AUTOBIOGRAPHY BOOK REVIEW
The autobiography of the late Niki Lauda was originally published in 1986 but following his sad passing in 2019 it was republished with some extra material from motor sport journalist Kevin Eason. Eason’s contributions fill in for the reader Lauda’a story from 86 to his death, and although it is not a comprehensive biographical account it does the rest of Lauda’s life.
It is not Eason’s writing’s that I wish to discuss in this book review however as the main purpose is to talk about the autobiography itself. I have recently read the book and enjoyed it very much I feel very grateful that the book was republished and gave me an opportunity to read it.
Lauda is as you would expect from the man very honest , very straightforward and very direct with his thoughts. The image we all have of Lauda and one of the reasons he was so greatly admired is someone who can cut straight through all the bullshit and address the issue head on, and that shines through in his book too. He doesn’t pull any punches and doesn’t try and put s spin on things to make them sound different to reality. This honesty extends to discussion of his racing life, his private life, indeed he is very candid about his home life and relationship with his wife, and his business life.
He is at his most candid though when talking about himself and his own personality. One of the most revealing aspects of the book for me was Lauda talking about times when he felt fear and extreme stress. One such occasion was understandably when making his comeback from his Nurburgring crash in 76 and that season’s finale in Japan. On his comeback at Monza he was absolutely nowhere in Friday practice and he admits that he had to go back to the hotel and totally reassess how he approached driving. Trying to go as fast as possible was not the key, instead he had to start off at a slower pace and build himself back up again.
In Japan for the season ending race the appalling weather made things very dangerous and he is very forthright when saying that he couldn’t drive any further in the race and had to pull into the pits and climb out of the car. That is in itself an act of bravery, to admit your fear and stop driving takes more courage than to keep on going especially as he says in his own words that if he had continued he probably would have won the title as the weather cleared up not long after. I feel that we can all learn something from Lauda here, never be afraid to admit that you don’t feel comfortable doing something.
Another interesting admission was that he felt that he was by nature a little too sensitive and he had tried harder as a result to not let this get the better of him, letting emotional responses prevail would have hurt hurt desire to get things done. All these insights give the reader a deeper understanding of the character of the man behind the legend, and a chance to understand that man as not just an emotionless robot but as a person with the same flaws, fears and emotions as the rest of us. The book lets the reader see the human behind the visor.
Talk of the Nurburgring is of course mentioned a lot but is not overdone and nor should it have beem, Lauda had a long career that wasn’t defined purely by his accident and the stories he tells of racing with James Hunt, dealing with Enzo Ferrari and fighting Alain Prost for his third and last world title are thrilling and illuminating in equal measure. I will not relay the stories here so as not to spoil it for you should you wish to read the book yourself but it is enough to say that they are a great read. In particular Ron Dennis’s distaste at being outdone by Lauda in contract negotiations while at McLaren was very entertaining, the relationship between the two men apparently not as good as I had always thought.
On the racing one of the most interesting topics discussed is the difference in the cars that Lauda raced from the beginning to the end of his career. During his time in F1 car design developed massively and by the time of his comeback in 82 cars had much more sophisticated aerodynamics which required them to be driven differently and were much more physically demanding. Lauda’s discussion about this in the book is very useful in understanding the changes that took place during that time.
One of my favorite parts of the book is where Lauda discusses his leadership of the drivers strike that happened in South Africa in 1982 when the drivers holed themselves up in a hotel room to protest against the changes made to their racing licences. Standing up to the teams and the governing body against a lot of pressure required someone of his stature to hold help them stand their ground.
There is plenty outside of his racing life that Lauda also talks about, his life certainly had far more elements to it than being a racing driver. One of these was his passion for flying and the struggles he faced against Austrian Airlines to get his own carrier Lauda Air of the ground. His business life was if anything just as interesting as his racing career.
I will end this book review here by saying that I would really recommend this book to any F1 fan, as I have said you gain a better understanding of Niki Lauda the man and there are some aspects to his life and career that you may not have known about before.
This month there is a new biography of Lauda being published written by renowned journalist Maurice Hamilton. Written since his death it will cover his whole life and career so I am very looking forward to getting my hands on that. Once I have had a read of it I will write and post a review of that aswell.
My F1 talk 