After three poor years, including a disastrous 1973 season which saw Ferrari failing to attend two races – the Dutch and German Grands Prix – for the first time since the team had started racing in Formula One, Ferrari signed Niki Lauda in 1974, and made the momentous decision to pull out of sportscar racing to concentrate upon F1. The same year Luca di Montezemolo was appointed Team Principal. Ferrari won the , the and the , but Regazzoni lost the World Championship to Emerson Fittipaldi at the final race of the season, the United States Grand Prix.