In any sport there are cinderella stories when an underdog or legend seem to just defy logic and the odds to be competitive. But if it doesn't work out sometimes it gets forgotten. But one that will not be forgotten is Niki Lauda's🇦🇹 1976 season. In the year previously Lauda won his first career title with Scuderia Ferrari who hadn't gotten a championship since John Surtees🇬🇧 in 1964 so instantly in 1976 he was a favorite to repeat his success. And it would start off in the best possible way in the season opening Brazilian🇧🇷 grand prix, with a win after being let through by his teammate Clay Regazzoni🇨🇭 when the Switzerland driver pitted in the 8th lap of the race. But one race later in South Africa🇿🇦 he would definitely have to earn his result there not by his teammate but by the McLaren of James Hunt🇬🇧. Lauda took the lead from the Brit at the start and held on to it at the checkered flag. Including the season finale last year it's a hat trick of victories for the reigning world champion. But it would end however at the west United States🇺🇸 grand prix at Long Beach in California. Lauda finished 2nd by nearly 3 quarters of a minute, 42.414 seconds to be exact behind Clay Regazzoni. But however the Ferrari win streak is now at 4 in a row further submitting the the Italian team have the best car. But before the Spanish🇪🇸 grand prix for the championship leader wasn't all perfect. In the time period in between grand prixs Lauda suffered two broken ribs after an accident while he was cutting grass on his tractor. Hs actually flipped while he was on the tractor, however if that was thought to flip his performance you couldn't tell at the start when he snatched the lead away from James Hunt. But he is being hunted by the Ford Cosworth powered McLaren. Eventually though Lauda would lose the lead to Hunt and fall to 2nd which is where he would finish over half a minute behind James Hunt. But however it wouldn't stay that way for long because the FIA found the McLaren to be 1.8 centimeters too wide meaning Lauda won the race. The British team appealed the decision and this went all the way into July but in the end the win goes to hunt but McLaren still had a fine to pay. But still he had a healthy 15 point lead over James going to Belgium🇧🇪. And there just simply continued the trend of the year where Ferrari take the track by storm. They locked out the front row running 1st and 3rd split by James Hunt but when his gearbox failed at lap 35 meant that the Ferraris would end up 1-2 Lauda first and Regazzoni 2nd. This just cemented a commanding lead in both championships. Lauda had a 24 point lead over his teammate. During this time you got 9 points for a victory which means after 5 races he nearly has a 3 race lead over his closest challenger. And Ferrari have a 31 point advantage over McLaren. The lead just grew even bigger at Monaco🇮🇩 with Lauda getting pole and winning in dominating fashion once again. Now Lauda has a 33 point advantage over Regazzoni and Hunt cause they both retired from engine faliures. But at the Swedish🇸🇪 grand prix for the first time in this year the Ferraris seemed kinda weak. Lauda qualified 5th and Regazzoni 11th. But the race faired better for them with Clay finishing 6th and Niki claiming 3rd behind Jody Scheckter🇿🇦 and Patrick Depailler🇫🇷 who did a Tyrrell 1-2 finish with their cars using 6 wheels. Yep 6 wheels and it worked well when they began using it back at Spain and now they won the race. As a matter of fact they are now 2nd and 3rd in the driver championship standings but they were 29 and 32 points behind Niki Lauda however. Tyrrell are 2nd in the championship though so at least their 6 wheeler could have a chance of outscoring McLaren. But at French grand prix🇫🇷 appeared to be slightly more difficult for them to do that when a return to form for Lauda rose with him qualifying 2nd. When the race began he got the lead from James Hunt and began to pull away trying to obtain his 5th win in 8 races. But for the first time all year he suffered a DNF from an engine faliure. The championship leader for the first time all year would miss out on a podium since the 1975 Austrian🇦🇹 grand prix. But still with the season at his halfway point the Austrian had a commanding 26 point advantage over Hunt. And Lauda along with Regazzoni would have the advantage over Hunt in qualifying for the British🇬🇧 grand prix. But things wouldn't stay like that for long in the race. Going into turn 1 the Ferraris made contact leaving leaving the Switzerland spun in front of the pack. But despite slight contact with Jacques Laffite's🇫🇷 Ligier they both got going again. But hometown hero Hunt was limping around with suspension damage however the red flag was out meaning an eventual restart. But when that happened the Lotus of Mario Andretti🇺🇸 was stalled on the grid causing an eventual wreck into turn 1 again with Guy Edwards🇬🇧 driving for Hesketh, Hans-Joachim Stuck's🇩🇪 March, and Patrick Depailler. The Frenchman was able to continue but a lap down along with Andretti. Anyway the race went on with Lauda dominant but with Hunt close behind. At lap 45 however he'd loses the lead to the hometown hero and team. The Austrian would try to get the lead back but eventually would be held back with managing his gearbox. At least he didn't