Niki Lauda

Lauda took out a bank loan against a life insurance policy to buy his first Formula One drives, ended Ferrari's eleven-year title drought in 1975, and became one of the most analytical drivers the sport has had.

At the Nurburgring in 1976 his Ferrari crashed and caught fire; he was trapped for about a minute, suffered severe burns and inhaled toxic fumes, and was given the last rites. He returned to racing six weeks later, finishing fourth at Monza with blood seeping through his bandages, and lost the championship to James Hunt by a single point after withdrawing from a torrential final race in Japan on the grounds that it was too dangerous.

He won the title again in 1977, retired in 1979 to run his airline, came back in 1982 and won a third championship with McLaren in 1984 by half a point. In later life he was non-executive chairman of Mercedes, and the man who persuaded Lewis Hamilton to join.