Lauda Would Want to 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. 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 Ferrari driver 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 tickets sales have dwindled as Ferrari's domination has grown.

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.