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Since the death of the triple Formula 1 world champion and airline operator on May 20, 2019, there have been some posthumous recognitions for Lauda. A biography has now been published in due course.
Next Wednesday is the first anniversary of the death of Niki Lauda. Triple Austrian Formula 1 World Champion is on May 20, 2019, six months after a lung transplant, died at the age of 71. Since the impressive farewell at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna last year, with great international interest and television broadcast, there have been some posthumous accolades for Lauda.
The access road to the VIP Terminal and the General Aviation Center at Vienna Airport is called “Niki Lauda Allee”. At the terminal itself, a plaque commemorates the legendary Austrian pilot, pilot, and aviation operator. Furthermore, the first corner of the track was renamed after Lauda at the Formula 1 GP in Spielberg in the summer. The coveted trophy for Austria’s “Athlete of the Year” is now called “Niki”. The first winners were ski star Marcel Hirscher and speed skater Vanessa Herzog. Furthermore, the book “Niki Lauda – Die Biografie” was published in time for the first anniversary of death.
Exceptional path to success
Along with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lauda had been the best-known living Austrian. This was due to his extraordinary success in Formula 1 and later in the aviation industry. Above all, his famous red cap made Lauda instantly recognizable worldwide. The brief fire that survived at the Nürburgring in 1976, including a sensational return at Monza, had contributed to the formation of legends, as had Lauda’s behavior in 1991 after the Lauda Air machine crash with 223 deaths.
Lauda was Formula 1 World Champion in 1975, 1977 and 1984, was elected Austrian Sportsman of the Year in 1977, received the Austrian Special Prize for a unique race in 2006 and the Laureus (Sports Oscar) for his life’s work in 2016. In 2013, Lauda’s longtime rivalry with British James Hunt appeared on screen with Oscar-winning feature film Ron Howard’s “Rush – Everything for Victory.”
In addition to his activities as an airline operator, Lauda had also been head of the supervisory board of the Mercedes Formula 1 team until recently and, along with Toto Wolff, played an important role in the team’s successful course since 2014, with which Lewis Hamilton has become world champion five times. The Briton dedicated his sixth year to Lauda. “I miss him very much,” Hamilton said at the time and described Lauda as the “central part of the team.”
“Actually, he is still in our midst”
Gerhard Berger still has Lauda’s farewell death letter on his desk. “This is how I see it practically every day. It is as if it were yesterday,” said the former Formula 1 driver. Even death could not change the legendary status of Lauda. “On the contrary. Niki is still very strong. In fact, she is still among us.”
In the last five years in particular, Lauda has really shown what he’s made of, says Berger. “After his success at Ferrari and McLaren, he showed it to everyone again and showed what he was capable of for the third or fourth time. Taking Mercedes to where it is now has been assigned 100 percent to Niki.” Berger sure. “However, he also commented fairly and competently on RTL for a long time. And the film impressively showed the stresses Niki endured to succeed.”
Placed in the Cathedral of Saint Stephen
In August 2018, Lauda had to undergo a transplant at the Vienna General Hospital for lungs burned in the Nürburgring accident. After a good initial rehabilitation, the Viennese, who had foreign kidneys, was treated again at the AKH for the flu in January 2019, but celebrated his 70th birthday on February 22 with the family. After further complications, Lauda was transferred to the Zurich University Clinic for dialysis treatment, where he finally slept peacefully with his family twelve weeks after his birthday.
Lauda was the first athlete to be featured at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Thousands of people attended the farewell on rainy May 29, 2019. The rush was so great that many did not reach the coffin. In addition to Formula 1 world champions Hamilton, Schwarzenegger, Berger, etc., Arturo Merzario, one of Lauda’s lifeguards at the Nürburgring, also came. Lauda was buried in a racing suit, his grave is in the Heiligenstadt cemetery in Vienna.
(APA)
