Niki Lauda

Niki Lauda is an Austrian Formula 1 driver with 170 race starts from 1971 to 1985, 25 wins, 24 pole positions, 54 podiums and 420.5 championship points, and 3 drivers' championships (1975, 1977, 1984).

Lauda's first start was the 1971 Austrian Grand Prix for March-Ford, from 21st on the grid, ending in a retirement. The first win came at the 1974 Spanish Grand Prix for Ferrari, in the 31st start, from pole position. The most recent of the 25 wins was the 1985 Dutch Grand Prix. The best season was 1977: 1st in the championship with 72 points, 3 wins and 10 podiums, for Ferrari. The longest team-mate pairing was with Clay Regazzoni, 54 races: Lauda finished ahead 25 times to 21 when both were classified, and out-qualified Regazzoni 42 times to 12. All-time, that is the 10th-most wins of any driver. 76 of the 170 starts ended in a retirement (45%), and Lauda led 349 laps in total.

Nationality

Austrian

Born

22 Feb 1949

Active

1971 to 1985, 13 seasons

Teams

March-Ford, March, BRM, Ferrari, Brabham, Brabham-Alfa Romeo, Brabham-Ford, McLaren

World titles

3 (1975, 1977, 1984)

First win: 1974 Spanish Grand Prix. Most recent win: 1985 Dutch Grand Prix. Win rate 14.7% of starts.

Compare with team-mates: Clay Regazzoni, John Watson, Alain Prost, Carlos Reutemann, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Ronnie Peterson, Nelson Piquet, Carlos Pace, Mike Beuttler, Henri Pescarolo, Rolf Stommelen. Or anyone else.

Copy career summary

Season by season

Explained: how points and the championships work · how the points system changed since 1950 · the closest and most one-sided team-mate pairings.

By team

All 25 wins

Every race