Lauda would quit in Schumacher's shoes
Niki Lauda says he would have walked away from Formula One had he been as dominant as Ferrari's Michael Schumacher.
"No way. I mean, I would have got bored," Austria's three times world champion, now the Jaguar team principal, told a news conference ahead of Sunday's U.S. Grand Prix when asked if he could have envisaged winning as many races as the German.
"Winning all the time, I would have started to do something else with my life.
"But nevertheless, he's really the best, as long as I can think of racing, by producing results and his consistency in always being better every year, he is by far the best from my point of view.
"Because nobody else could do this so far."
Lauda won the world championship with Ferrari in 1975 and 1977 in an era when driver fatalities were frequent and dominance on the Schumacher scale was unthinkable.
But he walked away from the sport in 1979, saying famously that he was fed up with going around in circles and wanted a change.
The Austrian set up his own passenger airline before making a comeback in 1982 with McLaren.
RECORD-EQUALLING
Schumacher clinched his record-equalling fifth world championship more than two months ago and this season became the first driver to win 10 times in a single year.
The German has now triumphed a record 63 times in his career, 12 more than Frenchman Alain Prost as the next man in the all-time standings, and is a favourite to win at Indianapolis on Sunday.
Schumacher is also the most successful Ferrari driver of all time, winning 44 times for the Italian team, but television viewing figures and ticket sales have dwindled as Ferrari's domination has grown.
However, the German says he is still just as motivated as ever and has rejected suggestions that his repeated success is making the sport dull.
"I know it's fashionable to talk about 'Formula Yawn' and about Ferrari ruining Formula One with all its wins," he declared on his website last week after Ferrari's one-two finish in the Italian Grand Prix.
"I can only say that this view is far too superficial. The fact is that we have to fight for our victories.
"We can't just win whenever we please, just stroll through. I have not gone to a race once this season feeling confident of a win. And only that would be true dominance," added Schumacher.
"If people are already speaking of renewed Ferrari dominance I can only say: Formula One is so fast moving that no one can take an advantage for granted."
When Jackie Stewart set a record of 27 victories in 1973, it was seen as a remarkable feat and the milestone stood until Prost claimed his 28th in 1987.
Of still active drivers, McLaren's David Coulthard is next after Schumacher with a mere 12 wins.
Lauda won five times in his first championship year, three times in 1977 and five in 1984 when he secured his third title. He ended his career with 25 wins in 171 starts.
