Wheels24.co.za | WATCH: Martin Brundle - \'Lauda transcended Formula 1\'

WATCH: Martin Brundle - 'Lauda transcended Formula 1'

2019-05-21 11:34

Sean Parker

In this file photo taken on May 27, 1976 Austrian Formula 1 driver and World champion Niki Lauda sits in his Ferrari on Monaco race track during a training session of the 34th Monaco Formula One Grand Prix. Legendary F1 driver Niki Lauda has died at the age of 70, his family said in a statement released to Austrian media on May 21. Image: AFP

Niki Lauda died at the age of 70, his family said. The three-time Formula 1 world champion had a lung transplant in August 2018 and didn't make his usual appearances in the Mercedes-AMG pit garage. 

Former F1 driver Martin Brundle said Lauda was a remarkable man who 'transcended the sport' because even non-F1 fans knew of Lauda's fiery crash in 1976 when he was pulled out of the car by Italian driver Arturo Merzario. 

Lauda went onto win the drivers' championship the following year.

Brundle, an F1 pundit on Sky Sports since 2012, said the Austrian "was a fighter" and his tussle with British driver James Hunt in 1976 showed his incredible attitude towards racing.  

After the crash at the German GP in 1976, he was back in the car a mere 43 days later. 

Listen to Brundle's interview below: