Niki Lauda facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Niki Lauda
Lauda in 1984
Born	Andreas Nikolaus Lauda (1949-02-22)22 February 1949 Vienna, Austria
Died	20 May 2019(2019-05-20) (aged 70) Zürich, Switzerland
Spouse(s)	Marlene Knaus (m. 1976; div. 1991) Birgit Wetzinger (m. 2008)
Children	4
Formula One World Championship career
Active years	1971–1979, 1982–1985
Teams	March, BRM, Ferrari, Brabham, McLaren
Entries	177 (171 starts)
Championships	3 (1975, 1977, 1984)
Wins	25
Podiums	54
Career points	420.5
Pole positions	24
Fastest laps	24
First entry	1971 Austrian Grand Prix
First win	1974 Spanish Grand Prix
Last win	1985 Dutch Grand Prix
Last entry	1985 Australian Grand Prix

Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (born February 22, 1949 – died May 20, 2019) was an amazing Austrian Formula One driver. He was also a successful businessman in the aviation world. Niki Lauda won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship three times: in 1975, 1977, and 1984. He is the only driver in Formula One history to win championships for both Ferrari and McLaren. These are two of the most famous and successful racing teams.

Some people knew Niki Lauda by his nicknames "the Rat," "SuperRat," or "King Rat." These names came from his unique front teeth. Many consider Lauda to be one of the best Formula One drivers ever.

Top - 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Early Life and Racing Dreams

Lauda at the Nürburgring in 1973, three years before his accident

Niki Lauda was born in Vienna, Austria, on February 22, 1949. His family was quite wealthy, owning a paper manufacturing business. Even though his family didn't approve, Niki decided to become a racing driver.

A Champion's Career

Lauda quickly became a star in Formula One. He won his first championship in 1975. He was also leading the championship in 1976.

The Horrific 1976 Accident

During the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring track, Niki Lauda had a very serious crash. His Ferrari 312T2 car caught fire. He breathed in hot, poisonous fumes and suffered severe burns. Niki was able to stand right after the crash, but he later fell into a coma. While in the hospital, he was so ill that he was given his last religious rites. But he fought hard and survived!

Niki had many scars from the burns on his head. He lost most of his right ear and the hair on the right side of his head, along with his eyebrows and eyelids. He chose to have surgery only to fix his eyelids so they would work properly. After the accident, he always wore a cap to cover his scars. He even made deals with sponsors to put their ads on his red cap. In 2009, he mentioned that one advertiser paid him €1.2 million for the space on his cap.

Incredible Comeback and More Wins

Amazingly, Niki recovered enough to race again just six weeks later! This was at the Italian Grand Prix. He lost that year's championship by only one point to James Hunt. However, he won his second championship the very next year, in his last season with Ferrari.

After racing for Brabham for a few years, Lauda took a break from racing for two years. He then returned to Formula One and raced for McLaren from 1982 to 1985. During this time, he won his third championship in 1984. He won by a tiny half-point over his teammate, Alain Prost.

Lauda practicing at the Nürburgring during the 1976 German Grand Prix

Lauda's Racing Helmet

Niki Lauda's helmet was first plain red. It had his full name on both sides and the Raiffeisen Bank logo on the chin. After his Nürburgring accident, he used a special AGV helmet. This helmet was designed so its inside lining wouldn't hurt his burned scalp.

When he returned to McLaren in 1982, his helmet was white. It featured the red "L" logo of his airline, Lauda Air, instead of his name. It also had the Parmalat sponsor logo on top. From 1983 to 1985, he switched the colors, making the helmet red with white details. This brought back memories of his earlier helmet design.

Life After Racing

In 1993, Lauda came back to Formula One in a management role. He became a consultant for Ferrari. Later, in 2001, he became the team boss for the Jaguar Formula One team. However, the team didn't get better, and Lauda, along with many others, left at the end of 2002.

In September 2012, he became the non-executive chairman of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport team. He was part of the talks to sign superstar driver Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes in 2013.

Niki Lauda was also a successful businessman in aviation. He started and managed three airlines: Lauda Air, Niki, and Lauda.

Niki Lauda's Legacy

Lauda in 2011

Niki Lauda was added to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1993. From 1996, he worked as a commentator for Formula One races on Austrian and German TV channel RTL.

In 2005, the Austrian post office released a stamp to honor him. In 2008, the American sports TV network ESPN ranked him 22nd on their list of "top drivers of all-time."

Niki Lauda wrote five books about his life and racing experiences. He gave credit to Austrian journalist Herbert Volker for helping him edit these books.

Niki Lauda in Film and TV

Daniel Brühl, Lauda and Peter Morgan at the premiere of Rush in Vienna, Austria

The exciting rivalry between Lauda and James Hunt in 1976 was shown in the movie Rush (2013). Actor Daniel Brühl played Niki Lauda in the film. His performance was so good that he was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award. Niki Lauda himself even made a short appearance at the end of the movie.

