Today would have been Niki Lauda’s 76th birthday, and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff can’t help but remember his dear friend with a mix of sadness and joy.
“Niki never complained,” Wolff says, his voice carrying a hint of emotion. “He just did what he had to do. He was just a great guy.”
The two Austrians spent countless hours together on flights between races, forming a bond that went far beyond their professional relationship at Mercedes.
But it’s one particular moment that Wolff cherishes most. Flying back from Suzuka, just the two of them, Lauda got unusually personal.
“He said he wanted to tell me something,” Wolff recalls. “Then he went quiet for a moment. Niki always claimed he had no friends – that was his thing. But that day, he told me if there was such a thing as half a friend, it would be me.”
Coming from Lauda, that was practically a love letter.
Lauda’s story in F1 reads like a Hollywood script. He first showed up at the 1971 Austrian Grand Prix, racing for March Ford. By 1974, he was winning races for Ferrari.
Then came 1976 – the year that changed everything.
Racing at the dangerous Nürburgring, Lauda’s Ferrari burst into flames after a horrific crash. Other drivers stopped their cars and ran through the flames to pull him out.
Everyone thought he was done. Everyone except Niki.
Just six weeks later – with severe burns still healing – he was back in the car at Monza. He missed the title by just one point that year, choosing to sit out the final rain-soaked race in Japan.
But Lauda wasn’t finished. He grabbed his second title in 1977, took a break, then came back to win again in 1984 with McLaren – beating teammate Alain Prost in one of F1’s closest championship battles.
In his final chapter, Lauda joined Mercedes as an advisor in 2012, helping build the team into the dominant force we know today.
He passed away in 2019 at age 70, leaving behind a legacy of determination that still inspires the paddock. As Wolff puts it: “He had tremendous resilience. That’s what kept him going. And that’s why we miss him so much.”
