The brave cowboy who rescued Niki Lauda's life

Arturo Merzario never was even close to becoming Formula 1 champion, but he was a good racer and brave man who saved the life of Formula 1 champion Niki Lauda.

During 1976 German Grand Prix at Nurburgring, Niki Lauda had the horrible crash after which his car went fire. The driver was unable to get out but Merzario with two other drivers was brave enough to jump into the flame and save his colleague.

“There was a guy called Arturo Merzario who jumped into the fire and alone pulled me out of the wreckage so I survived. So he really saved my life there because a couple of seconds more I would have never made it.”

Niki Lauda