The state funeral in Vienna’s Stephansdom in 2019 illustrates the iconic status of Niki Lauda: Austrian, three-time Formula 1 world champion, entrepreneur, and a living legend. A portrait of a phenomenon with two famous friends. “Hey Niki, look: I found your ear.”
Exactly 41 days after a nearly fatal crash at the Nürburgring, Niki Lauda is already back behind the wheel of his Ferrari in Monza. His face is unrecognizable due to burns, blood is sticking everywhere under the balaclava. The miracle, along with three world titles, gives the Austrian a lifelong iconic status worldwide. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko still misses his friend and old racing rival six years after his death, he admits. Ernst Hausleitner, Formula 1 reporter for the Austrian public broadcaster ORF, cherishes the moments he spent with Lauda in front of and behind the camera. A monologue by two Austrians about the greatness, modesty, and social nature of Niki Lauda, a monument of Formula 1.
HELMUT MARKO, Advisor to Red Bull Racing
“The first time I spoke to Niki was during the Bergrennen, a race in Austria. I think it must have been in 1969 or so. A long time ago, yes. What struck me: He was already very self-confident, we didn’t know each other very well yet. Later, in Formula V, we raced against each other for the first time.
What I remember is that we got along well right away. In the evening we just went out together. We respected each other, even though we were competitors. It was an honest rivalry on the track, there was none in private. What we had in common: he was also very structured and analyzed everything. He always knew how to express it in very clear terms. Austrians are not usually like that, no. They usually beat around the bush.
We were friends, certainly. When we ended up in Formula 1 the rivalry was stronger. I was at an advantage with BRM, where I got paid. Niki had to pay for a seat (at March, ed). Until fate struck me and I had that accident (Marko lost an eye in 1972 after a stone pierced his visor, ed), ending my career and Niki first got my spot at BRM and later the cockpit of Ferrari, where I had a contract. Was I jealous of him? No, of course not. He couldn’t help it that I had that accident, could he?”
Impressed
One man’s loss is another man’s gain, as the saying goes. A funny story: Niki once called me. He said: I finally got a response from Ferrari and asked me if I wanted to accompany him to the first meeting with Enzo Ferrari. Well, why not? We were both quite impressed by the dark room of the big boss with all those candles. But Enzo was very friendly. My accident – ironically – kick-started Niki’s career in a way.
After his terrible accident at the Norschleife, I called Niki in the hospital on Monday. He picked up the phone and I asked him: How are you doing? Everything is shit, he replied. I visited him often at home during that period, where he was in excruciating pain. In the dark, he went to pick flowers in the meadow, when a stitch snapped: it looked terrible.
During that period, he was extremely annoyed by the fact that Ferrari had already contracted Carlos Sainz Jr as his replacement. This irritated him so much that he said: I’ll be driving in Monza again. It was unbelievable that he got back in the car, I think it’s one of the most remarkable stories from Formula 1. And that because he was so humbled that Ferrari had already attracted Reutemann. In Monza, everything under his helmet was bleeding. His incredible character and willpower were strong points of Niki. This was also evident in the decisive championship race in Japan, when he stopped after two laps because he found it too dangerous to continue driving in the rain, making Hunt the world champion.
Formula 1 became socially acceptable in Austria thanks to Jochen Rindt, Niki Lauda made it a popular sport. His accident in 1976 and also his third world title in a duel with Alain Prost made him an even bigger hero. By the way, he had intellectually broken Prost, not with the car. Niki had made quite a few wild statements about him, which made him even more popular. He didn’t care at all what other people thought of him. He was completely independent.
Financial Harakiri
Was he a good businessman? With his airline, he played financial harakiri. Fortunately, he came out well, but he tended to take a lot of business risks. We often flew together to Grands Prix. I also occasionally flew on commercial flights of his airline, to Tenerife and another island. He would land the plane himself. From the back, you wouldn’t notice, but in the cockpit, you discovered he was also a good pilot.
The accident with one of his planes in Thailand (1991, 223 deaths) was one of the greatest tragedies of his life. When the plane crashed, he immediately flew to Thailand to investigate the cause thoroughly. He continued until it was proven that the manufacturer Boeing was at fault for the accident, not him.
Niki was an extraordinary, very humble personality. He was also a man of handshake: If you agreed on something with him, you sealed it with a handshake. Nothing more. That was enough. The first thing I think of when I remember Niki is that he was always positive and had a refined sense of humor.
What were his strongest points as a driver? He maximized technical opportunities. When he started driving for Ferrari, he began testing the cars on Fiorano. No one had done that before. Through all that testing, he had an advantage, both in terms of driving and in finding the setup. Niki was a driver who used his brains. I still miss him. He and Didi Mateschitz (co-founder of Red Bull) are the greatest personalities in this sport that I have known.
