Ibiza (Spain), May 21 (IANS): Niki Lauda, a three-time Formula One champion, made Spain's Balearic Island of Ibiza his second home after he first visited in 1976, shortly after he suffered a severe accident at the Nurburging circuit.

Lauda, who died on Monday, had said during an interview with the Diario de Ibiza newspaper that the island gave him back the confidence he had lost, which helped him to recover from the accident.

Over four decades later, the former F1 driver made of the island a place to get into the rhythm of retirement. He did not feel like a foreigner on the island, he had told the paper, reports Efe news.

The legendary driver got to know Ibiza thanks to his ex-wife Marlene Knaus and her mother, as both of them were residents there.

After his marriage to Knaus came to an end, Lauda convinced his second wife, Birgit Lauda, to move to Ibiza.

Niki and Birgit left their Ibiza home in 2012, as they considered Ibiza not suitable for their children, Birgit told Austria's Seitenblicke magazine.

Lauda frequented the Trattoria del Mar and II Giardinetto restaurants, located in Marina Botafoc.

He spent last Christmas in Ibiza, recovering from a lung transplant that he underwent in August.