MONACO (Reuters) - Formula One will hold a minute's silence in memory of triple world champion Niki Lauda before Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, with a noisier salute to the Austrian after the race.
Lauda, one of the sport's greatest heroes and characters who came back from a fiery crash at the Nuerburgring in 1976 to win two more titles after a first with Ferrari in 1975, died on Monday at the age of 70.
Formula One said the silence would be held at 14.53 local time, 17 minutes before the start of the race in the principality.
The 20 drivers and dignitaries who normally stand to attention on the starting grid for the national anthem will be joined by a group of Lauda's contemporaries and peers each holding a red cap in tribute.
Lauda, the Mercedes team's non-executive chairman, was known for the trademark red cap he wore to hide his burns from the 1976 accident.
Fans in the grandstands were invited to pay their own tribute to the two times Monaco Grand Prix winner on the in-lap after the finish.
"They can either wear a red cap, display a message on a banner, or simply applaud, while those watching from the yachts in the harbour are invited to sound their klaxons," said a statement.
Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari already have stickers on their cars in tribute to Lauda.
Mercedes team members are also wearing black armbands.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)