Born and raised in Vienna, Lauda was the grandson of local industrialist Hans Lauda. Starting his career in karting, he progressed to Formula Vee and privateer racing in the late 1960s. After his career stalled, Lauda took out a £30,000 bank loan and secured a place in European Formula Two with March Engineering in 1971, making his Formula One debut with the team at the Austrian Grand Prix. He was promoted to a full-time seat in 1972, ending the season with a non-classified championship finish, while winning the British Formula Two Championship. Lauda moved to BRM for the 1973 season, scoring his maiden points finish in Belgium.
Lauda joined Ferrari alongside Clay Regazzoni in 1974, taking his maiden podium in his debut for the team and his maiden victory three races later at the Spanish Grand Prix. After winning five Grands Prix in his 1975 campaign, Lauda won his first title, becoming the first Ferrari-powered World Drivers' Champion in 11 years. He also became the first driver to lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife in under seven minutes.
While leading the 1976 championship—amid a fierce title battle with James Hunt—Lauda was seriously injured during the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, suffering severe burns and other life-changing injuries when his Ferrari 312T2 caught fire during a crash. He returned to racing six weeks later at the Italian Grand Prix, visibly scarred and shaken by the experience. Journalist Nigel Roebuck recalls seeing Lauda peeling blood-soaked bandages off his scalp in the pits. He ultimately lost the title to Hunt by one point.
Lauda remained at Ferrari in 1977, winning several races on the way to his second championship and clinching the title at the United States Grand Prix. He left Ferrari and signed with Brabham in 1978, achieving podiums in every race he finished that season, with victories in Sweden and Italy. Amid a winless 1979 season for Brabham, Lauda left the team after the Italian Grand Prix, and took a two-year hiatus from racing. He returned with McLaren in 1982, winning multiple races. After a winless 1983 campaign, Lauda was partnered by Alain Prost the following season, where he beat Prost to his third title by a record half-point. With seven years between his second and third championships, Lauda holds the record for the longest period in the history of the sport between World Championship victories.
Lauda retired after the 1985 season—taking his final victory at the Dutch Grand Prix—having achieved 25 race wins, 24 pole positions, 24 fastest laps, and 54 podiums in Formula One. Outside of Formula One, Lauda won the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 1973 with Alpina, and the inaugural BMW M1 Procar Championship in 1979 with Project Four.
In aviation, Lauda founded and managed three airlines: Lauda Air from 1985 to 1999, Niki from 2003 to 2011, and Lauda from 2016 onwards. In 1993, he returned to Formula One in a consulting role at Ferrari, and was the team principal of Jaguar from 2001 to 2002. From 2012 until his death, Lauda was the non-executive chairman and co-owner of Mercedes, winning six consecutive World Constructors' Championships with the team from 2014 to 2019. Lauda was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1993.
The 1976 battle between Lauda and James Hunt was dramatized in the 2013 film Rush, where Lauda was played by Daniel Brühl. Lauda made a cameo appearance at the end of the film. He also appeared in an episode of Mayday titled "Niki Lauda: Testing the Limits" regarding the events of Lauda Air Flight 004, and is portrayed by Johannes Heinrichs in the 2024 Netflix miniseries Senna.
Lauda died on 20 May 2019, aged 70, in his sleep at the University Hospital of Zürich, where he had been undergoing kidney dialysis. He had experienced a period of ill health exacerbated by his lung injuries from the 1976 accident, having received a double lung transplant the previous year and kidney transplants in 1997 and 2005. His funeral at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna was attended by prominent Formula One figures and Austrian politicians. Lauda was buried in Heiligenstädter Friedhof, wearing the Ferrari racing suit he wore from 1974 to 1977.
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