Niki Lauda

Niki Lauda never had a dull moment in his entire racing career. He paid to get into the sport and almost paid with his life. He was left for dead, recovered, and got back in astonishing time. He left the sport because there was no competition and came back again and repeated his feat. Such was the extraordinary journey that Lauda had through his years as a Formula One professional.

Nicholas Andrea Lauda was born into a business and banking dynasty. His father had built an empire by manufacturing paper but Niki's tryst with racing meant that he was excluded from his father's millions. Niki left the university he was enrolled into and got himself into a racing school, paying for it with money borrowed from Austrian banks.

In 1968, Niki started his racing career behind the wheels of a mini and the debut wasn't pleasant. He crashed his way through Formula Vee & Formula Three and in 1972, he realised that money was what could get him quickly into the higher levels of racing and so, he paid his way to get into Formula 2. Another bank loan, secured by his life insurance policy, paid for his new venture.

He was to represent March in the arena but their competitive cars meant that his worth as a driver was unproven. He had no choice but to continue in the only thing he knew how to do, i.e. race. In 1973, he got into BRM by talking himself into a twisted 'rent-a-ride' deal. He kept improving in his race standings and that got him a chance to compete for another year but this time, he had a contract. The contract was to pay off all his debts while Niki would have to stay on board for two years. But Lauda had other plans. He bought his way out of the team with some money that he got from his new employer - Enzo Ferrari.

The Austrian had impressed the Ferrari owner who was still looking for their first champion since John Surtees, from a decade ago. So in 1974, Lauda was in the Scarlet Ferrari, ready with his no-nonsense work ethic and brutal honesty. The honesty wasn't that easy to digest as after a test on the 1974 Ferrari 312, Lauda told Enzo, in more unpleasant terms, that the car was worthless. However, he did promise that he would be able to make it race-worthy. Lauda's cool, composed and calculating demeanour was noticed by everyone and he soon came to be known as the man who would save the Scuderia. Nicknamed 'the Computer', Lauda decided that learning from his mistakes was the only way to learn things quickly. Despite making some serious errors, he came back to win two races in Spain and in Holland.

In 1975, Lauda brought Ferrari back into its hay-day by winning comprehensively at Monaco, Belgium, Sweden, France and USA. But Lauda didn't rejoice as the rest of Italy did. He merely highlighted the anarchy that another trophy's addition, to his endless collections, would bring and gave them away to a local car garage in exchange for free car washes. 1976 was eventful to say the least. Lauda won five races and looked set to grab his second title in a row when disaster struck. At the second lap at the Nurburgring, the dangerous circuit took its toll on Lauda and the Austrian crashed his car that in turn burst into a fireball. The car seemed to burn like a massive bonfire with Lauda inside and all seemed lost until four brave drivers and a marshal jumped in to drag his burnt body out of the wreckage. In hospital, Lauda's real state was discovered - first to third degree burns on his head and wrists, numerous broken bones and lungs scorched from inhaling the toxic and hot fumes. Lauda was left for dead and a priest had performed the last rites on his body. Six weeks later, Lauda came fourth at the Italian Grand Prix.

He had bamboozled the entire medical world and doctors attributed his recovery to his sheer will and determination to do so. With blood seeping out of his bandages, Lauda stayed on track at Ferrari's home Grand Prix and brought loud applaud from the crowds. With a disfigured face, Niki resorted to a cap that he wore with a hefty-costing sponsor's logo. The year was far from over. A dear friend of Lauda's, James Hunt had decided that the championship for that season would end in a showdown at the final race of the season in Japan. Hunt and Lauda had the same number of wins (5) with just one race to go. On a rain drenched track, Lauda decided to drop out after the initial few laps while Hunt ploughed his way through to third place and the championship. Hunt said that Lauda's decision was extremely brave while fans in Italy began calling him a coward. So much was the hatred against him that Enzo Ferrari was beginning to consider dropping him for the next season and this thought enraged Niki.

In 1977, Niki won the championship with two races to spare and in a season run more by revenge than by the hunger for winning, Niki pulled out of the final two races and quit Ferrari. He moved to Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham Team and this move didn't go down well with Enzo.

He won twice with Brabham and finished fourth in the championships in 1978 and in the following year, a poor car meant that he barely competed. During the penultimate race of the season in Canada, he walked away from Formula One saying that "he was tired of driving around in circles". The surprise decision was followed by another surprise - Lauda Air. Niki launched an airline with him being one of the pilots too. The airline grew but soon stagnated because he was unable to pump in more money into the airline. So it was time for him to go back to the sport and McLaren took him onboard for $5 million. In 1984, 2 years since coming back, Lauda won his third drivers title ahead of an upcoming brilliant youngster, Alain Prost. In 1985, Niki retired from the sport for good after he won the 1985 grand prix. He stayed on as an advisor for Ferrari and then went to Jaguar as the team principal before becoming a television commentator.

Niki Lauda has seen the dismal lows and lofty highs of a sport that he barely survived through but it is a tribute to his ability that he achieved what he did, despite choosing to take the more direct route to fame, a route where he almost lost everything.