Rush to Glory: FORMULA 1 Racing's Greatest Rivalry Page 7

  He found her totally undemanding and willing to fit in with the life of an aspiring racing driver. She was content to let him take the limelight and to settle down as his shadow. Socially, however, Lauda was in her shadow; he was not in her class.

  Success in his career was the objective that both of them worked toward. Mariella devoted years to supporting her young boyfriend as he struggled to make it as a racing driver.

  Lauda admitted that Mariella had all the qualities that he really looked for and respected in a woman. As he said many times: “Mariella was very disciplined, quiet, thoughtful, and with endless patience.” So it was no surprise when he proposed to her soon after they met, although no wedding date was ever set.

  Lauda was just as keen as Mariella toward that end, and he called his relationship with her a near-marriage. He said about her, “I was almost certain we would get married.” Her personality suited his career perfectly, as Lauda always readily admitted. As he described it: “During test driving and practice, she could sit for hours on a heap of tires without moving or speaking; she was good at yoga! If I came by once an hour and gave her a kiss, she was perfectly satisfied. Her self-control was sometimes almost uncanny.”

  But the downside of Mariella, and an aspect Lauda railed against, was the total control she sought over his life. As he explained: “She had great influence over me and tried to have even more. Up to that point, I was glad to let this happen.”

  There was, however, a sting in the tail. As soon as he was successful, Mariella expected her boyfriend to retire from racing and to settle into a safer, more predictable career. While he was unsuccessful, Lauda went along with that. And he couldn’t imagine being with anyone except her.

  All went along swimmingly until Lauda signed for Ferrari in 1974. For the first time they had money. With some of the cash, they bought land outside Salzburg for their dream home, for when they got married and started a family. It was something that was absolutely taken for granted in the relationship.

  Mariella firmly believed that once her boyfriend had achieved his goals and become world champion, he would be true to his promise made many years earlier and would give up his complete obsession with motor racing and devote himself to her and a family—she really believed that. She thought they were an unbreakable team, and so did he.

  But she hadn’t counted on success changing Lauda into something he wasn’t when he was 18 and struggling. It has to be said: It wasn’t a change for the better.

  As soon as Lauda tasted success, he wanted more and more. When he had been a failure as a race driver, it was easy to think of stopping, as Lauda got no pleasure from losing. But success changed all that, and Mariella failed to notice.

  Typically, racing drivers are pleasant people on the way up and after they retire. During the successful years, however, they often change into egomaniacal monsters, and Lauda, although not the worst example in history, was not immune from those pressures. It was reflected in the way Lauda often treated autograph hunters. The coldness with which he dismissed them, even young children, often shocked people.

  Mariella did not notice the personality changes that were gradually starting to happen. The difference between them was that she put the relationship first, and he put motor racing first. Lauda explained: “She began to make plans for me to give up driving; become world champion, then finish it. Family, a decent job, that was her line, and she pushed it hard.”

  But once he had tasted that success, after years of being forced to swallow failure, Lauda was never going to give up racing. After one world championship, he simply desired a second. He was a consummate risk taker, and she failed to recognize that. Mariella simply wanted a family and a loving husband. His success and retirement to normal life was an essential part of Mariella’s ambitions and her life plan, and she would make any sacrifice to get it. Lauda, however, admitted, “I had no desire to retire at the age of 26. Even though age had little to do with it, I simply didn’t want to do it.”

  When that became clear, strife came into their relationship for the first time. Lauda even began to dislike elements of Mariella’s personality—an emotion he had never felt in all the years they had been together. But she simply didn’t notice.

  Lauda could see that if he did not retire at the end of 1975, as Mariella expected, there would be trouble. As he said, “I dreaded the endless arguments that would ensue if, in fact, I stayed in racing after becoming world champion. We quarreled more and more often.”

  But having money brought matters to a head. It meant they could afford to build a dream home. The building of a new house, their eventual marital home, gave Mariella a real purpose in life for the first time, and she threw herself into it. As Lauda was winning his first world championship in 1975, Mariella was overseeing the architect building the house.

