The late three-time world champion Niki Lauda inarguably played one of the most vital roles in the Mercedes F1 garage over his near-decade-long tenure. Therefore, despite bidding goodbye to the Austrian racing legend in 2019 (nearly four years back), Mercedes have honored him with a particularly heartwarming gesture every following weekend.
According to reports, Mercedes have maintained a space for Lauda’s headset and his classic red cap in the garage. And of course, why wouldn’t they? Lauda is one of the biggest reasons why Mercedes went on their dominant spree in F1, winning a whopping eight world championship titles on the trot. But, before discussing Lauda’s impact on the Silver Arrows, here’s how the ongoing Dutch Grand Prix proved to be a special weekend for the racing legend.
During FP2 of the weekend at Zandvoort, cameras finally revealed the highly-acclaimed Lauda ‘museum’ at the Mercedes garage. Furthermore, there was also a fascinating caption below the pictures; Coincidentally, 38 years ago on the very same day, Lauda won his final F1 Grand Prix at the now-home of Max Verstappen.
That’s really nice of Mercedes ….they are honoring him the way he needs to be
— Rish| F1 Fan (@f1fans28) August 25, 2023
“On this date… In 1985, 3-time World Champion Niki Lauda won his last F1 Grand Prix here at Zandvoort,” F1’s one of many titbits of this weekend read. This left the entire F1 fandom awestruck, as one user wrote on Twitter, “That’s really nice of Mercedes ….they are honoring him the way he needs to be.”
Take a look at how Lauda reshaped the seemingly struggling Mercedes and revved up their chances of competing for the world championship titles.
One of Niki Lauda’s biggest Mercedes F1 impact featuring Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton laid his dominion over the entire Formula 1 grid in 2014 and managed to prolong it through the majority of the hybrid era. However, despite winning six world championship titles with the Brackley outfit, the credits don’t all go to Hamilton. Instead, a part of it goes to Lauda, the non-executive chairman of Mercedes AMG.
Lauda once revealed that he was the first Mercedes representative to approach Hamilton with an offer. But, the Briton remained massively reluctant to make the switch only for Lauda and Ross Brawn to explain their mysterious plan, which somehow lured Hamilton into their team.
Lewis Hamilton won the #MonacoGP on this day in 2019, as the whole #F1 grid paid tribute to Niki Lauda, who sadly passed away in the lead-up to the race weekend. pic.twitter.com/fLhtbrZUOK
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) May 26, 2021
“I had to see him in his room between two to four in the morning,” the three-time world champion revealed in 2013 according to Crash.Net. “I remember the discussion because he was on pole position with McLaren [in Singapore], was basically winning everything and I asked him ‘Would you consider going over to Mercedes?’.
“He said ‘Why should I go?’ [adding] ‘This [McLaren] car is winning, all I want to do is win, and your car is not winning’. I said ‘sh*t, he’s right’.” Overall, an incredible racing driver, but also a proven mastermind for the eventual world champions, Mercedes. Therefore, how long will his impact sustain for the Silver Arrows?