When Niki Lauda nosed out Alain Prost to win the 1985 Dutch GP
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From left to right: Alain Prost, Niki Lauda and Ayrton Senna
Niki Lauda was one of the greatest drivers our sport has ever seen. But he had to buy his way into the sport, taking countless loans in the early parts of his career. When he was at BRM, his teammate Clay Regazzoni left for Ferrari, and Niki Lauda followed him to the Italian team, who paid him enough money to clear all his debts.
The rest, as they say, is history. At the Spanish Grand Prix in 1974, Lauda won his first race, and there was another victory at the Dutch Grand Prix in store for him. He won two championships with Ferrari, in 1975, and in 1977. In 1976, he lost a title fight to rival James Hunt but had made such a miraculous recovery from a crash at Nurburgring that he won hearts regardless.
He moved to Brabham in 1978, but the move didn’t really materialize well. As such, he retired from the sport. In 1982, he returned to racing, this time with McLaren. He would win one more championship, this time driving for the British team, in 1984. To this date, he is the only driver to win a championship for both Ferrari and McLaren. His last victory in the sport came at the site of his second-ever victory, and the place Formula 1 is visiting this weekend: Zandvoort.
Also Read: Helmut Marko believes Mercedes miss Niki Lauda’s mentality: “He would have done it differently”
A Zandvoort classic delivered by Niki Lauda and Alain Prost
The year was 1985, the last of Niki Lauda’s career in Formula 1. However, it also gave Alain Prost the first championship of his career, and earlier the consensus was that the Frenchman had been rather unlucky to not win either championship. That changed this year, and McLaren also won the Constructors for the second year in a row.
It was Nelson Piquet who took pole position, the first ever for tire manufacturer Pirelli, but his car stalled at the start. Niki Lauda had qualified 10th, 7 places behind teammate Alain Prost. The two tussled for the victory during the last 12 laps, but it was eventually Lauda who came out on top, by only around 2 tenths.
The podium was one for the ages: Niki Lauda and Alain Prost were 1-2 for McLaren, but behind them was a young Ayrton Senna, who would eventually win 3 championships for McLaren. Overall, the podium sitters would combine for 10 world championships over the course of their careers.
This was also the last Dutch Grand Prix for 36 years, as the track owners went bankrupt, until it returned to the calendar last year, where it was won, for the first time ever, by a Dutchman. Max Verstappen will be looking for more of the same this weekend, but Friday didn’t start too well for the reigning world champion, as his session came to an early end following a transmission issue. It’ll be interesting to see if he can come back.
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