  During 1975 they naturally began to see less of each other, and the split happened gradually, without either really being aware of it. As Lauda admits, the house took over Mariella’s life as much as motor racing had taken over his: “Everything to do with my house, the building of which she almost took over.” In 1975 they both had too much else to think about, and when they finally did look to each other, it was too late—it was already over.

  There is no question that Lauda was frightened of the consequences of splitting up with Mariella. For all of his success and fame, he was no match for her as a human being. And deep down he knew it. Mariella von Reininghaus was deeply loved by everyone Lauda knew. He knew that everyone, certainly everyone who mattered, held Mariella in the very highest regard.

  He too held her in the highest esteem; the only problem was that after eight years, he had fallen out of love with her, and it took the arrival of a new woman in his life for him to do anything about it.

  Lauda met Marlene Knaus in the summer of 1975. She was half Latin and half Austrian and worked as a part-time actress and model. Her family was not wealthy like Mariella’s, but it was very distinguished. Her grandfather was a renowned gynecologist and her father a famous Austrian painter.

  The relationship started at the Salzburg home of Hollywood actor Curt Jurgens. Jurgens was one of Austria’s best-known celebrities and a Hollywood superstar in his prime. Now aging and past his peak years, he was still in huge demand as a supporting actor in a variety of roles from James Bond films to serious dramas. He had earned at least $4 million over 40 years as an actor. He was also a consummate ladies’ man and a playboy and held legendary parties at his various homes.

  At the time Marlene was Jurgens’s regular girlfriend, but then Jurgens had a girl in every port, and it was far from a serious committed deep relationship. Jurgens was also twice Marlene’s age, and she was just having fun.

  It so happened that Lauda and Mariella were invited to a party at Jurgens’s home, but fate dictated that Lauda went on his own.

  Marlene was hosting the party, but as soon as they saw each other, she and Lauda got together straightaway. They were soon closeted in earnest conversation, and the rest of the guests were forgotten. Jurgens observed what was happening, but he didn’t seem to mind at all.

  Almost immediately they knew they would see each other again, even though Lauda knew about Jurgens, and Marlene was fully aware of Mariella. Lauda described that first meeting simply: “She spoke to me and a spark flew between us.”

  After the party they enjoyed two intimate dinners together. And then Marlene contracted pneumonia and fell very ill. Lauda visited her constantly in the hospital, sometimes running into Curt Jurgens coming down the hospital corridor the other way.

  Gradually, after a few weeks, Marlene got better and discharged herself. Although still in a very weak state, she flew to the island of Ibiza to recuperate. Her parents owned a holiday home on the island, and Ibiza was her favorite place. Between races, Lauda flew there as often as he could in his airplane see her. He told Mariella a pack of lies to cover up his absences.

  In fact, Lauda hardly saw Mariella during that period. Mariella, who
was so busy with the construction of the house, didn’t seem to notice his absence or question where he was spending his time.

  This went on all summer and until early autumn, when Lauda had to leave for North America for the US and Canadian Grand Prix. He was away for three weeks and found he spent the entire time thinking about Marlene, and with that he finally realized the relationship with Mariella was over.

  Marlene became the catalyst for change, and Lauda decided to end it with Mariella. As he said, “I went away more in the summer of 1975—I had to have a change.”

  But the relationship between Mariella and Lauda was not the work of a moment; it was a lifetime’s work for both of them. Ending it was far from easy. But he was a very practical person. He had fallen out of love with Mariella and fallen in love with Marlene. For him it was black and white.

  Despite the granite exterior, Lauda cared what people thought, and exiting the relationship with honor became very important to him. In pursuing that goal, however, he ended up riding roughshod over Mariella’s feelings.

  Lauda concocted a plan to make the split appear mutual and to reduce the impression that there was anyone else involved. He wanted it to be known that the relationship had run its course and that both parties sought an exit. He certainly did not want anyone to know he had left Mariella for another woman. So loved was Mariella that he feared the whole of Europe would turn against him if that became known.

