Formula One drivers from Austria

There have been sixteen Formula One drivers from Austria including two winners of the World Drivers' Championship. Three Austrian drivers were killed while competing in the sport; only the United Kingdom has lost more racers' lives in the sport. Several others were seriously injured in competition, with some having career ending accidents.

Two Austrian drivers won the drivers' championship. Niki Lauda won for Ferrari in 1975 and 1977, coming second in the season in between. He won again with McLaren in 1984 by just half a point from team mate Alain Prost.Jochen Rindt, won the title in 1970, and is the only posthumous championship winner having died in a crash during a practice session for the Italian Grand Prix.

Gerhard Berger is the only other Austrian driver to win a race in Formula One. He achieved ten victories in 210 races. He started more Grands Prix than any other Austrian driver and is one of a small number of Formula One racers to compete in more than 200 events.

There are currently no Austrian Formula One drivers.Christian Klien is the most recent competitor having taken part in the 2010 season as a driver with HRT, driving in three races while Sakon Yamamoto was ill. Klien had raced with Jaguar in 2004, staying with the team when they were bought by Red Bull until he was dropped just before the end of the 2006 season.

Niki Lauda took out bank loans secured by his life insurance policy to pay for his first Formula One race seat with March in 1971. He secured a drive with BRM for 1973 but his debts continued to grow. Team mate Clay Regazzoni moved to Ferrari for the next season and convinced Enzo Ferrari to buy Lauda out of his contract with BRM. His career took off and he was victorious twice in 1974 on his way to fourth in the drivers' championship. Five wins in 1975 helped him to claim his first drivers' title, and he looked likely to retain it the following year until a near-fatal crash at Nürburgring sidelined him. Despite first-degree burns to his head and hands, the loss of half an ear, and several broken bones, Lauda returned after just six weeks and missed only two races.Jackie Stewart described it as the most courageous comeback in the history of sport. In 1977, Lauda finished on the podium in 10 of the 14 races he started, winning the title for a second time. He left Ferrari for Brabham and won two races in 1978, but only finished seven of the 16 races. The next year proved to be a particular low point and Lauda only managed to finish two races, leading to his retirement from the sport. His absence was only short-lived however and he returned as a driver for McLaren in 1982. He raced with the team for four years, winning five races and a third drivers' title in 1984 before retiring again – and this time permanently – at the end of 1985.

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