Legendary three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda has died at the age of 70, his family said in a statement on Tuesday.
Lauda won the F1 title in 1975 and 1977 for Ferrari and in 1984 with McLaren. His death comes eight months after he underwent a lung transplant.
The family said in a statement that Lauda died peacefully at the University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland on Monday night surrounded by his closest family members.
"With deep sadness, we announce that our beloved Niki has peacefully passed away with his family on Monday," the statement read.
"His unique achievements as an athlete and entrepreneur are and will remain unforgettable, his tireless zest for action, his straightforwardness and his courage remain.
"A role model and a benchmark for all of us, he was a loving and caring husband, father and grandfather away from the public, and he will be missed."
News of Lauda's death triggered an outpouring of praise from the motorsport fraternity for the Austrian whose track victories and comeback from a horrific crash enthralled race fans worldwide.
British team McLaren, whom Lauda raced for from 1982 to 1985, paid tribute to one of the sport's most beloved figures.
"All at McLaren are deeply saddened to learn that our friend, colleague and 1984 Formula 1 World Champion, Niki Lauda, has passed away. Niki will forever be in our hearts and enshrined in our history. #RIPNiki," his former team tweeted.
"Everyone at Ferrari is deeply saddened at the news of the death of our dear friend Niki Lauda," Ferrari said on its Twitter account.
The official Formula One Twitter account said it mourned the loss of a "true legend".
Lauda had been non-executive chairman at Mercedes F1 since 2012. The German marque have established themselves as the dominant force in F1, winning five consecutive world drivers' (Lewis Hamilton four, Nico Rosberg one) and constructors' championships.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said Lauda was "irreplaceable" and that the team had lost "a guiding light".
"Niki will always remain one of the greatest legends of our sport - he combined heroism, humanity and honesty inside and outside the cockpit
"His passing leaves a void in Formula One. We haven't just lost a hero who staged the most remarkable comeback ever seen, but also a man who brought precious clarity and candour to modern Formula One.
"He will be greatly missed as our voice of common sense. Our Mercedes team has also lost a guiding light."
Lauda was born as Andreas Nikolaus on February 22, 1949, in Vienna into an upper middle-class family, who did not share his passion for cars.
In 1968, without telling his parents, Lauda won his first race with a Mini Racer he had bought with his grandmother's help.
During his F1 career, Lauda suffered horrific injuries on August 1, 1976 when, having already won five races that season, his vehicle burst into flames at the Nurburgring in Germany.
He suffered severe burns to his face and damaged his lungs while he was trapped in his car that had burst into flames.
Despite being given last rites in hospital he made an almost miraculous recovery to race again only six weeks later, still bandaged and in intense pain.
Displaying extraordinary courage and fighting spirit, Lauda missed only two races that season but was unable to hold off the challenge of Britain's James Hunt, who went on to claim his only world title.
The rivalry between the two was portrayed in the 2013 film Rush by American director Ron Howard.
The next season, in 1977, Lauda went on to win his second Formula One world championship with Ferrari.
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Niki Lauda's life in pictures
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Three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda has died at the age of 70, his family said on Tuesday. Getty Images -
Niki Lauda, seen here in 1975, went on to win the first of his two F1 titles at Ferrari the same year. Allsport -
Mercedes GP driver Nico Rosberg of Germany, left, Mercedes GP non-executive chairman Niki Lauda, centre, and team chief Toto Wolff celebrate after winning the race and the constructors' championship for 2016 during the Formula One Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit. Getty Images -
Former driver Alain Prost and Niki Lauda at the Formula One Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring on June 20, 2015 in Spielberg, Austria. Getty Images -
McLaren driver Niki Lauda celebrates winning the British Grand Prix on 18 July 1982 at the Brands Hatch circuit in Fawkham, Great Britain. Getty Images -
As well as winning the F1 driver's title three times, Niki Lauda was also a successful businessman, starting his own airline, Laudamotion. AFP -
Austrian Formula One driver Niki Lauda at the Dutch Grand Prix, Circuit Park Zandvoort, Netherlands, September 1, 1977. He would win the F1 driver's title that year with Ferrari. Getty Images -
Niki Lauda addresses a news conference presenting his new airline Laudamotion in Vienna, Austria March 16, 2018. Reuters -
Niki Lauda made a remarkable comeback after missing two races after suffering horrific burns at the 1976 German Grand Prix, losing out on the title by a single point to his great rival James Hunt, right. Getty Images -
Racing drivers Niki Lauda, left, and James Hunt were both were involved in a multiple-car collision and forced to retire at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix , May 21, 1978. Getty Images -
Niki Lauda, Mercedes Formula One team non-executive chairman, looks at screens inside the team's garage during the qualifying session of the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix in Singapore on September 20, 2014. AFP -
Niki Lauda of Jaguar Racing poses with their 2002 F1 car during a photo call before a Jaguar F1/HSBC launch held at the ANA Hotel, Sydney, Australia. Getty Images -
McLaren drivers Alain Prost, of France, and Niki Lauda of Austria stand on the winners' podium after the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix at the Estoril circuit in Portugal. Prost finished in first place and Lauda in second. Lauda would go on to win that year's driver's title. Allsport -
Mathias Lauda and father Niki Lauda do a test drive during the DTM 2006 German Touring Car Championship at the Hockenheim Circuit on April 9, 2006 in Hockenheim, Germany. Getty Images -
Niki Lauda attends the 'Rush' World Premiere at Odeon Leicester Square on September 2, 2013 in London, England. Getty Images -
From left: Christian Danner, Riccardo Patrese, Gerhard Berger, Niki Lauda, Jean Alesi, Nelson Piquet, Pierluigi Martini and Alain Prost pose on track after qualifying for the Formula One Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring on June 20, 2015 in Spielberg, Austria. Getty Images -
Niki Lauda, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport non-executive chairman, attends the 2016 Laureus World Sports Awards at Messe Berlin on April 18, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images -
Formula One legend Austrian Niki Lauda attends the "legends race" at the racetrack in Spielberg on June 30, 2018, before the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix. AFP -
In this file photo taken on August 25, 1985 F1 world champion Niki Lauda celebrates his victory on the podium after winning the Dutch Formula One Grand Prix in Zandvoort. AFP -
In this file photo taken on May 27, 1976 Ferrari's Austrian Formula One driver and world champion Niki Lauda is seen in the pits on the Monaco race track. AFP -
In this file photo taken on May 27, 1976 Austrian Formula One driver and world champion Niki Lauda sits in his Ferrari on the Monaco race track. AFP
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He quit Formula One at the end of 1979 to pursue his second passion, civil aviation.
But he was lured back to F1 in 1982, this time with McLaren, and won his last world championship with them in 1984, beating teammate Alain Prost by 0.5 points, even though the Frenchman won more races that year.
Away from the track Lauda was an entrepreneur and businessman. He founded founded and then sold several airlines with a majority stake of his latest going to Ryanair in 2018.
Lauda underwent an emergency lung transplant in a Vienna hospital in August 2 last year after contracting an infection in his lungs, which were scarred and weakened by the effects of inhaling high-temperature smoke during the 1976 accident.
Years before, he had also received kidney transplants. When one failed, a second kidney was donated by his then-girlfriend Birgit Wetzinger, a former flight attendant, who he married in 2008.
Besides their twins, a boy and a girl born in 2009, Lauda also had three other sons from previous relationships.
Lauda's passing is the second death of an influential F1 figure this year.
On March 14, long-standing race director Charlie Whiting, 66, died of a pulmonary embolism, or blood clot, on the eve of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
