Climbing the ladder: starting against his family's wishes with a Mini
in 1968, Niki Lauda drove a Formula Vee Kaimann in 1969 and had a
disastrous Formula 3 season with McNamara in 1970 before switching to
a Porsche sports car; with progress stalling, he took out a loan to
buy a Formula 2 seat at March in 1971.
Faltering in Formula 1: he debuted with March at the 1971 Austrian
Grand Prix, then stayed with the team in 1972; he moved to BRM for
1973, still paying his way with further borrowing
and some income from racing touring cars -- but in all this time he
had only one points-scoring Formula 1 finish.
The Ferrari years: finally Lauda fulfilled his promise after receiving
the call to Maranello, winning the World Championship twice in his
four years there, in 1975 and 1977, but he left after tensions with
the team arose in his final season.
The Brabham years: Lauda famously won the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix in
Brabham's 'fan car.' but thereafter the team's competitiveness
declined and he retired at the end of 1979, tired of driving round in
circles' and focused instead on his new airline, Lauda Air.
The McLaren years: tempted by a salary of unprecedented size, Lauda
returned in 1982 after a two-year absence, silenced doubters by
winning his third race, and in 1984 secured his third World
Championship; at the end of 1985, with a career tally of 25 Grand Prix
victories, he hung up his helmet for good.
