Mathias Lauda


Mathias Lauda is an Austrian racing driver notable for winning the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship for Aston Martin Racing in the LMGTE Am category. He is the son of the late three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda and his first wife, Marlene Knaus. He has a brother, Lukas, who was his manager during his racing career.

Early career

Lauda was born during his father's temporary retirement from F1. Unlike many drivers, who start out in karting, Lauda debuted in 2002 in Formula Nissan 2000, having been forbidden to begin racing by his father until the age of 21. He also drove in two races of German Formula VW and one race of Spanish Formula Three. He moved to World Series Lights in 2003 with the Vergani team, again moving in 2004 to the 2004 [Euro Formula 3000 Series|Euro Formula 3000 Series]. Later in 2004, he drove in 2004 [International Formula 3000 Championship|Formula 3000], completing the full season with the Coloni Motorsport team and finishing 13th in the standings.
The following year, Lauda remained with Coloni alongside former Formula One driver Gianmaria Bruni to drive in the newly-christened GP2 Series, though he would only take a sole points finish — a sixth place in Monaco. He also represented A1 Team Austria in the 2005-06 [A1 Grand Prix season].

Touring and sports car career

Lauda decided to turn his attention to touring cars from 2006 onwards, competing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Persson Motorsport. After a scoreless debut campaign he moved to Mücke Motorsport in 2007, where two top-eight finishes brought him to 15th in the standings. Lauda returned to Persson for the 2008 season, where he took a lone point at the Norisring. After another one-point season in 2009, one which he contested with Mücke, Lauda left the series. He drove in a lone race of the Porsche Supercup in 2010 before embarking on a full-time campaign in 2011 with Konrad Motorsport. He ended the year 12th in the championship.
2012 saw Lauda join Michael Bartels' Vita4One Racing Team in the FIA GT1 World Championship, where he finished 12th in the standings alongside Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof in a BMW Z4 GT3. In addition, Lauda came third in the 2012 [24 Hours of Spa|2012 Spa 24 Hours], again in a Vita4One-entered BMW.
After a year out of racing in 2013, Lauda drove for DF1 Racing in the 2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, where he won at Tours Speedway in the series's first oval race held in wet conditions. He then raced alongside Freddie Hunt in the MRF Challenge during the winter, where the Austrian won the final Bahrain race. This ended up being a pathway for his career going forward, as the win attracted the attention of fellow racing driver and friend Pedro Lamy, who got Lauda into contact with Aston Martin Racing, whom he would join in the LMGTE Am class of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship as a silver-ranked driver. Along with Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana, Lauda won three races, including his debut appearance at Silverstone, though a non-score at Le Mans prevented the trio from claiming the title — they ended the season third in points.
For 2016, Lauda remained part of the lineup. This time, the season proved to be patchy, as a total of five wins was cancelled out by three retirements, including another one at Le Mans where Lauda suffered a gearbox failure. The trio once again ended the year in third place overall, with a blown engine at the season finale in Bahrain ending their title hunt. Going into their third season as teammates in 2017, Lauda, Lamy, and Dalla Lana laid the groundwork for another championship challenge with a second place in Silverstone, a dominant victory at Spa and a points finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. More podiums followed in the coming three races, bookended by a win in Austin. The team rounded the year off with successive triumphs in China and Bahrain, thereby clinching the LMGTE Am title. With a win at Spa the team began the 2018–19 "Super Season" well, though this would end up being one of just two podium finishes that season, as Lauda and his teammates finished seventh in the teams' standings.

Racing record

Career summary

† Guest driver ineligible to score points

Complete Euro Formula 3000 results

YearEntrant12345678910DCPoints
2004Traini CorseBRN
Ret
ESTJER
2
MNZ
Ret
SPA
Ret
DON
7
DIJZOL
4
NÜR1
7
NÜR2
Ret
9th9

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

YearEntrant12345678910111213141516171819202122DCPointsRef
2005–06AustriaGBR
SPR

20
GBR
FEA

11
GER
SPR

13
GER
FEA

15
POR
SPR

16
POR
FEA

10
AUS
SPR

19
AUS
FEA

Ret
MYS
SPR

18
MYS
FEA

Ret
UAE
SPR

17
UAE
FEA

7
RSA
SPR

16
RSA
FEA

7
IDN
SPR

13
IDN
FEA

Ret
MEX
SPR
MEX
FEA
USA
SPR

12
USA
FEA

9
CHN
SPR

Ret
CHN
FEA

13
19th14

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

  • † — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

Complete Porsche Supercup results

YearTeam1234567891011DCPoints
2010Porsche AGBHRBHRCATMONESPSILHOC
20
HUNSPAMNZNC‡0‡
2011Konrad Motorsport AustriaIST
15
CAT
14
MON
15
NNS
14
SIL
18
NÜR
11
HUN
11
SPA
Ret
MNZ
14
UAE
13
UAE
10
12th40

‡ Not eligible for points for entering as a guest driver.

Complete European Le Mans Series results

As Lauda was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.