Three-time F1 champion Niki Lauda ‘recovering well’ following six-hour lung transplant
- Formula One legend Niki Lauda underwent six-hour lung transplant on Thursday
- He was being kept alive by ‘a pump, a sort of heart-lung machine’, doctors said
- They are now optimistic he will recover, and are happy with latest developments
The Vienna hospital where Niki Lauda underwent a lung transplant last week says the three-time Formula One champion is breathing without assistance and his condition is improving.
The 69-year-old Austrian received a new lung last Thursday after what the Vienna General Hospital has called a ‘serious lung illness.’
The hospital says Lauda was fully conscious 24 hours after the operation and is making ‘very satisfactory’ progress and ‘all organs are functioning well.’
Niki Lauda is recovering in hospital following his six-hour lung transplant on Thursday

Lauda is a Formula One legend, and doctors are pleased with his progress following operation
Lauda won the Formula One title in 1975, 1977 and 1984. He suffered serious burns in a crash at the German Grand Prix in 1976 and has twice undergone kidney transplants.
Lauda was appointed as the Mercedes team’s non-executive chairman in 2012 and was involved in signing Lewis Hamilton.
He recently agreed to sell control of his Laudamotion airline to Ryanair.

Lauda won his three Formula One titles with Ferrari and McLaren in 1975, 1977 and 1984

The Austrian, now 69, driving his Ferrari T3 V12 to become world champion back in 1975
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