Editing Niki Lauda (section)

==Ferrari (1974–1977)==
{{see also|Hunt–Lauda rivalry}}
[[File:LaudaNiki19760731Ferrari312T2.jpg|thumb|Lauda practicing at the [[Nürburgring]] during the [[1976 German Grand Prix]]]]
After an unsuccessful start to the 1970s, culminating in a disastrous start to the {{f1|1973}} season, Ferrari regrouped completely under [[Luca di Montezemolo]] and were resurgent in {{f1|1974}}. The team's faith in the little-known Lauda was quickly rewarded by a second-place finish in his debut race for the team, the season-opening [[1974 Argentine Grand Prix|Argentine Grand Prix]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Argentine Grand Prix, Eric della Faille Photograph Collection|url=https://library.revsinstitute.org/digital/custom/single-image?id=35807&collection=p17257coll1 |website=Revs Digital Library|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728171958/https://library.revsinstitute.org/digital/custom/single-image?id=35807&collection=p17257coll1 |date=28 July 2021|archive-date=2021-07-28}}</ref> His first [[Grand Prix motor racing|Grand Prix]] (GP) victory – and the first for Ferrari since 1972 – followed only three races later in the [[1974 Spanish Grand Prix|Spanish Grand Prix]]. Although Lauda became the season's pacesetter, achieving six consecutive [[pole position]]s, a mixture of inexperience and mechanical unreliability meant Lauda won only one more race that year, the [[1974 Dutch Grand Prix|Dutch GP]]. He finished fourth in the Drivers' Championship and demonstrated immense commitment to testing and improving the car.

[[File:Niki Lauda, 1975 British Grand Prix.jpg|thumb|left|Lauda in 1975]]
The [[1975 Formula One season]] started slowly for Lauda; after no better than a fifth-place finish in the first four races, he won four of the next five driving the new [[Ferrari 312T]]. His first World Championship was confirmed with a third-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix at [[Monza Circuit|Monza]]; Lauda's teammate Regazzoni won the race and Ferrari clinched their first Constructors' Championship in 11 years. Lauda then picked up a fifth win at the last race of the year, the [[1975 United States Grand Prix|United States GP]] at [[Watkins Glen International|Watkins Glen]]. He also became the first driver to lap the [[Nürburgring]] Nordschleife in under seven minutes, which was considered a huge feat as the Nordschleife section of the Nürburgring was two miles longer than it is today. Lauda did not win the German Grand Prix from pole position there that year; after battling hard with [[Patrick Depailler]] for the lead for the first half of the race, Lauda led for the first 9 laps but suffered a puncture at the Wippermann, 9 miles into the 10th lap and was passed by [[Carlos Reutemann]], [[James Hunt]], [[Tom Pryce]] and [[Jacques Laffite]]; Lauda made it back to the pits with a damaged front wing and a destroyed left front tyre. The Ferrari pit changed the destroyed tyre and Lauda managed to make it to the podium in third behind Reutemann and Laffite after Hunt retired and Pryce had to slow down because of a fuel leak. Lauda was known for giving away any trophies he won to his local garage in exchange for his car to be washed and serviced.<ref>{{cite web | author=Gerald Donaldson | title=Formula One Drivers Hall of Fame – Nikki Lauda | publisher=[[Formula One|Formula One web site]] | url=http://www.formula1.com/teams_and_drivers/hall_of_fame/221 | access-date=17 March 2013 | archive-date=24 February 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224131233/http://www.formula1.com/teams_and_drivers/hall_of_fame/221/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

Unlike 1975 and amidst tensions between Lauda and Montezemolo's successor, [[Daniele Audetto]], Lauda dominated the start of the [[1976 Formula One season]], winning four of the first six races and finishing second in the other two. By the time of his fifth win of the year at the [[1976 British Grand Prix|British GP]], he had more than double the points of his closest challengers [[Jody Scheckter]] and [[James Hunt]], and a second consecutive World Championship appeared a formality. It was a feat not achieved since [[Jack Brabham]]'s victories in [[1959 Formula One season|1959]] and [[1960 Formula One season|1960]]. He also looked set to win the most races in a season, a record held by the late [[Jim Clark]] since [[1963 Formula One season|1963]].

===1976 Nürburgring crash===
A week before the [[1976 German Grand Prix]] at the [[Nürburgring]], even though he was the fastest driver on that circuit at the time, Lauda urged his fellow drivers to boycott the race, largely because of the {{convert|23|km|adj=on}} circuit's safety arrangements, citing the organisers' lack of resources to properly manage such a huge circuit, including lack of fire marshals, fire and safety equipment and safety vehicles.  Formula One was quite dangerous at the time (three of the drivers that day later died in Formula One incidents: [[Tom Pryce]] in 1977; [[Ronnie Peterson]] in 1978; and [[Patrick Depailler]] in 1980), but a majority of the drivers voted against the boycott and the race went ahead.