  After he arrived back in Salzburg from New York, he decided he had to end it at the first appropriate moment. According to him, the opportunity came when he returned to the apartment they shared. He went through the front door and was overwhelmed by a feeling of not wanting to be there. As he later revealed, “I draped my jacket over the back of a chair and looked at Mariella and suddenly it hit me: This won’t work.” He turned tail and walked out with next to no explanation. He drove away that night into Marlene’s arms, never again to return, leaving behind a very confused Mariella.

  Lauda proposed to Marlene that night. He told her he would not see Mariella again, and they went away to Ibiza on Lauda’s airplane the following morning.

  Mariella was left completely bemused as she confided to her closest friends that she had no idea what had happened. When he finally returned from Ibiza to Salzburg, Lauda saw Mariella and told her another pack of lies. He told her he was stressed and, because of that, demanded they end their eight-year relationship. He told her that he “no longer had time for emotional nonsense.”

  It was completely untrue. Mariella had become a burden, and after almost eight years together, he coldly dumped her in a few minutes’ conversation.

  As soon as he proposed, Lauda tried to marry Marlene straightaway. But he wanted it kept a secret, as he was desperately concerned that Mariella and her friends did not discover that he already had a new girlfriend.

  So in November of 1975, he flew to England and met secretly with John Hogan.

  Although Hogan was principally the boss of James Hunt’s title sponsor, Marlboro, he was also very close to Lauda. Marlboro was also a personal sponsor of Lauda’s, and the Austrian was every bit as important to Marlboro as was Hunt. Hogan was probably Lauda’s best friend and closest confidant in Formula One, as well as being the man whom he completely trusted, despite his obvious closeness to his chief rival. Hogan was the man with whom Lauda thought he could discuss any problem without holding back—be it business or pleasure.

  So almost from the very moment Lauda split from Mariella and took up with Marlene, Hogan was in on it. Lauda could trust Hogan because he was not judgmental. Hogan was his guru and had enormous understanding of human emotions. Hogan was also very discreet. Lauda knew instinctively he could be trusted with his biggest secret, which is what had brought him to England in the first place.

  Lauda suddenly arrived at Hogan’s home in Reading. Hogan remembers it well 36 years later and takes up the story: “Niki said, ‘You know what I’m missing? A wife. Where can I get married in England?’ It was almost comical.”

  But Hogan went along with it, and because Lauda had said nothing to the contrary, he presumed he was referring to getting married to Mariella. And then he brought Marlene in, who had been waiting in the car.

  Hogan, momentarily stunned, knew Lauda well enough to know to not ask any questions. As he remembered: “I was living out in Reading in those days, so I said, ‘Let’s try Reading registry office to see what happens.’”

  Lauda said there was no time to waste, so Hogan got into his car and they drove off to the center of Reading. As Hogan recalls, “So we drove up to the Reading registry office: Niki, myself, and Marlene. And this very nice gentleman said, ‘I’m terribly sorry. I’d love to, but I can’t.’”

  The registrar told them that any marriage he performed in England would not be legal and that he would not do it. It had been a wasted mission.”

  So Lauda’s plans were thwarted. With that, he gave up the idea of an immediate marriage and instead flew to Ibiza with Marlene, where they lived together in total secrecy over the winter. That is, until three months later, when they turned up in Kyalami.

  CHAPTER 5

  James’s Women Problems

  A Hasty Marriage Unravels

  January 1976

  As 1976 dawned, James Hunt’s marriage to Suzy Miller was well and truly over. Barely two years after he had rethought his life and decided he needed a wife, he had rethought it again and decided he didn’t. As he flew to South America for the first Grand Prix of the season in January 1976, he was just waiting for Suzy to find a new beau. And finally, much to his relief, it seemed that she had. It would end a 24-month saga in James Hunt’s personal life, a period that defied any sensible logic at all.

