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Three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda, who won two of his titles after a horrific crash that left him with serious burns and went on to become a prominent figure in the aviation industry, has died. He was 70.
The Austria Press Agency quoted Lauda's family as saying he "passed away peacefully" on Monday. Walter Klepetko, a doctor who performed a lung transplant on Lauda last year, said Tuesday: "Niki Lauda has died. I have to confirm that."
Lauda won the F1 drivers' championship in 1975 and 1977 with Ferrari and again in 1984 with McLaren.
In 1976, he was badly burned when he crashed during the German Grand Prix, but he made an astonishingly fast return to racing just six weeks later.
Lauda remained closely involved with the F1 circuit after retiring as a driver in 1985, and in recent years served as the non-executive chairman of the Mercedes team.
Formula One posted a message from its official Twitter account to acknowledge Lauda's contribution to the sport.
“Rest in peace Niki Lauda. Forever carried in our hearts, forever immortalized in our history. The motorsport community today mourns the devastating loss of a true legend,” tweeted Formula One.
Born on February 22, 1949 into a wealthy Vienna family, Nikolaus Andreas Lauda was expected to follow his father into the paper-manufacturing industry, but instead concentrated his business talents and determination on his dreams of becoming a racing driver.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said "Niki, we will miss you."
"The whole country and the motor sports world are mourning a really great Austrian," Kurz wrote on Twitter.
Lauda financed his early career with the help of a string of loans, working his way through the ranks of Formula 3 and Formula 2.
Lauda joined Ferrari in '74, winning a Grand Prix for the first time that year in Spain. He won his first drivers' title with five victories the following season.
Several drivers stopped to help pull him from the burning car, but the accident would scar him for life. The baseball cap Lauda almost always wore in public became a personal trademark.
Lauda fell into a coma for a time. He said that "for three or four days it was touch and go."
Lauda made his comeback just six weeks after the crash, finishing fourth at Monza after overcoming his initial fears.
He recalled "shaking with fear" as he changed into second gear on the first day of practice and thinking, "I can't drive."
The next day, Lauda said he "started very slowly trying to get all the feelings back, especially the confidence that I'm capable of driving these cars again." The result, he said, boosted his confidence and after four or five races "I had basically overcome the problem of having an accident and everything went back to normal."
He won his second championship in 1977 before switching to Brabham and then retiring in 1979 to concentrate on setting up his airline, Lauda Air, declaring that he "didn't want to drive around in circles anymore."
He finished fifth his first year back and 10th in 1983, but came back to win five races and edge teammate Alain Prost for his third title in 1984. He retired for good the following year, saying he needed more time to devote to his airline business.
Initially a charter airline, Lauda Air expanded in the 1980s to offer flights to Asia and Australia. In May 1991, a Lauda Air Boeing 767 crashed in Thailand after one of its engine thrust reversers accidentally deployed during a climb, killing all 213 passengers and 10 crew.
In 1997, longtime rival Austrian Airlines took a minority stake and in 2000, with the company making losses, Lauda resigned as board chairman after an external audit criticized a lack of internal financial control over business conducted in foreign currency, Austrian Airlines later took full control.
He partnered with budget carrier Ryanair on Niki's successor, LaudaMotion.
Lauda in later years formed a close bond with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who joined the team in 2013. He often backed Hamilton in public and provided advice and counsel to the British driver.
Lauda also intervened as a Mercedes mediator when Hamilton and his former Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg feuded, argued and traded barbs as they fought for the title between 2014-16.
Lauda twice underwent kidney transplants, receiving an organ donated by his brother in 1997 and, when that stopped functioning well, a kidney donated by his girlfriend in 2005.
Lauda is survived by his second wife, Birgit, and their twin children Max and Mia. He had two adult sons, Lukas and Mathias, from his first marriage.
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