Toto Wolff, Gerhard Berger, and Helmut Marko also received awards at the Sports Personality of the Year ceremony in Austria on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the best athletes of 2025 were honored in Austria. At the Niki Awards, named after three-time Formula 1 world champion Niki Lauda, motorsport greats Toto Wolff, Gerhard Berger, and Helmut Marko were also delighted to receive one of a total of twelve awards.
The three Austrians jointly received the “Special Award,” which was presented by Lauda’s sons Mathias and Lukas at the award ceremony in Vienna’s Stadthalle. According to the official description, the “Special Award” is “presented to sports legends who have made an impression through their careers or extraordinary comebacks.”
Lauda himself received this award in 2006, and now, 19 years later, his three companions have received it too. Toto Wolff explains: “Niki Lauda was not only one of the most important athletes of his time, but also a straightforward and unyielding personality.”
A special evening for the boss
Toto was recognized at the NIKI Awards gala—named after Niki Lauda—in Vienna on Wednesday, receiving the Special Award along with Gerhard Berger and Helmut Marko pic.twitter.com/e8kTqBwkvS— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) October 9, 2025
“Above all, he was my friend, with whom I shared a close and special friendship in which we experienced many ups and downs,” said the Mercedes team boss, who worked side by side with his compatriot at Silver Arrows for many years.
“His will to live, his clarity, and his resilience will forever remain a benchmark for strength and resilience for me,” the Kleine Zeitung quotes Wolff as saying. Berger adds: “Receiving an award is always something special—especially in your home country and even more so when the trophy is named after our Formula 1 legend Niki Lauda.”
And Helmut Marko explains: “Niki created his own image with his clear and sometimes brash statements. He always backed everything up with technical expertise and profound knowledge and simply didn’t talk nonsense.”
“The award means a lot to me because of Niki Lauda as a person. I first met him in the late 1960s. We were competitors, but we always got along well. In Formula 1, he was always my favorite breakfast partner,” says Marko. Meanwhile, ski jumper Daniel Tschofenig was named Sportsman of the Year, and ski racer Stephanie Venier was named Sportswoman of the Year. The men’s national ice hockey team was voted Team of the Year.
