Niki Lauda’s first F1 title 50 years ago, in his own words

Fifty years ago on this day, Niki Lauda won his first Formula 1 world title with third place in Monza. The tifosi celebrated their hero, with Clay Regazzoni giving them a home victory as the cherry on the cake.

In 1975, Lauda and Ferrari set new standards in F1. The Austrian ended an 11-year title drought for the Scuderia and laid the foundation for a new era of success, which is not dissimilar to the Michael Schumacher times.

Yet, Lauda didn’t feel sentimental about it. Asked about his revolutionary 312 T, he admitted: “I don’t even remember it anymore.” Then, curiosity got the better of him: “How many races did I win?” The answer: five grands prix, and no fewer than nine pole positions in just 14 races.

His sparring partner: Clay Regazzoni

Lauda joined Ferrari in 1974, taking fourth place in the championship with two victories as team-mate Clay Regazzoni lost the title to McLaren’s Emerson Fittipaldi by just three points. Lauda had proved to be extremely quick, but still error-prone.

Regazzoni had recommended Lauda to Enzo Ferrari, allowing him to pay off the loan he had taken to finance his early F1 career, and the Austrian remembers his peer fondly.

“If I did everything right, I was quicker than him,” Lauda recalled. “He was a good team-mate because he pushed me enough to reach my peak performance. Without him, I’d have only been good, especially at Ferrari, where politics played a huge role.”

In 1974, the man with the moustache still had the upper hand, but Lauda was already chipping away at his number-one status.

The young strategist: Luca di Montezemolo

Niki Lauda and Luca Di Montezemolo

Photo by: Sutton Images

The Scuderia was run by a 27-year-old newcomer, Luca di Montezemolo, who was barely older than Lauda and a whopping eight years younger than Regazzoni.

Di Montezemolo sometimes missed the mark, Lauda remembered: “Luca was inexperienced at first, but strategically strong – though he made mistakes.”

In the 1970s, F1 polesitters could still choose which side of the grid to start from. When Lauda set the fastest time at the 1974 Monaco GP ahead of Regazzoni, he was stunned to find himself on the left-hand side of the grid.

“That was Montezemolo, because he realised [Ronnie] Peterson was behind me,” he explained. “And since Peterson was a danger, he put me on the left to block an attack.” When Regazzoni took the lead at the start, Lauda was furious: “Luca must have been crazy. All due respect, but that was my pole position!”

Lauda pushed Regazzoni so hard that the Swiss driver crashed out of the race, before he retired too with an electrical failure. “So we both lost the race. And I told Luca: ‘See? That was completely unnecessary!’”

Lauda’s 1975 false start

Niki Lauda

Photo by: David Phipps

Lauda managed no better than sixth and fifth in the opening two rounds with the old 312 B3, then crashed the new 312 T on its practice debut at Kyalami, taking a lackluster fifth position in the race.

Ferrari came under fire from the Italian press, but Lauda suspected something was wrong with the new car and demanded it be tested against the old model at Fiorano. Engineers discovered a loose belt in the fuel-metering unit, which accounted for an 80hp loss at Kyalami.

The technical genius: Mauro Forghieri

Niki Lauda, Ferrari 312T, Mauro Forghieri (ITA) Ferrari Designer

Photo by: David Phipps

Ferrari’s brilliant chief engineer Mauro Forghieri played a key role in Lauda’s success in 1975, with the revolutionary transverse-mounted seven-speed gearbox positioned ahead of the rear axle, which greatly improved the car’s balance.

Lauda’s technical acumen and meticulous approach were already renowned at the time, and he made a point of testing his car as often as possible, making the most of Ferrari’s Fiorano track – just like Schumacher a couple of decades later.

“One of the most important things at Fiorano was that you could drive every day and improve the car,” he recalled. “Other teams only had access to race tracks that didn’t even belong to them. But we could develop constantly, and that gave us a huge advantage. The harder we worked, the faster we progressed.”

Lauda and the Commendatore: “Quanti punti?” “Nove!”

Enzo Ferrari with Niki Lauda, Ferrari

Photo by: Ercole Colombo

Legendary team boss Enzo Ferrari watched Lauda closely. “Whenever I finished and was about to leave, the Old Man would ask ‘Quanti punti?’ [‘How many points?’], and I’d say ‘Nove’ [‘Nine’]. He was happy, and I was off. That was his expectation: win and score nine points. It became a catchphrase back then.”

Why did Ferrari respect him so much? “He liked my straightforward manner,” Lauda reckoned. “He was more emotional with other drivers – celebrated them when they won, destroyed them when they didn’t.

