RIP Niki Lauda

[Tony Lockhart]

So sad. RIP, racer.

 

[Eyebroughty]

Really sad, what a great driver.
RIP

 

[Spike]

Sad. A very brave man.

 

[Cheese]

Wasn't he a very fair driver too ? Of him, I can't remember many unfair manoeuvres.

 

[robs]

RIP, a big loss.

 

[windhoek]

I just saw this @ the BBC and I'm a bit stunned just now. Lauda was borderline from my earliest memories of watching F1: Prost, Senna, Mansell era was when I started watching, but I do remember him. Mostly, however, I remember him as the no-nonsense guy at Mercedes who called a spade a spade and racing was all the better for it. I've seen the film Rush as well and when I think of True Grit, I think of Lauda and what an irrepressible force of nature he was. RIP.

 

[Goldenmouse]

Very sad news.

 

[Rug Doc]

An extraordinarily brave man. A living X-man if you like. RIP Rat.

 

[deebster]

Another sad loss for F1. RIP Niki

Remember as a kid doing the 'You know that racing driver, Niki someone'

'Lauda?

'YOU KNOW THAT RAC...'

 

[wacko]

Extraordinary man RIP.

 

[Tony L]

Very sad news. Unquestionably one of the top tier of F1 and an extraordinarily brave bloke. RIP.

 

[Cav]

He was a skilled driver, a thinking driver and, above all, a brave man.

His straight-talking approach at Mercedes was a breath for fresh air amongst the mealy-mouthed soundbites.

 

[canonman]

Another sad loss for F1. RIP Niki

Remember as a kid doing the 'You know that racing driver, Niki someone'

'Lauda?

'YOU KNOW THAT RAC...'

The original joke was "Who won the Monaco GP?"....

He was an extraordinary talent and I feel privileged to have seen him race many times. I was always rooting for James in those years but had absolute admiration for him.

RIP great man

 

[Derek Wright]

The news reorts said he had a double lung transplant about 9 months ago - has the cause of the transplant been reported?

 

[richardg]

The news reorts said he had a double lung transplant about 9 months ago - has the cause of the transplant been reported?

I have read a couple of reports and made a conclusion that the two events are connected.

His lungs were badly damaged in the fire in 1976.

By 2018 his lungs were not able to process enough oxygen required. And then in 2018 they failed completely.

 

[tones]

One of the true greats - the comeback after a few weeks after only barely surviving the fire in that German GP (IIRC even being given the last rites) was the stuff of legend. Apparently even putting on the helmet was excruciating. And, unlike Alan Jones, Nigel Mansell and Michael Schumacher, left F1 and then came back to win a further world title.

 

[musiclover]

I am not a great Grand Prix fan but he was a true great.

 

[wylton]

Nothing much I can say that hasn't already been said, but it's terrible news. He was a huge talent and a really brave man; to come back to racing after such a bad accident was truly amazing. No doubt though, that the accident contributed to his early death. Sporting heroes like him should live forever! RIP Niki.

 

[sean99]

Amazing guy - as others have said I'm sure his relatively early death can be traced to the burns he received. However many of his fellow drivers didn't make it to their 40s, so relatively he did well.

 

[Darmok]

Following his transplant, so sad he was unable to pull out of the pit lane.

RIP Legend.