Niki Lauda is dead

Yesterday, at the age of just 70, Formula 1 legend Niki Lauda passed away surrounded by his family. The three-time world champion (1975, 1977 and 1984), who came from a wealthy industrialist family, fought countless thrilling contests on the track from 1970 to 1985 with equally famous drivers such as Jacky Ickx, Carlos Reutemann, James Hunt, Jackie Stewart, Clay Regazzoni and Emerson Fittipaldi. Spectacular and incendiary was his accident in 1976 during a Formula 1 race. On August 1, 1976, the Austrian Formula One racing driver had a serious accident during the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. Lauda later suspected that the trailing arm had broken free, which is why the car suddenly veered to the right and crashed into a rock wall. The car immediately burst into flames and Lauda suffered severe burns to his face, which scarred him for the rest of his life. The safety standards at that time are not comparable with today's conditions. Nothing about track marshals and the like. It was the drivers Brett Lunger, Guy Edwards, Harald Ertl and John Watson who freed Lauda from the burning car, tried to extinguish the fire and took him off the track to safety. On Formula One racing cars of March, Brabham, Ferrari and McLaren he drove for he drove for March, Parmalat, Ferrari and Marlboro. Twice he became world champion with Ferrari (1975 and 1977). In 1979 he, himself a pilot, founded Lauda Air. The airline business was riddled with great turbulence, but he remained committed to his company in the end. After his active racing career, he was engaged by various racing teams, most recently by the Mercedes Formula 1 team, where he served as chairman of the supervisory board.