Andreas Nikolaus Lauda became Formula 1 World Champion three times — in 1975 and 1977 driving for Ferrari, and in 1984 with McLaren. During his career, he took part in 171 races, winning 25 of them. In 1976, Lauda was involved in an accident, after which his car burst into flames. The driver suffered severe burns and a head injury, but managed to recover and return to the championship.
After finishing his racing career, Niki Lauda focused on managing his own airline, Lauda Air, whose controlling stake he sold to Austrian Airlines in 1999. In 2003, he founded a new company, Niki. Starting in 2012, Lauda also served as non-executive chairman of the board of directors of the Mercedes AMG Petronas team.
Last summer, Lauda was hospitalized in one of Vienna's clinics with suspected flu. Subsequently, it was diagnosed that the infection had led to lung dysfunction, and a lung transplant operation was required.
