Mathias Lauda (born 30 January 1981) 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 Euro Formula 3000 Series. Later in 2004, he drove in 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.
In 2012, Lauda joined 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 (Bartels himself finished third that season). In addition, Lauda came third in the 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 (son of James Hunt, his father's title rival in the 1976 Formula One season) 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 Season Series Team Races Poles Wins FLaps Podiums Points Position 2002 Formula Nissan 2000 Epsilon by Graff 14 0 0 0 0 23 12thSpanish Formula Three ChampionshipGTA Motor Competición100000NC 2003 World Series Lights Vergani Racing 16 0 0 0 2 85 8th 2004 Euro Formula 3000 Traini Corse 8 1 0 0 1 9 9th International Formula 3000 CMS Performance 10 0 0 0 0 5 13th 2005 GP2 Series Coloni Motorsport 23 0 0 0 0 3 21st 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix A1 Team Austria 20 0 0 0 0 14 19th 2006 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Persson Motorsport 10 0 0 0 0 0 18th 2007 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Mücke Motorsport 10 0 0 0 0 4 15th2008 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Persson Motorsport 11 0 0 0 0 1 15th Speedcar Series GPC Squadra Corse 4 0 0 0 2 18 7th2008–09Speedcar SeriesPhoenix Racing100000NC 2009 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Mücke Motorsport 10 0 0 0 0 1 15th 2010 Porsche Supercup Porsche AG 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC2011 Porsche Supercup Konrad Motorsport Austria 11 0 0 0 0 40 11th Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup N/A 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC†2012 FIA GT1 World Championship Vita4One Racing Team 18 0 0 0 2 56 12th Blancpain Endurance Series - GT3 Pro 4 0 0 0 2 45 11th24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9BMW Team Vita4One10000N/ADNFVolkswagen Scirocco R-CupN/A100000NC†2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series DF1 Racing by B66 Raceconsulting 12 0 1 1 1 523 9th ADAC GT Masters HTP Motorsport 4 0 0 0 0 5 38th 2014–15 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 MRF Racing 8 1 0 0 1 71 6th2015 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am Aston Martin Racing 8 1 0 1 6 1443rd24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am10000N/ANC United SportsCar Championship - GTLM 2 0 0 0 0 52 19th24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP910000N/ADNF NASCAR Whelen Euro Series DF1 Racing by B66 Raceconsulting 2 0 0 0 0 147 23rd2016 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am Aston Martin Racing 9 0 0 0 6 1493rd24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am10000N/ADNF WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD 2 0 0 0 0 51 31st24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP910000N/ADNF NASCAR Whelen Euro Series DF1 Racing 2 0 0 0 0 64 32nd2017 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am Aston Martin Racing 9 1 4 0 7 192 1st24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am10000N/A8th WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD 1 0 0 0 0 19 69thIntercontinental GT ChallengeHTP Motorsport100000NC 2018 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD Squadra Corse Garage Italia 2 0 0 0 0 29 52ndIntercontinental GT ChallengeAudi Sport Team WRT10000125th24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE AmAston Martin Racing10000N/ADNF 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am Aston Martin Racing 8 0 0 0 2 77 8th201924 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE AmAston Martin Racing10000N/ADNFWeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTDSpirit of Race100001167thIntercontinental GT Challenge10000434th2020European Le Mans Series - GTEAston Martin Racing200010NC†WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD100001458thGT World Challenge Europe Endurance CupJP Motorsport200000NC † Guest driver ineligible to score points
