Mercedes rename road at team HQ ‘Lauda Drive’ in tribute to three-time world champion

Mercedes have revealed that they have renamed the road that leads to their technology campus in Brackley in tribute to the late three-time world championship-winning driver Niki Lauda.

Lauda served as the team’s Non-Executive Chairman from 2012 until his passing in 2019 and after receiving permission from his family and the local authorities, Mercedes have announced that the road will now be called ‘Lauda Drive’.

Mercedes CEO and Team Principal Toto Wolff, who unveiled the new road sign on Tuesday afternoon in front of a gathering of team members described the occasion as a “true honour.”

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“It’s a true honour to unveil Lauda Drive and it was great to see so many team members gather to watch the reveal,” said Wolff.

“While our dear friend and colleague Niki wouldn’t have wanted us to make a fuss, 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 lucky enough to call him one of my best friends.

“He was a massive contributor to our success, a great sparring partner for me and a strong non-executive chairman, who we miss dearly. I wish he was still here as my friend and as a chairman, because there would have been many questions, I’d have liked to ask him this year.”

He added: “His legacy lives on in so many shapes and forms, but to know so many people will pass down Lauda Drive in the years to come is very special.”

Lauda won three world championships in a career that saw him race for the likes of Ferrari, Brabham and McLaren, and was later one of the key figures in helping Mercedes achieve the astonishing success they enjoyed with the beginning of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014 – including helping persuade Lewis Hamilton to join the team from McLaren.