[[File:Lauda accidente2.jpg|thumb|right|Lauda's car on fire]]

On 1 August 1976, during the second lap at the very fast left kink before Bergwerk, Lauda was involved in an accident where his Ferrari swerved off the track, hit an embankment, burst into flames, and made contact with [[Brett Lunger]]'s [[Surtees Racing Organisation|Surtees]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] car. Unlike Lunger, Lauda was trapped in the wreckage. Drivers [[Arturo Merzario]], Lunger, [[Guy Edwards]], and [[Harald Ertl]] arrived at the scene a few moments later, but before Merzario was able to pull him from his car, Lauda suffered severe burns to his head and hands and inhaled hot toxic gases that damaged his lungs and blood.{{sfn|Rubython|2011|p={{page needed|date=December 2024}}}} In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, Lauda said:

{{blockquote|There were basically two or three drivers trying to get me out of the car, but one was Arturo Merzario, the Italian guy, who also had to stop there at the scene, because I blocked the road; and he really came into the car himself, and uh, triggered my, my seatbelt loose, and then pulled me out. It was unbelievable, how he could do that, and I met him afterwards, and I said, 'How could you do it?!'.  He said, 'Honestly, I do not know, but to open your seatbelt was so difficult, because you were pushing so hard against it, and when it was open, I got you out of the car like a feather...'.|"I Was There – May 21, 2019"; "Niki Lauda speaks in 2015"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4mbRKsf813B0CCRMm2Fz1k/i-was-there-niki-lauda-grand-prix-crash-1976|title=BBC Radio 5 live – In Short – 'I was there': Niki Lauda Grand Prix crash, 1976|publisher=BBC|access-date=28 November 2019|archive-date=28 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128023133/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4mbRKsf813B0CCRMm2Fz1k/i-was-there-niki-lauda-grand-prix-crash-1976|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

As Lauda was wearing a modified helmet, it did not fit him properly; the foam had compressed and it slid off his head after the accident, leaving his face exposed to the fire.{{sfn|Rubython|2011|p=163}} Although Lauda was conscious and able to stand immediately after the accident, he later lapsed into a coma.{{sfn|Lang|1981|p=137}} While in the hospital, he was given the [[last rites]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=31 July 2015 |title=Lauda 'upset' with Priest for giving him last rites |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02ygmxx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402031624/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02ygmxx |archive-date=2 April 2023 |access-date=2 April 2023 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>

Lauda suffered extensive scarring from the burns to his head, losing most of his right ear as well as the hair on the right side of his head, his eyebrows, and his eyelids. He chose to limit reconstructive surgery to replacing the eyelids and restoring their functionality. After the accident he always wore a cap to cover the scars on his head. He arranged for sponsors to use the cap for advertising.

With Lauda out of the contest, [[Carlos Reutemann]] was taken on as his replacement. Ferrari boycotted the [[1976 Austrian Grand Prix|Austrian Grand Prix]] in protest at what they saw as preferential treatment shown towards [[McLaren]] driver [[James Hunt]] at the Spanish and British Grands Prix.

===Return to racing===
Lauda missed only two races, appearing at the Monza press conference six weeks after the accident with his fresh burns still bandaged. He finished fourth in the {{F1GP|1976|Italian}}, whilst being, by his own admission, absolutely petrified. Formula One journalist [[Nigel Roebuck]] recalls seeing Lauda in the pits, peeling the blood-soaked bandages off his scarred scalp. He also had to wear a specially adapted crash helmet so as not to be in too much discomfort. In Lauda's absence, Hunt had mounted a late charge to reduce Lauda's lead in the World Championship standings. Hunt and Lauda were friends away from the circuit, and their personal on-track rivalry, while intense, was cleanly contested and fair. Following wins in the [[1976 Canadian Grand Prix|Canadian]] and [[1976 United States Grand Prix|United States]] Grands Prix, Hunt stood only three points behind Lauda before the final race of the season, the [[1976 Japanese Grand Prix|Japanese Grand Prix]].

Lauda qualified third, one place behind Hunt, but on race day there was torrential rain, and Lauda retired after two laps. He later said that he felt it was unsafe to continue under these conditions, especially since his eyes were watering excessively because of his fire-damaged tear ducts and inability to blink. Hunt led much of the race before his tyres blistered and a pit stop dropped him down the order. He recovered to third, thus winning the title by a single point.

Lauda's previously good relationship with Ferrari was severely affected by his decision to withdraw from the Japanese Grand Prix, and he endured a difficult [[1977 Formula One season|1977 season]]; he won the championship through consistency rather than outright pace. Lauda disliked his new teammate, Reutemann, who had served as his replacement driver. Lauda was not comfortable with this move and felt he had been let down by Ferrari. "We never could stand each other, and instead of taking pressure off me, they put on even more by bringing Carlos Reutemann into the team."{{sfn|Rubython|2011|p=187}} Having announced his decision to quit Ferrari at season's end, Lauda left earlier after he won the Drivers' Championship at the [[1977 United States Grand Prix|United States Grand Prix]]  because of the team's decision to run the unknown [[Gilles Villeneuve]] in a third car at the [[1977 Canadian Grand Prix|Canadian Grand Prix]].