Lauda spoke about James Hunt's death, saying he wasn't surprised when Hunt died at 45 from a heart attack, but he was sad. He also said that Hunt was one of the few people he truly liked and respected, and the only person he had ever felt envious of.

Lauda also appeared in an episode of the TV show Mayday. The episode was about the events of Lauda Air Flight 004. In it, he said that running an airline was even harder than winning three Formula 1 championships.

Personal Life

Niki Lauda had two sons with his first wife, Marlene Knaus. Their names are Mathias, who is also a racing driver, and Lukas, who managed Mathias's career. In 2008, Niki married Birgit Wetzinger, who was a flight attendant for his airline. In 2005, Birgit bravely donated a kidney to Niki after the kidney he received from his brother in 1997 stopped working. In September 2009, Niki and Birgit had twins.

Lauda spoke German, English, and Italian very well. He came from a Roman Catholic family. He once left the church to avoid paying church taxes but returned when his two children were baptized.

Death

Niki Lauda passed away peacefully in his sleep on May 20, 2019, at the age of 70. He was at the University Hospital of Zürich, where he was getting treatment for kidney problems. He had been unwell for some time, and his health issues were made worse by the lung injuries he got from his 1976 accident.

Lauda's grave in Vienna

Niki Lauda asked to be buried wearing his Ferrari racing suit from 1974 to 1977. He was buried in Heiligenstädter Friedhof in Vienna.

Racing Records

Career Summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1970	World Sportscar Championship	Bosch Wien	1	0	0	0	0	1	NC
1970	Interserie	Bosch Racing Team	4	0	0	0	0	6	15th
1971	European Formula Two	March Engineering	9	0	0	0	0	8	10th
1971	Formula One	STP March Racing Team	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1972	European Formula Two	March Engineering	11	0	2	0	3	25	5th
	Formula One	STP March Racing Team	12	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	British Formula Two	March Engineering	4	1	0	1	4	31	1st
1973	Formula One	Marlboro-BRM	14	0	0	0	0	2	18th
	European Touring Car Championship	BMW Alpina	1	1	1	0	1	32	7th
	World Sportscar Championship	BMW Alpina	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1974	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari	15	2	9	3	5	38	4th
1974	World Sportscar Championship	Ford Köln	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1975	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari	14	5	9	2	8	64.5	1st
1976	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari	14	5	3	4	9	68	2nd
1977	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari	14	3	2	3	10	72	1st
1978	Formula One	Parmalat Racing Team	16	2	1	4	7	44	4th
1979	Formula One	Parmalat Racing Team	13	0	0	0	0	4	14th
1979	BMW M1 Procar Championship	Project Four Racing	8	3	1	3	4	78	1st
1982	Formula One	Marlboro McLaren International	14	2	0	1	3	30	5th
1983	Formula One	Marlboro McLaren International	15	0	0	1	2	12	10th
1984	Formula One	Marlboro McLaren International	16	5	0	5	9	72	1st
1985	Formula One	Marlboro McLaren International	14	1	0	1	1	14	10th

Complete European Formula Two Championship Results

Here are Niki Lauda's detailed results from the European Formula Two Championship. This table shows how he performed in each race.

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pos.	Pts
1971	March Engineering	March 712M	Cosworth FVA	HOC Ret	THR 10	NÜR 6	JAR 7	PAL DNQ	ROU 4	MAN Ret	TUL Ret	ALB Ret	VAL 7	VAL				10th	8
1972	March Engineering	March 722	Ford BDA	MAL 2	THR 3	HOC Ret	PAU Ret	PAL DNQ	HOC Ret	ROU Ret	ÖST Ret	IMO 3	MAN Ret	PER	SAL 6	ALB	HOC 9	5th	25
Source:

Complete British Formula Two Results

This table shows Niki Lauda's results in the British Formula Two races.

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	Pos.	Pts
1972	March Engineering	March 722	Ford BDA	MAL 2	OUL 1	THR 3	CRY	OUL 2	1st	31

Complete Formula One World Championship Results

This table lists Niki Lauda's full results from the Formula One World Championship races.

