I've never really followed Formula One, but I remember reading about Niki Lauda in magazines when I was a kid. During the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring race track he was in serious accident and suffered burns to his face and the rest of his body. Seriously disfigured for the rest of his life, he returned to racing six weeks after the accident. He took fourth place in his first race after the accident, and won the F1 championship the following year.