“I think there were very few he genuinely liked. Gilles Villeneuve was certainly one of them, because of his aggressive style. I was one in a different way, because I wanted to get the technology right so that his Ferrari would win in the end.”

A kiss for a princess

HSH Princess Grace and Niki Lauda, 1st position, on the podium

Photo by: Ercole Colombo

Lauda’s breakthrough came on the streets of Monaco in what he called the toughest race of his career. He took a stunning pole position six tenths clear of Shadow’s Tom Pryce – which left him shaking, so hard did he push.

While numerous crashes happened in the wet race, Lauda had an oil pressure issue and had to defend desperately from Emerson Fittipaldi, with the contest fortunately cut three laps short; he ended Ferrari’s two-decade winless streak in the Principality.

Race winner Lauda kissed Grace Kelly’s hand as he greeted the Princess of Monaco on the podium, which caused a baffling –  from his point of view – controversy.

“At home I was taught you kiss a lady’s hand – especially her, Grace Kelly, the sovereign here in Monaco. For me it was obvious,” he said matter-of-factly. “But the whole world was astonished.”

Flirting with death at the Nordschleife

Niki Lauda, Ferrari 312T

Photo by: Rainer Schlegelmilch / Getty Images

At the fearsome circuit that would nearly claim his life one year later, Lauda set a new track record with the very first lap under seven minutes, in 6m58.6s.

“I said then that I’d never achieve that again in my life. It was an incredible lap, a challenge to the very end – absolute maximum risk,” Lauda recalled, adding: “I knew if I tried that once more, I’d die. So I didn’t.”

World championship glory on Ferrari’s turf

Niki Lauda, Ferrari 312T, Jim Crawford, Lotus 72E Ford

Photo by: LAT Images

Lauda had a first shot at winning the title at Monza – the track where he would make a sensational comeback after his Nurburgring crash a year later.

All the Ferrari driver needed was fifth place, after Fittipaldi failed to score in the previous two rounds.

Starting from pole position, Lauda tucked in behind the sister car of Regazzoni – who was still mathematically in contention – and avoided any risk. “I don’t think I let him past, I think he just overtook me,” Lauda reflected. “But my goal was to win the championship. So I wasn’t going to risk anything for the race win – I just needed to bring the points home.”

It was a perfect result for Ferrari: Regazzoni delivered a home win for the tifosi, while newly crowned Lauda joined him on the podium in third. His first words as a world champion? “I think the rear-left shock absorber is broken.” Typical Lauda – described by one newspaper as a “robot with a heart”.

As composed as Lauda was in the race, the ensuing chaos overwhelmed him. Mounted Carabinieri had to escort him to the podium through the frenzied crowd. When reporter Heinz Prueller asked how he was feeling in the paddock, a pale Lauda replied: “Frightened, at the moment. On the way, one of the horses lashed out, stamping just two centimetres from my thin racing shoes.” His only thought: “To get out of this in one piece.”

Podium: third place Niki Lauda, Ferrari

Photo by: LAT Images

And yet he would later describe it as “the most beautiful day” of his life. No wonder, for this triumph was the reward for years of struggle, after he defied financial hardship and his family’s reluctance to push through a racing career.

“You can’t plan when or how you move forward during that phase,” he said of his tough early years. “That depends on so many factors. Which means the first world championship you win is the hardest of all, because the journey begins back in Formula 3. When you win it, you know you finally have the result to show for everything you’ve done from the beginning until now. That’s why it’s the most important of all.”

From that point onward, he said, everything becomes easier, no matter the circumstances: “Because you’ve already proved you can do it. Then you have the confidence – you’re a world champion. That’s why the second and third titles are easier. The first is always the hardest.”

Why Lauda never owned his title-winning Ferrari

Niki Lauda, Ferrari 312T

Photo by: Sutton Images

Lauda did not linger in euphoria when he took the 1975 crown. He tried to persuade Enzo Ferrari, who gave him little recognition for the success (“No, no, he was shy,” Lauda nuanced), to sell him his title-winning car at a favourable price. But as soon as testing began with the new car for 1976, the old machine no longer interested the champion.

Lauda went on to lose the 1976 championship to Hunt, withdrawing from the title-decider in torrential rain at Fuji.

“I didn’t lose in 1976 because of Japan, but because of the fire accident,” he clarified. “Sometimes I’m amazed how people sugarcoat it. That’s nonsense. Without the crash and the three races I missed, I’d have been world champion.

“But my run with Ferrari in ’75, ’76, ’77 – when you put it together, I could have been champion three times. Not bad.”