Complete Nissan World Series Lights results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points 2002 Epsilon by Graff VAL1 VAL2 JAR1 JAR2 ALB1 ALB2 MNZ1 MNZ2 MAG1 MAG2 CAT1 CAT2 VAL1 VAL2 12th 23 2003 Vergani Racing MNZ1 MNZ2 LAU1 LAU2 MAG1 MAG2 A1R1 A1R2 CAT1 CAT2 VAL1 VAL2 ALB1 ALB2 JAR1 JAR2 8th 85
Complete Euro Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points 2004 Traini Corse BRNEST JER MNZ SPA DONDIJ ZOL NÜR1 NÜR2 9th 9
Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points 2004 CMS Performance IMO CAT MON NUR MAG SIL HOC HUN SPA MNZ 13th 5Sources:
Complete GP2 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 DC Points 2005 Coloni Motorsport IMOFEA IMOSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA NÜRFEA NÜRSPR MAGFEA MAGSPR SILFEA SILSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR MNZFEA MNZSPR SPAFEA SPASPR BHRFEA BHRSPR 21st 3Sources:
Complete A1 Grand Prix results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC PointsRef 2005–06 Austria GBRSPR GBRFEA GERSPR GERFEA PORSPR PORFEA AUSSPR AUSFEA MYSSPR MYSFEA UAESPR UAEFEA RSASPR RSAFEAIDNSPR IDNFEA MEXSPR MEXFEA USASPR USAFEA CHNSPR CHNFEA 19th 14
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Points 2006 Persson Motorsport AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2004 HOC LAU OSC BRH NOR NÜR ZAN CAT BUG HOC 17th 0 2007 Mücke Motorsport AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2005 HOC OSC LAU BRH NOR MUG ZAN NÜR CAT HOC 15th 4 2008 Persson Motorsport AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2007 HOC OSC MUG LAU NOR ZAN NÜR BRH CAT BUG HOC 15th 1 2009 Mücke Motorsport AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2008 HOC LAU NOR ZAN OSC NÜR BRH CAT DIJ HOC 15th 1Sources: † — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.
Complete Porsche Supercup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points 2010 Porsche AG BHR BHR CAT MON ESP SIL HOC HUN SPA MNZ NC‡ 0‡ 2011 Konrad Motorsport Austria IST CAT MON NNS SIL NÜR HUN SPA MNZ UAE UAE 12th 40 ‡ Not eligible for points for entering as a guest driver.
Complete GT1 World Championship results Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Points 2012 BMW Team Vita4One BMW E89 Z4 GT3 NOGQR12 NOGCR11 ZOLQR5 ZOLCR14 NAVQR7 NAVQR6 SVKQR10 SVKCR7 ALGQR5 ALGCR8 SVKQR2 SVKCR3 MOSQR7 MOSCR10 NÜRQR9 NÜRCR5 DONQR8 DONCRRet 12th 56Source:
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results Year Entrant Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points 2015 Aston Martin Racing LMGTE Am Aston Martin Vantage GTE Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 SIL SPA LMS NÜR COA FUJ SHA BHR 3rd 144 2016 Aston Martin Racing LMGTE Am Aston Martin Vantage GTE Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 SIL SPA LMS NÜR MEX COA FUJ SHA BHR 3rd 149 2017 Aston Martin Racing LMGTE Am Aston Martin Vantage GTE Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 SIL SPA LMS NÜR MEX COA FUJ SHA BHR 1st 192 2018–19 Aston Martin Racing LMGTE Am Aston Martin Vantage GTE Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 SPA LMS SIL FUJ SHA SEB SPA LMS 8th 77Sources:
24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2015 Aston Martin Racing Paul Dalla Lana Pedro Lamy Aston Martin Vantage GTE GTEAm 321 NC NC 2016 Aston Martin Racing Paul Dalla Lana Pedro Lamy Aston Martin Vantage GTE GTEAm 281 DNF DNF 2017 Aston Martin Racing Paul Dalla Lana Pedro Lamy Aston Martin Vantage GTE GTEAm 329 36th 8th 2018 Aston Martin Racing Paul Dalla Lana Pedro Lamy Aston Martin Vantage GTE GTEAm 92 DNF DNF 2019 Aston Martin Racing Paul Dalla Lana Pedro Lamy Aston Martin Vantage GTE GTEAm 87 DNF DNFSources:
Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)