1974 Panini Sport Vedettes Niki Lauda #154 PSA 8

Andreas Nikolaus “Niki” Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian racing driver, motorsport executive and aviation entrepreneur, who competed in Formula One from 1971 to 1979 and from 1982 to 1985. Lauda won three Formula One World Drivers’ Championship titles and—at the time of his retirement—held the record for most podium finishes (54); he remains the only driver to have won a World Drivers’ Championship with both Ferrari and McLaren, and won 25 Grands Prix across 13 seasons.

Lauda was making his Formula One debut with the team at the 1971 Austrian Grand Prix. He was promoted to a full-time seat in 1972, ending the season with a non-classified championship finish, despite winning the British Formula Two Championship. Lauda moved to BRM for the 1973 season, scoring his maiden points finish in Belgium and earning a seat with Ferrari the following year alongside Clay Regazzoni. Lauda was immediately successful at Ferrari. After winning five Grands Prix in his 1975 campaign, Lauda won his maiden title, becoming the first Ferrari-powered World Champion in 11 years. Whilst leading the 1976 championship—amidst a fierce title battle with James Hunt—Lauda was seriously injured during the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, suffering severe burns and other life-changing injuries as his Ferrari 312T2 caught on fire during a crash. He returned to racing just six weeks later at the Italian Grand Prix, but eventually lost the title to Hunt by one point.

Lauda remained at Ferrari in 1977, winning several races on his way to a second championship. Vacating his seat after clinching the title at the United States Grand Prix and replaced by Gilles Villeneuve, Lauda signed with Brabham in 1978, achieving podiums in each of his race finishes that season despite struggling with poor reliability, and taking wins in Sweden and Italy. Amidst a winless 1979 season for Brabham alongside Nelson Piquet, Lauda left the team after the Italian Grand Prix, following their move to Ford Cosworth V8 engines.

After a two-year hiatus, Lauda returned to Formula One with McLaren in 1982. After a winless 1983 campaign, Lauda was partnered by Alain Prost the following season, beating Prost to his third title by a record half-point. Lauda retired at the conclusion of the 1985 season—taking his final victory at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort.