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The way Lauda was able to come back from his life-threatening crash had long sealed his place among the most admired drivers in F1, along with seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher and the late Ayrton Senna. 'This is what matters most, what hurts the most.' 'It's not an easy situation to try to go back to racing, especially not in Monaco with so much media attention, trying to keep it together emotionally when speaking about a friend,' Wolff said, delivering his words slowly as if to contain his inner grief. Wolff wore a black armband on his the left sleeve of his white shirt, as did other Mercedes staff members in the team's motorhome on Thursday. Under the guidance of the Austrian duo of Wolff and Lauda, the British driver has won four world titles, with Hamilton's ex-teammate Nico Rosberg also clinching one in 2016. As non-executive chairman at Mercedes, Lauda played a key role in getting Lewis Hamilton to join Mercedes from McLaren in 2013.