By Associated Press Reporter
Published: 18:57 BST, 23 May 2019 | Updated: 18:57 BST, 23 May 2019
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His emotions still raw, Mercedes head of motorsport Toto Wolff said losing his friend Niki Lauda left him feeling crushed and cast a 'huge black cloud' of sadness over Formula One.
'I feel we have lost what was the heart and soul,' Wolff said Thursday at the Monaco Grand Prix. 'The last 48 hours were terrible. I feel like a zombie, I keep looking at the pictures (of Lauda) and find myself with tears in the eyes every half an hour because he's not there anymore.'
Lauda died on Monday at the age of 70 , less than one year after a lung transplant. The Austrian won two of his three F1 titles after coming back from a horrific crash that left him fighting for his life in a burning car at the German Grand Prix in 1976.
Three time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda has died at the age of 70
He remained an influential figure in F1 long after his retirement from racing in 1985. He had a hugely successful partnership with Wolff at Mercedes, with the Silver Arrows dominating every year since 2014.
As non-executive chairman at Mercedes, Lauda played a key role in getting Lewis Hamilton to join Mercedes from McLaren in 2013. Under the guidance of the Austrian duo of Wolff and Lauda,
