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Niki Lauda : The Biography by Maurice Hamilton

ISBN: 9781471192029

The most comprehensive and detailed biography of Formula One legend Nick Lauda ever published, as told by Maurice Hamilton, who knew him for more than forty years. From the famous rivalry with James Hunt in the 1970s, as depicted in the film Rush, to working with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, Lauda’s career helped define modern F1. In 1975, Lauda became world champion for the first time.

Driving for Ferrari, he looked to retain his title in 1976 and was dominating the campaign ahead of James Hunt in his McLaren. Then, on 1 August, he was involved in a horrendous crash at the Nurburgring and was badly burned and in hospital he was given the last rites, so severe were his injuries. Remarkably, six weeks later, he was back racing again, determined to show he could still compete.

As they came to the final race of the season in Japan, Lauda held a narrow lead in the championship, but in appalling weather conditions, Lauda withdrew from the race, while Hunt went on to secure the points he needed to become world champion. It was high-speed drama at its best. Lauda came back to win the title again in 1977 and then, having temporarily retired, he won it for a third time in 1984, driving for McLaren.

When he finally finished as an F1 driver, he started his own airline, before he returned to the sport in various management roles, latterly as chairman of Mercedes, where he helped in the negotiations to bring Lewis Hamilton to the team. Maurice Hamilton, who first met Lauda in 1971, draws together the remarkable story of one of the greatest stars in Formula One history. Based on interviews with friends and family, rival drivers and those he worked with later in his career, Niki Lauda is a superb and definitive tribute to a remarkable character, who died in May 2019 at the age of seventy.

ISBN9781471192029

SKU: 9781471192029Categories: Adult Non-Fiction (All), Biography & Essays, Spor

Niki Lauda

HALL OF FAME - 1975, 1977, 1984

He bought his way into Formula 1 racing and very nearly paid for it with his life. Given up for dead after an appalling accident he recovered by what the medical profession called sheer force of will. His astonishingly quick return to the cockpit was called the most courageous comeback in sporting history. After winning two championships he got bored and left the sport, only to return again and win another. During his remarkable career he was called both a hero and a villain. The battle-scarred champion who defied both the odds and convention remains a sporting legend.

On February 22, 1949, Nicholas Andreas Lauda was born in Vienna into a prominent Austrian business and banking dynasty. Paper manufacturing was how Niki's father made his fortune, though none of it would be made available for a contrary son who would surely bring the respected Lauda name into disrepute by playing at being a racing driver. To further educate himself in this field Niki forsook university and enrolled himself in racing's school of hard knocks, paying for it with money borrowed from Austrian banks. Starting in a Mini in 1968, he crashed his way through Formula Vee and Formula 3 and in 1972 he bought his way into the March Formula 2 and Formula 1 teams with another bank loan secured by his life insurance policy. The uncompetitive Marches meant Niki was unable to prove his worth as a driver, let alone stave off pending bankruptcy. With no qualifications in any other line of work he had no choice but to keep on racing.

For 1973 he talked his way into a complicated rent-a-ride deal with BRM. During that season his ever-improving results paid dividends in the form of a new contract that would forgive his debts in exchange for Niki staying with BRM for a further two years. Instead, he bought his way out of BRM with money from his new employer Enzo Ferrari, for whom he went to work in 1974.

Ferrari, who hadn't h

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  • Lauda Air

    Defunct charter airline of Austria (1979–2013)

    This article is about the defunct Austrian leisure airline. For the defunct Ryanair subsidiary, see Lauda (airline). For the 2020 Maltese successor, see Lauda Europe.

    Lauda Air Luftfahrt GmbH, branded as Lauda Air, was an Austriancharter airline headquartered at Vienna Airport in Schwechat. It was owned by Niki Lauda (1949–2019) during much of its existence, later becoming a charter airline subsidiary for leisure operations of Austrian Airlines. On 6 April 2013, Lauda Air ceased to exist and was replaced by Austrian myHoliday, a new brand name that is used for flights and leisure offers provided by Austrian Airlines.

    History

    Development as an independent airline

    Lauda Air was established in April 1979 by former Formula One world motor racing champion Niki Lauda with two Fokker F27s. In 1985, ITAS Austria purchased a 49% shareholding. Scheduled services began in 1988. In 1991 the fleet consisted of two Boeing 737-300s, two Boeing 767-300ERs and a Learjet 36.

    In May 1988, Lauda started its first long-haul flights from Vienna to Sydney and Melbourne via Bangkok. In the 1990s, it started to fly its Sydney and Melbourne flights via Kuala Lumpur and Bali. Daily flights to Dubai, Cuba, and Miami via Munich followed.

    Merger with Austrian Airlines

    Lauda Air became a wholly owned subsidiary of Austrian Airlines in December 2000 and employed thirty-five people as of March 2007. In 2005 the flight operation merged with Austrian Airlines, and the label "Lauda Air" operated charter flights within the Austrian Airlines Group.

    At an AAG board meeting in November 2006, plans were approved to retire the Airbus wide-bodied fleet by mid-2007 and to operate with just a Boeing 767 and Boeing 777 fleet. As a result of subsequent fleet cuts, Austrian Airlines suspended some long-haul services and Lauda Air withdre

    Niki Lauda

    Austrian racing driver (1949–2019)

    Niki Lauda

    Lauda in 1984

    Born

    Andreas Nikolaus Lauda


    (1949-02-22)22 February 1949

    Vienna, Allied-occupied Austria

    Died20 May 2019(2019-05-20) (aged 70)

    Zürich, Switzerland

    Spouses

    Marlene Knaus

    (m. 1976; div. 1991)​

    Birgit Wetzinger

    (m. 2008)​
    Children4, including Mathias
    NationalityAustrian
    Active years1971–1979, 1982–1985
    TeamsMarch, BRM, Ferrari, Brabham, McLaren
    Entries177 (171 starts)
    Championships3 (1975, 1977, 1984)
    Wins25
    Podiums54
    Career points420.5
    Pole positions24
    Fastest laps24
    First entry1971 Austrian Grand Prix
    First win1974 Spanish Grand Prix
    Last win1985 Dutch Grand Prix
    Last entry1985 Australian Grand Prix

    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, amongst winning the British Formula Two Championship. Lauda moved to BRM for the 1973 season, scoring his m

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