"If you go a little bit too quick, you kill yourself": When Niki Lauda pulled back the curtain on the dangers of F1 in his era

Former three-time F1 world champion Niki Lauda had said that during his time if a driver went a bit too quickly, he could have killed himself. The Austrian is regarded as one of the greatest drivers in F1 history and has raced for iconic teams like Ferrari, McLaren and Brabham.

He was renowned for his bravery, owing to his astounding return to the sport after surviving a near-death experience at Nurburgring at the 1976 German Grand Prix. Lauda was involved in a fiery crash, sustaining burns throughout his body and requiring skin grafting on his face and elsewhere.

However, undeterred by his injury, Niki Lauda returned to racing six weeks later at the Italian GP and finished P4 but eventually lost the title to rival James Hunt by a point.

In a clip on Instagram, the former Mercedes advisor was seen speaking about the potential life-threatening dangers of F1 during his time:

"If you go a little bit too quick, you kill yourself. This was the problem at my time. So, therefore, you really have to know what you're doing. It is easier to go slower into the corner then you won't have the risk but then somebody will pass you.

"So the question really was to be right on the edge with your talent and your risk you want to take because you have to take a lot of risk and chances to do a good lap time. This was the challenge to find the balance, to be quick enough to win and stay alive."

After his accident, Niki Lauda went on to win championships in 1977 and 1984 before calling curtains on his career in 1985. He took an advisory role with Mercedes before breathing his last in 2019 at the age of 70.

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When Mercedes team principal spoke about missing Niki Lauda

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said that he missed Niki Lauda for his approach and counsel within the team.

Speaking with F1.com in 2023, the Austrian reflected:

“Niki’s missed all those years because Niki always simplified things to really what mattered. I’m having to think what would he have said, and how would he have positioned (things), and the two of us worked well together in that sense that sometimes oversimplification can lead you straight to the results.

“This is a technical sport, so maybe my role was to translate it in a way that we actually were able to execute it in the car design. But this is very simple: the stopwatch never lies, and we see on the data where we are missing and that needs to be corrected.”

Niki Lauda Was influential in bringing Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes at the end of the 2012 season. The partnership went on to become the most successful in F1 history, winning six drivers' and eight constructors' championships.