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Pts
1971	STP March Racing Team	March 711	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT Ret	ITA	CAN	USA							NC	0
1972	STP March Racing Team	March 721	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 11	RSA 7																NC	0
		March 721X				ESP Ret	MON 16	BEL 12
		March 721G							FRA Ret	GBR 9	GER Ret	AUT 10	ITA 13	CAN DSQ	USA NC
1973	Marlboro-BRM	BRM P160C	BRM P142 3.0 V12	ARG Ret	BRA 8																18th	2
		BRM P160D				RSA Ret
		BRM P160E					ESP Ret	BEL 5	MON Ret	SWE 13	FRA 9	GBR 12	NED Ret	GER Ret	AUT DNS	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA Ret
1974	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312B3	Ferrari 001/11 3.0 F12	ARG 2	BRA Ret	RSA 16	ESP 1	BEL 2	MON Ret	SWE Ret	NED 1	FRA 2	GBR 5	GER Ret	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA Ret			4th	38
1975	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312B3	Ferrari 001/11 3.0 F12	ARG 6	BRA 5																1st	64.5
1975	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312T	Ferrari 015 3.0 F12			RSA 5	ESP Ret	MON 1	BEL 1	SWE 1	NED 2	FRA 1	GBR 8	GER 3	AUT 6	ITA 3	USA 1				1st	64.5
1976	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312T	Ferrari 015 3.0 F12	BRA 1	RSA 1	USW 2															2nd	68
1976	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312T2	Ferrari 015 3.0 F12				ESP 2	BEL 1	MON 1	SWE 3	FRA Ret	GBR 1	GER Ret	AUT	NED	ITA 4	CAN 8	USA 3	JPN Ret		2nd	68
1977	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312T2	Ferrari 015 3.0 F12	ARG Ret	BRA 3	RSA 1	USW 2	ESP DNS	MON 2	BEL 2	SWE Ret	FRA 5	GBR 2	GER 1	AUT 2	NED 1	ITA 2	USA 4	CAN	JPN	1st	72
1978	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham BT45C	Alfa Romeo 115-12 3.0 F12	ARG 2	BRA 3																4th	44
		Brabham BT46				RSA Ret	USW Ret	MON 2	BEL Ret	ESP Ret		FRA Ret	GBR 2	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED 3	ITA 1	USA Ret	CAN Ret
		Brabham BT46B									SWE 1
1979	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham BT48	Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12	ARG Ret	BRA Ret	RSA 6	USW Ret	ESP Ret	BEL Ret	MON Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA 4					14th	4
1979	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham BT49	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8														CAN WD	USA			14th	4
1982	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren MP4B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA 4	BRA Ret	USW 1	SMR	BEL DSQ	MON Ret	DET Ret	CAN Ret	NED 4	GBR 1	FRA 8	GER DNS	AUT 5	SUI 3	ITA Ret	CPL Ret		5th	30
1983	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren MP4/1C	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	BRA 3	USW 2																10th	12
		McLaren MP4/1C	Ford Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8			FRA Ret	SMR Ret	MON DNQ	BEL Ret	DET Ret	CAN Ret	GBR 6	GER DSQ	AUT 6
		McLaren MP4/1E	TAG TTE PO1 1.5 V6 t												NED Ret	ITA Ret	EUR Ret	RSA 11
1984	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren MP4/2	TAG TTE PO1 1.5 V6 t	BRA Ret	RSA 1	BEL Ret	SMR Ret	FRA 1	MON Ret	CAN 2	DET Ret	DAL Ret	GBR 1	GER 2	AUT 1	NED 2	ITA 1	EUR 4	POR 2		1st	72
1985	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren MP4/2B	TAG TTE PO1 1.5 V6 t	BRA Ret	POR Ret	SMR 4	MON Ret	CAN Ret	DET Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 5	AUT Ret	NED 1	ITA Ret	BEL DNS	EUR	RSA Ret	AUS Ret		10th	14
Source:

Complete Formula One Non-Championship Results

These are Niki Lauda's results from Formula One races that were not part of the official World Championship.

Lauda at the 1974 Race of Champions

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6
1972	STP March Racing Team	March 721	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ROC	BRA	INT	OUL	REP DNS	VIC
1973	Marlboro-BRM	BRM P160D	BRM P142 3.0 V12	ROC Ret	INT 5
1974	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312B3	Ferrari 001/11 3.0 F12	PRE	ROC 2	INT
1975	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312T	Ferrari 015 3.0 F12	ROC	INT 1	SUI
1976	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312T2	Ferrari 015 3.0 F12	ROC Ret	INT
1978	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham BT45C	Alfa Romeo 115-12 3.0 F12	INT DNS
1979	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham BT48	Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12	ROC 5	GNM	DIN 1
Source:

Complete BMW M1 Procar Championship Results

Here are Niki Lauda's results from the BMW M1 Procar Championship.

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	DC	Pts
1979	BMW Motorsport	ZOL Ret	MCO 1	DIJ 8	SIL 1	HOC 1	ÖST Ret	ZAN Ret	MNZ 2	1st	78

Other Race Results

Niki Lauda also achieved success in other racing events:

Nürburgring 24 Hours: 1st place in 1973
1000 km of Spa Francorchamps: 1st place in 1973
4 hours of Monza: 1st place in 1973
4 hours of Zandvoort: 1st place in 1974, 3rd place in 1972
Diepholz SRP/GT: 1st place in 1970
6 hours of Nurburgring: 2nd place in 1971
9 hours of Kyalami: 3rd place in 1972
Taurenpokal Salzburgring: 1st place in 1971

Images for kids

Lauda in 1975
Five years after his first retirement, Lauda won his third title driving a McLaren MP4/2.
Lauda's helmet from the 1970s, at the Museo Ferrari in Maranello