  Before he married, Hunt had given his views on matrimony and described it as a “stupid myth” that drivers had to have a stable home life in order to cope with the stresses and strains of racing. With those sorts of views, there seemed little chance he would succumb to marriage in the foreseeable future.

  Hunt was certainly not ideal husband material. He had a giant appetite for sex and looked to feed it wherever he could, as frequently as he could. On a physical level, he was unequaled. Emotionally, however, he was an amateur. According to his friends, he would often suggest that he was not sure what love was. Gerald Donaldson, his biographer, confirmed: “The emotional component of a relationship for James was still virgin territory.”

  But when he moved from England to Spain at the beginning of 1974, Hunt dramatically and suddenly changed his mind. Seemingly out of the blue, he decided he wanted a wife to “help my career and ease my life in exile.” Hunt had moved to Marbella for tax reasons, and it had nothing to do with marriage.

  In fact, the last thing Hunt needed was a wife. He had never found a woman who could keep up with him. But for a brief moment, he cast aside those thoughts.

  He found Suzy Miller playing tennis at the Lew Hoad club in Fuengirola, Spain. Like Hunt, Suzy had just moved to Spain for a lifestyle change and was lonely. She was a striking woman who made money modeling, and a few extraordinary months later, she became Mrs. James Hunt.

  Barely 24, a year younger than Hunt, she had spent much of her childhood in Southern Rhodesia with her expatriate parents as well as her twin sister, Vivienne, and a brother, John. As a child she took piano lessons and became a concert standard pianist. She also was an excellent cook. Her father, Frederick Miller, had been a high-ranking officer in the British army and then a lawyer and barrister employed in the British colonies. Her childhood had been spent in a number of different countries. But it was under the African sun, with her father working as a judge in Kenya, that Suzy developed into a truly attractive young woman—a real “head turner,” as Hunt would later describe her to his friends back in London.

  Like many women approaching their mid-20s, Suzy was desperate to find a husband. As soon as she met him, she saw Hunt as perfect husband material. The fact that he was a famous racing driver held no appeal for her at all.<
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  Content to devote her life to one man, Suzy imagined a partner who would provide her with security and whom, in return, she could look after. Somehow she envisaged that in Hunt. In Marbella, Hunt and Suzy began seeing a lot of each other, and their mutual isolation initially drew them together.

  Hunt was still living out of a suitcase in a hotel, and she had an apartment on the coast overlooking the sea. He quickly moved out of his hotel and into her apartment.

  Miller was very different from Hunt’s previous girlfriends. Undemanding, she was quiet and had a thoughtful manner. At first Hunt attempted to treat her like all his previous flings—in a casual manner—but she bridled against it. And the more she bridled, the more Hunt wanted her. She was not prepared to be his casual girlfriend.

  Initially, however, Hunt just didn’t get it. And when Suzy quickly threw him out and he moved back to the hotel, it was a serious shock to his system. For the first time, he found himself feeling hurt and lovesick. Realizing that he actually might be in love with her, he said, “I talked myself back into her affections.”

  But Hunt had learned little and soon ended up thrown out once again and back for the third time in the hotel. The relationship continued with its ups and downs, and the more she rejected him, the more he desired her. It was an old trap, and Hunt fell right into it.

  Finally in midsummer of 1974, after a three-week separation that included the weekend of the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, he found himself intensely missing her. All he could think of that weekend was about being next to her in bed—and this time his thoughts were not of lust but of love. Over the three days, he found he became more and more obsessive in his thoughts.

  On the evening of the July 20, 1974, he arrived back in Marbella. He had flown in from London after retiring halfway through the race. He drove straight from the airport to her apartment and proposed marriage. As he remembered: “Knowing that the prospect of marriage would swing Suzy around, I went back to her and proposed.” It was a desperate measure and reflected the extent of his infatuation. He had truly lost his senses. Suzy was delighted and accepted without hesitation. She immediately telephoned her parents and her sister, Vivienne, with the good news. She then watched as a sheepish Hunt also telephoned his astonished parents.