Niki Lauda

Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian racing driver, motorsport executive and aviation entrepreneur, who competed in Formula One from 1971 to 1979 and from 1982 to 1985. Lauda won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and—at the time of his retirement—held the record for most podium finishes (54); he remains the only driver to have won a World Drivers' Championship with both Ferrari and McLaren, and won 25 Grands Prix across 13 seasons.

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. With his career stalled, Lauda took out a £30,000 bank loan and secured a place in European Formula Two with March 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, despite winning the British Formula Two Championship. Lauda moved to BRM for the 1973 season, scoring his maiden points finish in Belgium and earning a seat with Ferrari the following year alongside Clay Regazzoni. Lauda was immediately successful at Ferrari, taking his maiden podium on debut and his maiden win three races later at the Spanish Grand Prix. After winning five Grands Prix in his 1975 campaign, Lauda won his maiden title, becoming the first Ferrari-powered World Champion in 11 years. Whilst leading the 1976 championship—amidst 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 as his Ferrari 312T2 caught on fire during a crash. He returned to racing just six weeks later at the Italian Grand Prix, but eventually lost the title to Hunt by one point.

Lauda remained at Ferrari in 1977, winning several races on his way to a second championship. Vacating his seat after clinching the title at the United States Grand Prix and replaced by Gilles Villeneuve, Lauda signed with Brabham in 1978, achieving podiums in each of his race finishes that season despite struggling with poor reliability, and taking wins in Sweden and Italy. Amidst a winless 1979 season for Brabham alongside Nelson Piquet, Lauda left the team after the Italian Grand Prix, following their move to Ford Cosworth V8 engines. After a two-year hiatus, Lauda returned to Formula One with McLaren in 1982, winning multiple races upon his return. After a winless 1983 campaign, Lauda was partnered by Alain Prost the following season, beating Prost to his third title by a record half-point. Lauda retired at the conclusion of 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. He returned in an advisory role at Ferrari in 1993, 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.

Outside of Formula One, Lauda won the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 1973 with Alpina, and the 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. Lauda was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1993.