In 1971, Niki made his F1 debut with the March engineering team. It was a UK-based team with less money, so, whatever Lauda gave them they had to take it and give him a seat. In 1973, Lauda moved to BRM and scored his maiden points at the Belgium Grand prix through which he earned a Ferrari seat.

First world title

During that time, Ferrari was struggling with financial trouble and they got money from Lauda and gave him the seat. All Lauda wanted was to become a world champion and he did that in his maiden season with Ferrari. He finished on the podium in his maiden race and got his maiden victory three races later at the Spanish Grand Prix. He won five races with many podium finishes and clinched the 1975 Formula 1 title. This was the first world championship for Ferrari in 11 years. He then became the face of Formula 1 as he won many races and nobody could stop him.

Fire accident and James Hunt rivalry

The 1976 season was the toughest season for Niki Lauda as it started the greatest rivalry between him and James Hunt. Till then Niki Lauda was winning every race and everybody thought Lauda was unbeatable. But Hunt came out of nowhere and defeated Niki Lauda with a McLaren car.

During the intense battle, Niki Lauda suffered a life-changing injury at the German Grand Prix at the Dangerous Nurburgring. His face and body had many severe fire injuries that pushed him out of the races for 6 weeks. He lost the title to James Hunt by just one point. But the next year he came back stronger and won his second world championship.

F1 return and third title

After many years of struggle, announcing retirement, returning to racing and team changes Niki Lauda won his third title for McLaren during the 1984 season fighting younger drivers like Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet. He then retired from F1 the next year and never came back.

Post Retirement

Niki Lauda is also an Aviation expert and has a pilot's licence. After he retired from Formula 1, Lauda ran his airline Lauda Air in Austria. He even acted as captain for his planes in Austria. He also worked as an F1 commentator for German and Austrian televisions. 

Mercedes ownership

After his retirement, Lauda kept in touch with Formula 1 in several roles like Jaguar’s Team principal and managerial position at Ferrari. But the biggest thing that happened to him was when Mercedes Benz entered Formula 1 as a full-time racing team in 2010. They signed the greatest F1 driver Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg as their drivers. But they couldn’t win any race and were always dominated by Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull. In 2012 they brought Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff as their new chairman and Team principal.

After Schumacher announced his second and final retirement, Lauda was the only person who convinced Lewis Hamilton to join the Mercedes team after a hard negotiation. After his arrival, Mercedes became the pinnacle team in the F1 grid and they achieved 8 constructors and 7 drivers title in the last decade. Everything Mercedes has become today is all because of the great man Niki Lauda and his leadership qualities. They even follow the same team culture today to honour the legend. 

Inspiration for Resilience

His 1976 fire injury has caused his health to fade over the years due to the toxic gases he breathed during the time of the incident. He had undergone Lung transplants and kidney transplants over the years and still went with his job of running the Mercedes team. Niki Lauda could have easily enjoyed his father's money, but he wanted to prove himself and for that, he overcame all the struggles and pain. He is one of the all-time greats and stands as an inspiration for many young drivers. Happy Birthday, Niki!

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