racing

From Flames to Fame: The Triumphs of Niki Lauda

He was an Austrian race-car driver who won three Formula One Grand Prix world championships (1975, 1977, and 1984), the last two of which came after his remarkable comeback from a horrific crash in 1976 that had left him severely burned and near death. Born and raised in Vienna, Lauda was the grandson of local industrialist Hans Lauda. Paper manufacturing was how Niki’s father made his fortune, though none of it would be made available for a contrary son who would surely bring the respected Lauda name into disrepute by playing at being a racing driver.