Niki Lauda, who died on May 20, celebrated his 70th birthday just three months ago on February 22. Even those who are not avid Formula 1 fans will know of the determined driver who cheated death in 1976.
Lauda had been recovering after a lung transplant eight months ago, and has had several setbacks since then. Family has reported that he had died peacefully in a statement on Monday, May 20.
The Austrian won the F1 drivers’ world championship three times, in 1975 and 1977 for Ferrari and in 1984 with McLaren. Lauda drove in 171 races, 54 podiums, had 25 wins, and 34 fastest laps. He was non-executive chairman of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport team and also owned 10% of the team.
Known as one of the bravest F1 drivers in the history of the sport, Lauda will be remembered for his legendary status forever when he survived a horrific, fiery crash at the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.
