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Niki Lauda, the three-time world champion, passed away on Monday. He was in Zurich and was peaceful, according to his family, who were with him at the time. Last year, the Austrian had undergone a lung transplant.
Niki's lustrous racing career spanned well over a decade and earned him three drivers titles, two of which were won with Ferrari in 1975 and 1977, while the third was acquired driving for McLaren in 1984. He was greatly admired and venerated within the entire F1 community. In recent years, he had taken on an advisory role in Formula One for Mercedes as their non-executive chairman.
Also read: Niki Lauda Tribute - Top 5 wins of the legend
Lauda is not just known for his racing proficiency but also for the courage that set him apart from everyone else on the grid. After suffering from horrific burns during the German Grand Prix in 1976 which even damaged his lungs, he returned just six weeks later to compete in the Italian Grand Prix, much to everyone's surprise.
The Mercedes W10 would have Niki’s signature on the nose cone along with a ‘Danke Niki’ right below it. One of the silver stars on the car would also be coloured red as a tribute to the late Austrian who is well well-known for wearing a red cap. Their drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas would be donning black armbands.
Mercedes are not the only team to pay homage to the legend. Various teams and drivers, past and prese alike, have expressed their grief as everybody says goodbye to a person who touched so many hearts.
Scuderia Toro Rosso too will have a special decal on their cars as a form of remembering Niki and will run it this weekend in Monaco. The sticker would say ‘Danke Niki’ with the Austrian flag's colours painted on the name and a picture of Lauda himself to go beside it.
Ferrari Drivers' will sport a special tribute helmets in the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix
Sebastian Vettel will use a special helmet which has Niki Lauda's name embossed on it, it is inspired by the classic red helmet used by Niki. Other the other hand one half of Charles Leclerc helmet's has the livery of his father's helmet and the other half is late Jule's Bianchi's livery.
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