retire from the race like Regazzoni did from a lack of oil pressure at lap 36. Niki finished 2nd a whopping 52 seconds behind James Hunt. This left the point difference at 23 between them. But that wasn't how it would be because Hunt would later be disqualified giving the win to Niki Lauda. Why? Because after the wreck on the false start he never completed a lap meaning he couldn't repair his car and get back out there. An option that could have happened was that Regazzoni started in a backup after radiator damage and Jaques Laffite after stalling in turn 1. But the FIA let him race because of the crowd growing impatient during the red flag and thought that Hunt wasn't going to start again so they chanted "We want Hunt!" So not wanting any potential violence even though that never happens at the track in the grandstands they refused to risk that happening creating a 31 point separation between 1 and 2 now. But if you think that was controversial then the German🇩🇪 grand prix is an entirely different story. It took place at the Nurburgring with the course being 14.2 miles long. Yes, you read that right, the Nurburgring is 14.2 miles long taking over 7 minutes to complete a singular lap at best. The reason for it was the section having elevation changes, being narrow, having few run off areas, and even having at some points getting the car airborne. This made 3 time champion Jackie Stewart🇬🇧 nickname the track "The Green Hell" No joke he pretty much called and compared the track to hell! Man it had to be difficult to drive and Niki Lauda knew that who actually was the only one who did a lap under 7 minutes. He even knew the fact that there was very poor access to fire marshals and emergency vehicles to get on track to attend to the drivers if necessary. That has caused so many drivers over the years to lose their lives. So he tried to convince the drivers to get the race canceled and with a practice crash that happened 2 weeks earlier marked the 131st fatal accident in 49 years of the circuit. But in the end the attempt failed by one vote so the show must go on. Lauda qualified 2nd with Hunt on pole and just to add another factor is the rain leaving half the track wet and the other half dry on race day. So everyone was on wet tires for the 14 lap race except for McLaren driver Jochen Mass🇩🇪. It takes so long to finish a lap they only have to do 14. The German made the right call who looked like superman and slicks when he snatched the lead away from the top 2 in points. Seing this happened most of the field pitted to get dry tires on lap 2. Lauda came out behind a group of other slower cars and while trying to make up for lost time his car twitched ever so slightly sending him into the wall demolishing his fuel tank making his car burst into flames. A horrific, scary, and terrible crash occurred. When Lauda bounced back on the track Harold Ertl🇦🇹 and Breft Lunger🇺🇸 hit him as well. But when the cars came to a halt Lauda was trapped inside of his burning car. Etrl and Lunger jumped out of their wrecked cars to aid the situation. They weren't alone however. After seing the wreck occur or the flames Guy Edwards and Arturo Merzario🇮🇹 stopped on track to help Lauda. They signaled a fire marshal to hurry with the fire extinguisher and put the fire out, signal the drivers that would come up to slow down and free Niki Lauda from his car. He would then be rushed to the hospital with severe burns on his head and wrist, multiple broken bones, and his lungs were scorched from inhaling toxic and poisonous fumes. The race would be restarted but Chris Amon🇦🇺 didn't want to participate after seing what happened to Lauda and very dissatisfied with the saftey arrangements around the track. While Hunt went on to win with Scheckter 2nd and Mass 3rd but nobody was in the mood to celebrate. But if anything was worth celebrating is the fact that this version of the Nurburgring was never used again. But the damage was done as there were fears for Lauda's life. It was so bad to the point where he was administered the last rites by a priest. But Niki fought on day after day and after day even though it was likely the end of his championship hopes. While weeks went on and more news was released about Lauda's condition most people expected home to make his return at the Canadian🇨🇦 grand prix. But a few thought it was gonna be Italy🇮🇹. He would miss the next 2 races at Austria🇦🇹 and the Netherlands🇳🇱 but after 42 days a total of 6 weeks after he nearly died he returned to the grid for the Italian🇮🇹 grand prix. That's just incredible right there and it couldn't be at a better place to return in front of the Ferrari fans at the home track for the Scuderia. He would start in 5th ahead of Regazzoni and a 3rd Ferrari driven by Carlos Reutemann🇦🇷 who was called to replace Niki but the points leader was ahead of them all. Yep he had a lead enough to where he still had a 14 point lead. Unfortunately he would fade all the way back to 12th in the first lap. But he would get his head in the game and make his way through the field. He may have gained some places like on Carlos Pace🇧🇷 who retired but he would get by Reutimann by passing him on track. Before you knew it he was running in 7th chasing down the March if Vittorio Brambilla🇮🇹 and he wasn't even that far