ERNST HAUSLEITNER, F1 Reporter for ORF
“What will always stay with me about Niki is his boundless sense of humor. We laughed a lot, there were always jokes being made. At the circuits, we often talked about things other than Formula 1: how’s it going at home, have you heard anything fun lately?
I owe my nickname Schönleitner to Niki. Here’s how it happened: when I first started in Formula 1, I had a live conversation with Niki. Just before the broadcast, I checked my hair in the camera mirror. ‘What are you doing?’ Niki asked. I replied, ‘We’re going live soon, I’m just fixing my hair’. Niki, who was completely unfamiliar with the concept of vanity, was totally taken aback. He said, ‘If you do that again, I won’t call you Hausleitner but Schönleitner’. Later, I made the mistake of running my hands through my hair again. When I then asked Niki the first question, he cleared his throat and said, ‘Well, Mr. Schönleitner… Since then, I’ve been known as Schönleitner in Austria. Until his death, he called me that. Helmut Marko still addresses me as Schönleitner to this day, in memory of his friend.
What I always greatly appreciated about Niki was that he treated everyone equally. From the king to the beggar. Niki always made eye-level contact, never looked down on anyone, and was a man of the people. He always treated me with respect, I was fortunate that he liked me. For him, respect was a given, he was always equally courteous to everyone.
Humor
What many people who didn’t know him well might not realize is how funny he was. Of course, he was very direct in his statements: we and other journalists obviously liked that. But that’s how he was: he never beat around the bush, he said it like it was. Because of this, his great sense of humor might be less known to people. But it was one of the reasons why Toto Wolff and Helmut Marko were such good friends of his. The relationship with Toto was not very easy at the beginning: they were skeptical, they sniffed each other out a bit. But after that, they became very good friends.
Helmut and Niki always respected and appreciated each other. In the difficult times between Red Bull and Mercedes, Niki was the foreign minister, the diplomat who kept going to Helmut to clear the air over breakfast. In his early days at Mercedes, Niki had breakfast at Red Bull every morning.
We have a long Formula 1 tradition in Austria. Niki has played a significant role in this. Jochen Rindt was a driver ahead of his time, and in 1964 we had our first Grand Prix on an airfield (Zeltweg). But Niki surpassed him. Not only by winning three world titles, but also due to the accident in 1976 on the Nordschleife. Everyone in Austria remembers where they were on August 1, 1976, when that terrible accident, a ‘historic’ event but fortunately not fatal, occurred. I remember it too: I was seven years old and was watching the GP with my parents at their friends’ garden. That accident contributed to his legend.
In 1991, a Boeing from his airline crashed in Thailand, killing everyone on board. Niki flew there immediately to investigate what exactly had happened. It turned out to be a system error by the manufacturer. From that moment on, he was often cited as an aviation expert. His opinion was often sought on economic issues as well. If Lauda had run for president at the time, he would have won. Because he was much more than a race car driver. This was evident at the state funeral in the Stephansdom. Arnold Schwarzenegger was there, many (old) colleagues, the president and chancellor: a very moving event.
Void
I’m actually not aware that he’s been dead for six years. I still miss him. Toto often says: what would Niki think? This shows the void he has left behind. On the list of greatest Austrians, Niki is number 1 for me. On the list of most significant drivers, he also ranks very high. What have they meant for Formula 1 and not just as a driver? I consider Lewis Hamilton one of the most significant drivers Formula 1 has ever had. What he does: in terms of fashion, diversity, activism, and music… Apart from all his titles, he is in my opinion one of the most important people Formula 1 has known. Niki also ranks very high in that category.
I could talk about him for hours, but I have a nice anecdote that shows his sense of humor. Karl-Heinz Zimmerman, also an Austrian, was the caterer of Formula 1 and chef in Bernie’s motorhome during Bernie Ecclestone’s time. I don’t remember exactly which year it was, I think 2006: thirty years after Niki’s accident on the Nordschleife. We had gone together by car to the place where he had that terrible accident. Zimmerman was also there, he had initially kept a bit of a distance. Suddenly he shouts: ‘Hey Niki, look: I found your ear!’ Zimmerman suddenly had a pig’s ear in his hand that he had just laid in the grass. Niki was in tears. He couldn’t stop laughing, he found it so funny. Self-mockery, he had plenty of that. And he was not vain at all.
The red cap he wore was the most expensive in the world, his trademark. I believe he received a million a year for it from a sponsor. While he was alive, I sometimes thought about asking him if I could get one of those red caps from him. Unfortunately, I never did. But last year I met Birgit, his widow. She told me she still has one that I can have: a relic for eternity.
