Lauda joined Ferrari in 1974, taking fourth place in the championship with two victories as team-mate Clay Regazzoni lost the title to McLaren’s Emerson Fittipaldi by just three points. Lauda had proved to be extremely quick, but still error-prone.
Regazzoni had recommended Lauda to Enzo Ferrari, allowing him to pay off the loan he had taken to finance his early F1 career, and the Austrian remembers his peer fondly.
“If I did everything right, I was quicker than him,” Lauda recalled. “He was a good team-mate because he pushed me enough to reach my peak performance. Without him, I’d have only been good, especially at Ferrari, where politics played a huge role.”
In 1974, the man with the moustache still had the upper hand, but Lauda was already chipping away at his number-one status.
The young strategist: Luca di Montezemolo
Niki Lauda and Luca Di Montezemolo
Ferrari’s brilliant chief engineer Mauro Forghieri played a key role in Lauda’s success in 1975, with the revolutionary transverse-mounted seven-speed gearbox positioned ahead of the rear axle, which greatly improved the car’s balance.
Lauda’s technical acumen and meticulous approach were already renowned at the time, and he made a point of testing his car as often as possible, making the most of Ferrari’s Fiorano track – just like Schumacher a couple of decades later.
“One of the most important things at Fiorano was that you could drive every day and improve the car,” he recalled. “Other teams only had access to race tracks that didn’t even belong to them. But we could develop constantly, and that gave us a huge advantage. The harder we worked, the faster we progressed.”
Lauda and the Commendatore: “Quanti punti?” “Nove!”
Enzo Ferrari with Niki Lauda, Ferrari
Lauda’s breakthrough came on the streets of Monaco in what he called the toughest race of his career. He took a stunning pole position six tenths clear of Shadow’s Tom Pryce – which left him shaking, so hard did he push.
While numerous crashes happened in the wet race, Lauda had an oil pressure issue and had to defend desperately from Emerson Fittipaldi, with the contest fortunately cut three laps short; he ended Ferrari’s two-decade winless streak in the Principality.
Race winner Lauda kissed Grace Kelly’s hand as he greeted the Princess of Monaco on the podium, which caused a baffling – from his point of view – controversy.
“At home I was taught you kiss a lady’s hand – especially her, Grace Kelly, the sovereign here in Monaco. For me it was obvious,” he said matter-of-factly. “But the whole world was astonished.”
Flirting with death at the Nordschleife
Niki Lauda, Ferrari 312T
Starting from pole position, Lauda tucked in behind the sister car of Regazzoni – who was still mathematically in contention – and avoided any risk. “I don’t think I let him past, I think he just overtook me,” Lauda reflected. “But my goal was to win the championship. So I wasn’t going to risk anything for the race win – I just needed to bring the points home.”
It was a perfect result for Ferrari: Regazzoni delivered a home win for the tifosi, while newly crowned Lauda joined him on the podium in third. His first words as a world champion? “I think the rear-left shock absorber is broken.” Typical Lauda – described by one newspaper as a “robot with a heart”.
As composed as Lauda was in the race, the ensuing chaos overwhelmed him. Mounted Carabinieri had to escort him to the podium through the frenzied crowd. When reporter Heinz Prueller asked how he was feeling in the paddock, a pale Lauda replied: “Frightened, at the moment. On the way, one of the horses lashed out, stamping just two centimetres from my thin racing shoes.” His only thought: “To get out of this in one piece.”
Podium: third place Niki Lauda, Ferrari
Lauda went on to lose the 1976 championship to Hunt, withdrawing from the title-decider in torrential rain at Fuji.
“I didn’t lose in 1976 because of Japan, but because of the fire accident,” he clarified. “Sometimes I’m amazed how people sugarcoat it. That’s nonsense. Without the crash and the three races I missed, I’d have been world champion.
“But my run with Ferrari in ’75, ’76, ’77 – when you put it together, I could have been champion three times. Not bad.”
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