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Nikolaus Andreas Laudaknown under the name of Niki Laudapilot Formula 1 and entrepreneur, three-time F-1 champion (1975, 1977 and 1984)and finalist in 1976, died at the age of 70, as reported by his family in a statement.
"We announce with great sorrow that our beloved Niki He died peacefully on May 20, 2019, surrounded by his family, "reported the 70-year-old's relatives of the pilot and businessman.
Lauda He had a lung transplant last summer that required him to be hospitalized for several months. Last January, he had to be again because of a flu that he had contracted during the previous Christmas in Ibiza (Spain), where the former pilot had his second home. .
Born in Vienna on February 22, 1949, he was the son of a wealthy family who owned a paper mill.
He made his racing debut in April 1968, in a mountain award. This year already participated in Formula V and Formula 3.
In 1971, he made his F-1 debut with a march into the Grand Prix of Austria, which did not end because of mechanical problems.
His jump in the car comes from his signature in 1974 for Ferrari, the Italian team with which he won his first GP race in Spain played at Jarama on April 28, 1974.
His progression is certified with his first title of world champion in 1974.
Two years later, his career suffered a serious setback after a serious crash of the German Grand Prix on October 24th. Lauda He was severely burned to the face and bodywhich kept him off circuits for six weeks.
Despite this, Lauda He managed to maintain an intense duel with British rider Jame Hunt for the title, a title that he finally won with only one point difference from the Austrian rider.
The 1977 season is the last that he ran with Ferrari and although his relationship with the Italian team has calmed down, he got his second world title with a little comfort in front of Jody Scheckter.
He then led two World Cups for the Brabham-Alfa team, with which he failed to win new world titles. On September 28, 1979, he temporarily left the competition to embark on his project. Lauda Air.
In 1981, he returned to high competition and in 1984, he won his third and final title in a difficult fight with the Frenchman Alain Prost, which only separated half a point at the end of the season.
In 1985, after a difficult season during which he had to leave until eleven times, he retired permanently from the F-1, being considered one of the best pilots in the history of motor sport.
He left 25 victories out of 173 grand prizes, including 24 starting from the "pole" -23 with Ferrari-, and lived two stages in terms of engine evolution, atmospheric (1971-79) and turbo (1982-1985 ).
Lauda continued his activities in the engine world as a public relations advisor, advisor at Ferrari (1992-1997) or director of Jaguar and Mercedes.
In 1986, the airline went through many economic vicissitudes, especially because of the competition "low cost". On November 21, 2000, he was forced to abandon his presidency and in 2001 he left the company permanently.
In April 2003, he created in Barcelona, with his son Lukas and the Spanish Diego Albanell, the cabinet Lauda Sports Management, dedicated to the management of car events.
In November of the same year, he returned to the world of aviation by acquiring the Austrian subsidiary of charter flights Aero-Lloyd, renamed Fly Niki.
In 2004, Air Berlin entered the capital of its airline, a company that increased its stake to 49.9% in 2010 and sold the remaining 50.1% in 2011, leaving the expiry to the board from Air Berlin until his retirement in 2012.
He returned to Formula 1 in September 2012 after signing as chairman of the control board of the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The 1976 "Best Sport World Award" of Sttutgart's Internationale Sport Korrespondenz was included in the United Nations "blacklist" of 1980-1988 for its participation in South African events.
In 1996, he published his biography "The Third Life".
On the rivalry on the tracks with Hunt, the American Ron Howard turns in 2011 the film "To rush".
Joined Birgit Wetzinger, 30 years younger, whom he met in 2004, when he began working on his airline as a stewardess. She donated her to a kidney in 2005, following the work stoppage of her brother Florián in 1997. After an unrecognized marriage in August 2008, the couple had twins in 2009.
Between 1976 and 1991, he was married to Marlene Knaus (of Chilean origin), with whom he had two children: Lukas (1979) and Mathias (1981), also a race driver.
The pilot had a fifth child, Christophe, born around 1981 out of wedlock.
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