Niki Lauda, who has died aged 70, was a three-time Formula 1 world champion, non-executive chairman of the world champion Mercedes team, and one of the biggest names in motorsport. Niki Lauda was born on 22 February 1949 in Vienna, Austria, to a wealthy paper manufacturing family. Across the next two decades, up until the tragic San Marino weekend of 1994 that claimed the lives of both Roland Ratzenberger and Aryton Senna, there were just seven F1 … Former Formula One driver Niki Lauda is still a fixture at races, chiming in on every controversial move of the front-runners as the non-executive chairman of the Mercedes F1 team. Why was Niki Lauda nicknamed "The Rat"? The Rush movie true story reveals that Lauda was known as "The Rat" for his protruding teeth. Lauda won three world titles as a … What caused Niki Lauda crash? Lauda’s inferno can be seen, for the better, as an end of the age of innocence for Formula One. The real Niki Lauda talked about the origin of the nickname during an interview with the Telegraph, "Marlboro was the sponsor. Niki Lauda won three world titles as a Formula One driver in 1975, 1977 and 1984 with McLaren and Ferrari Credit: Getty - Contributor 17 Niki Lauda in … Actor Daniel Brühl, who portrays Lauda in the film, had to have prosthetic teeth put in for the role. Niki Lauda of Austria, the defending world champion Formula One driver, was knocked out of the Belgian Grand Prix yesterday after the accelerator of his … Unlike Lunger, Lauda was trapped in the wreckage. 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-Ford car. Just after the fast left kink before the Bergwerk right hand curve, his Ferrari 312T2 snapped to the right and spun through the fencing into an earth bank. Niki Lauda badly injured in German Grand Prix – archive ... Ronnie Peterson crashed without injury, and Patrick Depailler went off in the Elf Tyrrell … His paternal grandfather was the Viennese-born industrialist Hans Lauda.. Lauda became a racing driver despite his family's disapproval. What caused Niki Lauda crash? Niki Lauda was a true warrior, a superb driver and a special person who lived life to the full… at top speed. 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-Ford car. Niki Lauda was special but the last few months had been a real misery for him Unlike Lunger, Lauda was trapped in the wreckage. Niki Lauda was an Austrian Formula One driver, who was born in 1949 in Vienna and died on May 20, 2019, in Vienna. Niki Lauda changed his tyres after lap one as the weather changed back to dry and was trying hard to make up for the lost time.