As Lewis Hamilton moves away from Mercedes, where he spent 12 years of his F1 career, it was natural that he would reminisce about the late Niki Lauda. The three-time world champion was a big factor in Hamilton coming to the Brackley outfit and also making Mercedes the dominant championship-winning powerhouse they became.
Lauda passed away in 2019 and his death was a watershed moment for Hamilton and everyone at Mercedes. Reflecting on the Austrian’s impact on the team in a recent video on Mercedes’ YouTube channel, the seven-time world champion said, “It was amazing working with him because I loved his racing spirit even at his age”.
“We’re so competitive, and I’ve got this competitiveness in me that I realized through meeting him. It’s never going to leave me”, he added.
Hamilton recalled how Lauda was always “down to fight” for every tenth of a second in the car’s performance, even though he wasn’t the one driving them. The Briton highlighted that “he has always been in the car” with them even after his demise.
|| Lewis Hamilton on Niki Lauda ❤️
“It was amazing working with him because I loved his racing spirit even at his age. I mean I’m, we’re so competitive.”
“I got this competitiveness in me that I realise now, through meeting him, is never going to leave me.”
“Niki has that… pic.twitter.com/BFBmMEjQBj
— sin ⁴⁴ (@44britcedes) December 28, 2024
Lauda joined Mercedes as a non-executive chairman in 2012, and his first key contribution was bringing Hamilton on board. Back then, the Silver Arrows were barely the fourth or fifth fastest team relative to McLaren, where Hamilton raced. However, Lauda convinced him that the upside of being with a manufacturer works outfit would outweigh being with a customer team in the long term.
Naturally, it turned out to be a masterstroke, and something Hamilton is quite grateful for. Even Mercedes boss’ Toto Wolff once deemed Lauda as the ‘heartbeat’ of their team. Sadly, since he is gone, there is a vacuum in the F1 paddock of a personality like the three-time world champion.
A vanishing breed in F1
Figures like Niki Lauda have started to become rare in F1. There are a lot of corporate structures at all teams with diplomatic leaders taking up the positions of team principals, technical directors, CEOs, and CTOs. That has left little room for outspoken, straightforward individuals like Lauda.
The Austrian was very successful with his fiery demeanor in beating Ferrari into shape to bring championship glory back to Maranello in the 1970s. If it wasn’t for his differences in 1977 with the late Enzo Ferrari, Lauda could have achieved even more success with the Scuderia.
Helmut Marko is another similar individual to Lauda who is still working in F1 as an advisor to Red Bull racing. Marko’s no-nonsense attitude often invites some criticism but has been highly effective in making Red Bull a top team in F1 that doesn’t settle for mediocrity.
The 81-year-old has given hints of stepping back from the pinnacle of motorsport. Earlier this year, there were even rumors of Red Bull cutting ties with him over some of his nonchalant comments in the media around the Christian Horner controversy. For now, Marko has stayed put, but when he does leave, it may mark the end of this straightforward veteran generation in F1.
