If you were a team boss would you hire Niki Lauda?

Yes.

/END

 

He is just a walking billboard. He bring no managerial value to the table. He should stick to running airlines. Oh wait. Or flying airplanes. Oh wait. No, he should stick to driving in the rain. Oh wait again.

 

He's been there for a long time so knows everybody and he's a ruthless bastard and a liar: he's a political weapon of mass destruction, something quite useful for a team trying to get a strong political position like Mercedes was some years ago.

Probably now he's only useful for them as a headline generator and his managerial record in F1 is not that good.

 

Hell yes. Silly question.

 

Niki Lauda is the chairman of the team, not the managing director.

The 2 roles are quite different.

The chairman job is to oversee the team on behalf of its owners, set up the policies , audit the accounts and control the budget. A chairman does work hands on in the field on a day to day basis, and he doesn't need to be present during operations (races), although he must obtain a good report of them.

The fact is that Niki gets involved in areas that are not strictly within his remit , like PR, interviews, comments, that are really Toto Wolff's domain.

 

I think I have heard that Lauda does work more with the drivers than others in the team. As far as I remember he visited both Lewis and Nico in their holidays when they were in a bad "phase" to talk them up again....

 

+1

Lauda is a workaholic and knows what it is all about.
Pete

 

Lauda, like Schumacher, lifted Ferrari from mid-field to first place by working hard himself, and causing the team to move forward in the right directions.

Ferrari dumped Lauda, like Schumacher, a bit too early.

 

Nikki is the best ever

 

Lauda probably knows the F1 circus better than most others....I'm sure he has a huge positive influence on Mercedes, but as he sometimes has mentioned, his heart still beats for Ferrari

 

The more ex-F1 drivers the better

 

Yes, I think Lada would be an asset. I have at least one of his books, and anyone who has observed him knows he is very astute and ruthless.

 

from here you have no vantage point to judge lauda's worth to the team.
i am sure he contributes worthwhile things, or he would nt be there.

 

Two books by Lauda: (The Art and Science of GP driving) and (A Turbo Age) PM me and pay shipping they could be yours.

Dave

 

Dave,
Pm sent.
Thanks

 

Well, isn't that pretty much in most of the business world too? The guy is old, experienced, had some success in the past, but nowadays just opens her mouth here and there. Aren't most of the CEOs & Charimans like that? :-D

 

Niki Lauda not only provides value but also knows the politics and right people in F-1 and sponsors.

As a driver today his value is probably much less, but as a tactician, and political manager, he would be without peer. Lauda's day to day impact will be less now that Bernie is not in charge, but the major value is that he and Bernie have a long working history together, and that Bernie could work with Lauda they are both of the same character.

Lauda, knows what a major business wants from its investment in F-1, from a totalitarian manager like Enzo & Ron Dennis, to major sponsors like Marlboro, Parmalat, banking etc... he's dealt with them all, and can translate that into value & consequently earn more for the team.

Those of you who have never seen Lauda in his prime simply cant understand the impact the guy had in F-1. from Hauling Ferrari out of a terrible slump, to retiring as one of the elder statesman of F-1 ... to coming back and becoming World Champion again... not to mention all the physical issues from his accident...

In My opinion Niki Lauda and Jackie Stewart ( Stewart perhaps the best ) are two of the same types... they have been more successful out of the cockpit than in.... and when they were in the car.. they dominated their peers.... to our younger members - this is a case where you need to stay quiet and learn from what he says... same goes for Stewart... these guys have been there done that ... much much more than Hamiltion and Vettel will ever do.

 

He has little value. A couple races ago he was saying how the WDC race was over unless Vettel DNF'd which was just mind blowingly stupid.

 

So... he's a slightly younger version of Bernie?

Best ever what?

Yeah, all of SPORTS, not just motorsports, is like that - have lots of hangers' on.

But it's a totally different world today as opposed to 35-40-45 years ago.
The corporate people are different, the money is different, the expectations are different.
Sure, they can form an opinion on something based on their experiences, but a lot, if not
most of those experiences no longer apply. I seriously doubt anyone Lauda (or JYS) dealt
with when they were driving is still involved in the sport.
Years' ago corporations needed F1, today that isn't the case.

PS - you said Lauda and Stewart were more successful out of the cockpit as opposed to
when they sat in the cockpit, argue or not, how many super-successful LIKEABLE drivers lived to
work outside the cockpit? I bet we can count them on one had: Andretti, Fittipaldi....??

 

Interesting point. I think the position of Lauda and other ex-F1 drivers was far higher in the years of Bernie running the show as they knew each others for ages and had some respect for each other. They were taking on eye-level with each other.

Now that the leadership in F1 changes also the face of F1 will change and maybe in future we see more "managers with financial background" dealing with each other rather than people coming from the sport itself....

 

Out of curiosity, how long have you followed F1? Do you think anyone in the music business would be interested in people like Eric Clapton or Paul McCartney contributing to their project, or are they considered has-beens too? Just wondering.

 

No, a CEO is supposed to run the company on a day-to-day basis and control the operations.

A chairman doesn't work hands on, but oversees the CEO.

That's the way it works in most companies.