off of the leader. He eventually would get past the Italian and both Tyrrells to go on finish 4th. 4th place! Just let that sink in. The guy who went on to be a F1 driver against his grandfather's wishes, parlayed a life insurance policy to create a bank loan to finance his dreams to get in F1, struggled at March from 1971 and 1972, used his apparent sponsorship from his money to race for the fading BRM in 1973, then when Enzo Ferrari hired him BOUGHT his way out of his BRM to race for the Italian team in 1974, won a world title a year later, nearly lost his life at Germany, and now finished 4th still in a huge amount of pain because he was wearing bandages for the blood still SEEPING THROUGH HIS HEAD! Unbelievable! This guy has a no nonsense work ethic and combined with his calculating approach on car setups and honesty that can come off as brutal got him nicknamed "the computer" which even saw him EXTEND his point lead to 17 points over James Hunt after the Brit spun into gravel while trying to out brake Tom Pryce's🇬🇧 shadow. 3 races left and everyone wanted to see Lauda and Hunt who are great friends off the track fight it out for the title on the track. Going to Canada🇨🇦 Niki struggled and finished 8th while James went on to dominate and win. Hunt put his McLaren on the top of the podium again in the eastern US🇺🇸 grand prix while the Ferrari of Lauda joined him in 3rd. This meant that going into the inaugural Japanese🇯🇵 grand prix that there was a 3 point difference between Lauda and Hunt. But there was a twist. The weather at the Fuji International Speedway were utterly abysmal. Heavy rain pelted the circuit and it was so bad to the point where some drivers wanted the race canceled. After a hour and 15 minutes later the race would go on but spoiler alert nobody dies or gets injured in any shape form or fashion. Anyway Lauda would start 3rd with his title rival ahead in 2nd. The race would start and Hunt would get the lead with Niki falling back slightly. If the race finished how it is now Lauda would need to win cause 2nd would leave he and James tied but Hunt has the tiebreaker with his 6 wins to Niki's 5. But the Austrian would pit on the 2nd lap of the race to retire! On lap 2 Niki Lauda is out of the race! What happened to him?! This is what he said. "The conditions are suicidal. I can see nothing at all. There are more important things in life than the world championship." Dang that's a lot of truth. He just stopped racing cause he thought it was too dangerous. Perhaps it was giving him flashbacks or worse vibes than Germany did. After Lauda retired he just went home. James Hunt would call his friend's move "an act of bravery." He isn't wrong. Niki probably didn't want to get injured again or possibly die in conditions he felt were asking for it. In fact if you went to www.racing-reference.info it says he just retired like Larry Perkins🇦🇺, Carlos Pace and 2 time world champion Emerson Fittipaldi🇧🇷. So if they agreed with Lauda or not is unknown to me. But thankfully nobody died or got injured from the race. It would play out with Hunt dominating leading the first 61 laps then get caught late by Patrick Depailler and Mario Andretti because the Brit's tires were just worn out and then James had a horrendous pitstop then came out and would go on to finish 3rd. But he thought he finished 5th and there were no radios at that time so he knew nothing about where he was running and didn't even know Lauda retired. When he came back to the pits he found out he was world champion by just 1 point over Niki Lauda. 1 point separated Niki from his 2nd championship, and after everything that has happened to him this year. The burns, the injuries, and the surgeries couldn't hold him back however. He would go on to win the championship once again with Ferrari before suddenly retiring in in 1979 then in his F1 return won the championship a 3rd time before he retired for good. His career behind the wheel stats were 25 wins 54 podiums. And since then worked as an advisor for Ferrari, a team principal for Jaguar, a TV commentator, and perhaps his most successful project out of the cockpit was being the non-executive chairman of Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 team. He, team principal Toto Wolff and others convinced Lewis Hamilton🇬🇧 to join the team in 2013 and even though that year was dominated by Sebastian Vettel🇩🇪 and Red Bull all the following years since in the turbo hybrid era Mercedes have been nearly invincible winning 5 straight constructors championships and 5 straight driver titles. Once with Nico Rosberg🇩🇪 and the other 4 with Hamilton and so far in 2019 they are set to be champions again. Plus a movie based on the story of Lauda and Hunt that is rated R called "Rush" that was published in 2013. But unfortunately on May 20 2019 Niki Lauda passed away. And true some people might ask What if his engine never failed in France?What if he never got injured in Germany? What if he raced to the finish at Japan? While some ask what might have been, this is one they are willing to let go with the story that Lauda lived, in 1976 Hunt would have his only real time to shine this year as champion, and the respected rivalry between two champions of the sport. R.I.P Niki Lauda and James Hunt. May they rest in peace.