# Formula One champion, Niki Lauda, dead at age 70 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 21, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-champion-niki-lauda-dead-at-age-70/834265 "2019-05-21T03:10:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-champion-niki-lauda-dead-at-age-70/834265/1 "2019-05-21T03:10:39Z")
[Niki Lauda has died.](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/may/21/niki-lauda-formula-one-legend-dies-aged-70) Really one of the best of all time, a true legend of motorsport who narrowly cheated death at the Nurburgring in 1976. R.I.P. Niki, you had a good run. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-champion-niki-lauda-dead-at-age-70/834265/2 "2019-05-21T03:16:54Z")
_tear_ Tough as nails, that one was. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-champion-niki-lauda-dead-at-age-70/834265/3 "2019-05-21T03:49:25Z")
Wow! I’m shocked. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-champion-niki-lauda-dead-at-age-70/834265/4 "2019-05-21T06:05:15Z")
Wow. He could make a car dance and sing. I remember his red and white Ferrari 312T of the 1970s. Rest in Peace, Niki. Say hello to Ayrton for me. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-champion-niki-lauda-dead-at-age-70/834265/5 "2019-05-21T07:10:46Z")
You might look at the movie **Rush** , a 2013 biographical sports film centred on the Hunt–Lauda rivalry between two Formula One drivers, the British James Hunt and the Austrian Niki Lauda during the 1976 Formula 1 motor-racing season–discussed here previously: > **[Rush: What a fantastic movie](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=705405)** > > For the first time in years, barring the LotR and Hobbit, I went to watch I movie I wanted, not a family-oriented one, RomCom, or CGI talking animals. Of course, I don’t really like going to the cinema, so it’s not that strange. I wanted to watch... James Hunt died in 1993 at age 45 from a heart attack. ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-champion-niki-lauda-dead-at-age-70/834265/6 "2019-05-21T12:25:44Z")
He is the only F1 (or any driver, really) that my wife knows by name and face. He’ll be missed in the shunpiker -and many others- household. Godspeed, Mr. Lauda! ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-champion-niki-lauda-dead-at-age-70/834265/7 "2019-05-21T12:36:42Z")
Huh. I just watched that movie again the other day. Despite featuring Thor prominently in all of the marketing, the movie was really _his_ story, not Hunt’s. (_Outstanding_, criminally overlooked movie, BTW) Sad, but it could be argued he got an extra 40+ years; he should have died in that wreck. . ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-champion-niki-lauda-dead-at-age-70/834265/8 "2019-05-21T13:50:08Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Huh. I just watched that movie again the other day. Despite featuring Thor prominently in all of the marketing, the movie was really _his_ story, not Hunt’s. (_Outstanding_, criminally overlooked movie, BTW) > > Sad, but it could be argued he got an extra 40+ years; he should have died in that wreck. > . Worth mentioning that they were, of course, rivals but they were also friends, they admired and respected each other and were probably far more similar than the film makes out. A sad day but it is fitting that the Monaco grand prix is this weekend and will form a great backdrop to whatever tribute F1 puts on.