Niki Lauda (Vienna, 22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was a three-time Formula 1 world champion, in 1975 and 1977 with Ferrari and in 1984 with McLaren, and won 25 Grands Prix. He is remembered for the Nürburgring crash of 1 August 1976, from which he returned to the track six weeks later, for the withdrawal at Fuji that handed the 1976 title to James Hunt by a single point, for the airline Lauda Air and, in his last years, for his role as non-executive chairman of Mercedes.

Updated in October 2026.

On 1 August 1976, at the Nürburgring, Niki Lauda’s Ferrari caught fire. Six weeks later, at Monza, he was back behind the wheel and finished fourth. Then, at Fuji, in the rain, he retired: and the title went to James Hunt by a single point. Of Lauda’s whole career, these two choices, to return and to stop, are the ones that best explain why people still talk about him.

Niki Lauda at a glance

• Birth and death: Vienna, 22 February 1949; 20 May 2019, aged 70 (Wikipedia, Irish Times).
• World titles: three, in 1975 and 1977 with Ferrari and in 1984 with McLaren (Wikipedia, Formula1.com).
• Wins: 25 Grands Prix (Wikipedia, Irish Times).
• 1976: crash at the Nürburgring on 1 August, fourth at Monza six weeks later, withdrawal at Fuji and the title to Hunt by a point.
• Off the track: the airline Lauda Air, then the low-cost carrier Niki, and until his death the non-executive chairmanship of Mercedes.
• Health: kidney transplants in 1997 and 2005 and a lung transplant in August 2018 (Irish Times, Wikipedia).

From the early years to Ferrari

Lauda raced in Formula 1 with BRM in 1973 and moved to Ferrari: in 1974 it was Enzo Ferrari who signed him (Wikipedia, Formula1.com). In 1975 came the first world title (Wikipedia, Formula1.com, Motor Sport Magazine).

1976: the Nürburgring, Monza and Fuji

On 1 August 1976, at the German Grand Prix, Lauda’s Ferrari caught fire on the old Nürburgring (Wikipedia). Brett Lunger, Arturo Merzario, Guy Edwards and Harald Ertl pulled him out (Wikipedia, Formula1.com). He suffered severe burns to his face, head and hands, lost part of his right ear and inhaled toxic fumes (Irish Times, Formula1.com).

On 12 September, six weeks later, he was on the grid of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and finished fourth (Wikipedia, Irish Times, Formula1.com): the championship was still open. In the last race, in Japan, in pouring rain, he retired after the first lap, his vision reduced by eyelids damaged in the burns (Formula1.com). James Hunt won the title by a single point (Wikipedia, Formula1.com). The rivalry is also told in the article on James Hunt.

The second title and Brabham

In 1977 Lauda won his second title and left Ferrari (Wikipedia, Formula1.com). He moved to Brabham, with whom he won two races in 1978 (Wikipedia, Formula1.com). In 1979, during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, he announced his retirement: he no longer wanted to drive round in circles (Formula1.com). After retiring he founded the airline Lauda Air (Formula1.com, Irish Times).

The return with McLaren and the third title

In 1982 he came back with McLaren and won the third race of the season, at Long Beach (Wikipedia, Formula1.com). In 1984 he won his third title, beating his team-mate Alain Prost by half a point (Wikipedia, Formula1.com). In 1985 he won his last Grand Prix, in the Netherlands, and stopped for good (Wikipedia, Formula1.com).

Lauda Air, Niki and Mercedes

Away from the track Lauda was an air-transport entrepreneur: Lauda Air, sold in 1999, then the low-cost airline Niki, which merged into Air Berlin in 2011 (Irish Times, Wikipedia). Until his death he was non-executive chairman of Mercedes (Wikipedia, Formula1.com, Motor Sport Magazine), a team that from 2014 onwards dominated the turbo-hybrid era of F1 (Formula1.com).

In 2018 he had a lung transplant, after kidney transplants in 1997 and 2005 (Irish Times, Wikipedia). He died on 20 May 2019, aged 70 (Wikipedia, Irish Times).

What it teaches sponsors

Lauda’s two careers, driver and entrepreneur, show two things, and they are our reading, not published figures. The first is that a driver’s image is not exhausted by his results: the choice to stop at Fuji and the one to return at Monza weigh in the memory as much as a title. The second is that a name built on the track can become an asset for teams and companies decades later. It is the ground of Formula 1 sponsorship, found again in partnerships like the one described in the article on Petronas and Mercedes. For a comparison with other greats, there is the guide to the best Formula 1 drivers of all time.

Lauda decided twice to stop and twice to come back. What remains open is the question his case puts to anyone who works with athletes: what is it worth to a brand to have someone who knows when not to race?

Images: Lauda at the 1975 United States Grand Prix (Christian Sinclair, CC BY 2.0); the Ferrari 312T2 at Brands Hatch in 1976 (Martin Lee, CC BY-SA 2.0); Lauda at the 1982 British Grand Prix (Martin Lee, CC BY-SA 2.0); Lauda with Susie Wolff in 2014 (Thomas Ormston, CC BY 2.0).

Sources: Wikipedia, Niki Lauda; Wikipedia, the 1976 Italian Grand Prix; Formula1.com, Niki Lauda remembered by David Tremayne; Formula1.com, Niki Lauda in the Drivers’ Hall of Fame; Motor Sport Magazine, the racing world pays tribute to Niki Lauda; Irish Times, Niki Lauda’s obituary; RTR Sports Marketing, motorsport sponsorship.