In the round-up: Formula 1 race winner Heikki Kovalainen has undergone surgery for a heart condition.
In brief
Kovalainen has open-heart surgery
Kovalainen says his recent open heart surgery was a success, after he was diagnosed with a heart condition. In a post on social media, the former Renault, McLaren and Caterham driver revealed his surgery in the United States had been successful.
“I was diagnosed with an ascending aortic aneurysm at the end of last year,” Kovalainen said. “Basically, a piece of the ascending aorta that was dilated quite a lot.
“I was actually operated on last week in Tampa at the University Hospital, in the heart hospital unit there. There was a wonderful team of doctors and nurses and assistants that took care of me there. It was an open heart surgery, so I have a [scar] forever now under this shirt on my chest. But the surgery went well and we managed to get done exactly what we were planning to do.
“The outlook is quite good. There is an opportunity to make a full recovery and regain full fitness, but of course time will only tell eventually how it all works out. But so far the estimation is quite good, so I’m very pleased with that.”
Lewis Hamilton, one of his former team mates, told him: “Get well soon Heikki, praying for you.”
Former Verstappen mechanic moves to Sauber
Max Verstappen’s former number one mechanic Lee ‘Leeroy’ Stevenson will head to the Sauber team, the world champion says. Stevenson posted a video on Instagram last week to announce he was leaving the team.
“I have a very good relationship with Leeroy already from my start at Red Bull from 2016 onwards,” Verstappen said. “He was my number one until the end of 2020, if I’m not mistaken.
“Then he moved into a bit of a different role where I think initially he was a bit more based at the factory. Then he came back to the track and a bit more sharing duties as a chief mechanic. And then he got a great opportunity at Sauber and I don’t blame him for trying something new.
“we’re still good friends. We have shared a lot of great moments together. Sometimes in life, you get opportunities and you maybe go a bit out of your comfort zone. You try something new. If it doesn’t work out, you can always come back, right?”
Wickens hospitalised after Nurburgring crash
Former IndyCar driver Robert Wickens has been kept overnight in hospital for observation following a crash in Saturday’s Nurburgring Langstrecken Serie (NLS – previously known…
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