In my book, he is truly one of the alltime best. He won championship with different stables, beat Senna when they were teammates with Mc Laren. He could have been the first driver to bring back to Ferrari a WDC after Sheckter if Senna hadn't hit him on purpose and forced him to abandon race and championship. I like very much Gilles Villeneuve and Alain Prost, one crazy and fearless and one calculator and prudent. Two incredible drivers IMO underrated.
It's fascinating to discover the Lauda tree: Piquet learned from Lauda when he jointed Brabham. Went on to win the championship... Schumi learned from Piquet when he joined Benetton. Went on to win the championship... Prost learned from Lauda when he joined McLaren. Went on to win the championship... Senna learned from Prost when he joined McLaren. Went on to win the championship... It could be argued that these students learned from their teacher to finish first in the championship, first you have to finish. All of these drivers were noted for individual brilliant performances...it is fascinating to note that once they were matched with their mentors, each learned to finish a greater percentage of their races, were in the points consistently(not just go for the win), their ability to set up a chassis improved noticably, and the championships flowed... All these drivers learned to finish races and rack up points towards the championships, settling for 2nd or less when necessary...they learned to take the long (season long) view instead of the "glory for the day" view. Just an observation...
I have a HUGE amount of respect for anyone that decides to button themselves into an F1 car... especially back in the day; they weren't exactly the safest of machines. I find it laughable that a writer would come up with a list of the "10 most over-rated" drivers and include the man that just won the World Championship. That's just crazy.
Not true: Prost even quit the Interlagos GP because he was worried to continue on in the rain. And he pressured Jacky Ickx at the Monaco GP to call off the race because of rain starting to fall. Which ironically cost Prost the WDC that year against Lauda (race only paid half points). What a way to make friends. Nott. Then why are you wasting your time on a chat site like this where you are surrounded by *******s based on your definition? BTW: Circumventing the profanity filter on FChat is against the TOS.
No debate with me, Prost is my top driver. He also would have won with Ferrari if they had listened ... Pete
That is not the same as going to sleep behind the steering wheel, or in JB's case getting so nervous that he could not achieve points, even though now they go right down to 10th place! Prost like Lauda and Stewart had the balls to say enough is enough when it was dangerous. zaevor2000, And I believe Lauda learnt from Jackie Stewart. But yes Stewart, Lauda and Prost are right up the top of my driver list. Pete
I know Lauda enjoys a fair amount of recognition, but I would even suggest he's slightly underrated. Considering he left the sport after winning two titles, and returned again in top form to take a third. Granted, McLaren was at the top, but the cars were now in the ground effects era and he took to it very well. I remember watching the telecast from the first Detroit GP and one of the reporters was inside the 180 degree Turn 1. He was watching driver hand movement and said Lauda was far and away the smoothest.
Lauda was a great competitor and champion. He was similar to MS in that when he went to Ferrari he tested tirelessly and improved the car and helped mold the team into a championship calilber team (their last championship was Surtees in 64). Everyone is aware that if not for his horrible accident at the Nurburgring in 76, it would have been 3 straight WDCs for "the Rat"...
Just to show that there is an exception to every rule: Vittorio Brambilla won a GP but it not a copybook F1 winner...... For me, no driver from the era that safety measures were non existing, is a wannabe.
Lauda is simply a genius. Building his own airline. Twice from scratch. Before private airlines were popular. Being his own pilot and CEO.
