F1 Legends

Niki Lauda’s 1982 Mclaren

May 2025

One thing I’ve learnt when hanging out in the paddocks at racetracks, is that sometimes in the world of motorsport you’ve just got to take your chances when they present themselves!

So this special feature is just to fill you in on a special day for me when I found out that Niki Lauda’s 1982 McLaren was going to be making an appearance at Brands Hatch. The car is now owned by race enthusiast Mark Higson, who was generously demonstrating this legendary piece of F1 history on track.

So what else would you expect your intrepid Chief Polecat to do than launch herself into Mark’s pit garage armed only with a microphone and a smile, in the hope he was in charitable mood to chat.

To be fair, Mark was initially a little suspicious at first but soon opened up and agreed to let me film our conversation.

So if you’re more of a 2020’s race fan, it’s possible you may not be familiar with who Niki Lauda was. So to bring you up to speed, Niki was without doubt a definitive F1 legend.

He won 3 Formula 1 World Championships, and primarily raced for Ferrari, Brabham and McLaren. Niki was also known for his intense rivalry with British race legend James Hunt, and their story was immortalised in the Hollywood movie Rush (starring none other than Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl).

During the 1976 season, Niki was involved in a horrific crash at the Nurburgring (in Germany). Niki suffered terrible burns across his body and face and required reconstructive surgery. He was scarred for life but nevertheless retuned to racing. In 1982, Niki came out of retirement and actually raced this particular car at Brands Hatch winning the Grand Prix, so this was definitely a happy homecoming for the car.

So given that the car is so steeped in F1 history, and one that is so closely linked with one of F1’s greatest heroes, I really was thrilled to have the opportunity to explore the car whilst it was in the garage at Brands Hatch, as well as get the chance to try the driver’s seat out for size.

I’m very grateful to Mark for his time. I believe he will be continuing to display the car both on and off track during 2026 and beyond, so if you get the chance to catch up with this piece of history, be sure to make the most of it.

Please click on the image below to see the full version of my interview with Mark Higson, the car’s current owner.