Mercedes and Toto Wolff's tribute to Niki Lauda

Mercedes has renamed the street at the heart of its Brackley technology campus “Lauda Drive” to pay tribute to the three-time world champion in F1 (1975, 1977, 1984).

Previously titled “Reynard Park” named after Adrian Renayd, owner of the site before it was bought in 2021 by the Mercedes team, the name of the road was changed in honor of Niki Lauda following the approval from local authorities and the family of the former Austrian driver, who died on May 20, 2019, a few days before the Monaco Grand Prix.

Having become non-executive president of the Mercedes team in 2012, Niki Lauda notably played an important role in the arrival of Lewis Hamilton. The new sign indicating “Lauda Drive” was inaugurated in the presence of Toto wolff, the main team of the German team. 

Toto Wolff: “His legacy lives on in so many forms”

“It’s a real honor to unveil Lauda Drive and it was great to see so many team members come together for this, said Toto Wolff. Although our dear friend and colleague Niki wouldn't want us to make a big deal out of it, he would also be proud to have this road named after him. It was a privilege for all of us to work alongside him and I was fortunate to consider him one of my best friends. He was very important to our successes, an excellent working partner for me and a strong non-executive chairman. We miss him a lot. »

Toto Wolff inaugurated the Lauda Drive in Brackley (Photo: Mercedes)

“I wish he was still here as a friend and as president, because there would have been a lot of questions I would have liked to ask him this year, continued the Austrian. His legacy lives on in so many forms, but knowing that so many will walk this road in his name is something truly special. »

Toto Wolff hopes that the memory of his friend will guide him towards a return to the forefront of the Brackley team in 2023, after a complicated season. “After a season in which the team was pushed to its limits and had to overcome many challenges on and off the track, one of Niki's most famous quotes rings true: “From success, you only learn absolutely nothing. From failures and setbacks, conclusions can be drawn. » 2022 was a season full of conclusions and surely the most difficult for the team in the last decade. We will work very late at the end of the Lauda Drive to return to the front of the grid in 2023…”

Symbolically, Niki Lauda's famous red "Parmalat" cap was hung on the sign of the road which now bears his name.

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