Man who saved Lauda's feet has died

A terrible accident at the Nürburgring in 1976 left Niki Lauda with severe burns all over his body. Except on his feet. The shoes the Austrian wore prevented the fire from reaching his feet.

Lauda owed this to Francesco Liberto, an Italian who invented the special shoes for racing drivers. On 1 January, the man who saved Lauda's feet died at the age of 87, according to the Gazzetta

Liberto was the first to come up with special racing shoes in 1965. This was because he had seen how uncomfortable 'normal' (sports) shoes were when driving a racing car. Many hundreds of hours Liberto had spent in his laboratory to come up with a shoe that was perfect for racing. Moreover, realising the terrible accidents that happened to drivers in those days, he also made sure that those shoes were fireproof. In doing so, he aroused the intersse of the FIA, which not soon after made this type of shoes mandatory.

Only last year Liberto closed his shop in Cefalù, Italy. A monument for the designer is likely to be made there.