You can instantly spot when a person has had surgery he argues, claiming that
he would not find a woman who had had work done attractive.
“It means they can’t stand whoever they are. I’ve had a lot of incidents in
the past where people were wondering how I looked,” he has told this week’s
Sunday Telegraph’s Seven Magazine.
“At least I can say I had an accident. The idea that people would work on
themselves, who hadn’t had an accident – I can’t stand plastic surgery.
“You have to have enough personality to overcome this beauty bull—- and find
the strength to love yourself the way you are.”
He has admitted that he was “upset” that people were “shocked” at his
appearance after the accident.
Describing the moment he first saw himself Lauda said: “My then wife fainted
when she first saw me, so I knew it could not have been good. As I get older
the scars get lost in the lines, and, well, you just get used to it.”
He said that he has never really had any fear, as he has had both positive and
negative experiences.
The entrepreneur, who owned Lauda Air before his Boeing 767 crashed in
Thailand in 1991, killing all 223 on board, said: “I’ve been through a lot
and I realise the future can’t be controlled. “I’m not worried.
“You can always learn to overcome difficulties. That said, I’ve always been a
stable person.”
After his accident Lauda completed the 1976 championship, losing to Hunt on
the last race of the season.
He retired from Formula One three years later but made a comeback in 1982 with
McLaren, hanging up his helmet for the final time in 1985.
He said that racing has changed since he retired, and he was not surprised he
had an accident as back then if you pushed yourself too far, you killed
yourself.
“Today, life is different for the racers,” he said.
“Everything is as safe as possible. The last driver to be killed was [Ayrton]
Senna, 19 years ago, and the improvements were so big since that. Now
nothing ever happens. It’s just not the same.”
When asked if that made the sport less exciting he replied: “Maybe.”
Ron Howard’s film Rush, about Lauda’s rivalry with the British driver James
Hunt as they battled for the 1976 championship, is out next month.
For full interview see Sunday’s Seven Magazine.