Formula 1 teams honor Niki Lauda's memory

      Niki Lauda, who was destined to become a three-time world champion and Formula 1 legend, was born on February 22, 1949 in the Austrian capital.

      The teams for which he once played honored his memory today: McLaren and Ferrari posted photos of Lauda on their social media pages, accompanied by a comment like this: "One of the greats, and on his birthday we remember him."

      The Mercedes team, in which he worked until the end of his days, did it differently, publishing a whole press release in which they recalled why one of the three-pointed stars on their Formula 1 cars was red.

       

      "It's sad, but Niki is no longer with us. He helped the team become what it is now," the text of the release says. – He was the embodiment of all our values... everything we do is imbued with his spirit, and today, on his birthday, we remember this great man.

      Niki was distinguished by her honesty, sincerity and directness. He pursued his goals with passion and determination, combining it with humor and joie de vivre. Thanks to these qualities, he has achieved success in various fields, both as a racing driver and as a businessman. His example inspired people all over the world. In short, he became a legend.

      There was one detail in his appearance that was strongly associated with him – his red cap. He wore baseball caps of this color throughout his career.…

      At all the races our team has participated in since Nicky's departure, there has been a red cap in the Mercedes garage as a reminder of his invaluable contribution, what he stood for, and that we must strive to meet the high standards he set.

      After his untimely death, which happened before the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix, we also pay tribute to Nicky in another way: since then, each of our cars has one special three-pointed red star symbolizing the color of his cap. Nicky is with us on every lap that our cars drive. It will remain that way from now on.

      "The little red three–pointed star will remain on the Mercedes car forever," confirmed Toto Wolff, team principal, five years ago, "Until we come up with something else that would be worthy of Niki Lauda's memory."

      Danke, Niki!»