The most that strikes me about Niki is his fighting spirit. Here was a man who had cheated death, been given the last rites, and raced a Grand Prix car again a few weeks later with blood seeping into the bandages still covering the burns on his face.
He suffered third-degree burns to his head and face and inhaled toxic gases that damaged his lungs after his vehicle burst into flames at Nurburgring. He was given the last rites in hospital but made an almost miraculous recovery and returned to racing, still bandaged, just 40 days later.
He also underwent two kidney transplants, the second donated in 2005 by his then-girlfriend Birgit Wetzinger, a former flight attendant for his airline whom he married in 2008.
He underwent a lung transplant in August 2018.
And with all this he kept going on with his salty smile!