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Formula 1 triple world champion Niki Lauda has been released from Vienna General Hospital after he was treated successfully for influenza. He fell sick while on a family vacation during the New Year's in Ibiza, Spain. This was the second time in the past year that he was admitted following a lung transplant in August 2018. The 69-year-old had left hospital back in October to begin his rehabilitation.
Lauda has every intention of returning to F1 in his Mercedes role by the start of the 2019 season. He was well on his way to being back in the paddock when he was diagnosed with influenza and had to be rushed back to Vienna in early January 2019.
Placed under intensive care, he was tended to by the same set of doctors who had undertaken his transplant earlier. He was kept under observation for a prolonged period of time as a safety measure as his immune system was strong enough to fight off the flu.
However, he was not under artificial respiration and seems to have recovered from the illness. Walter Klepetko, Lauda's specialist physician has also clarified that had not contracted pneumonia.
The F1 legend is the non-executive chairman of the Mercedes F1 team and owns 10% of the team. He is seen as a fighter and a warrior in the sport, having made comebacks after accidents before. He was badly burned in at the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.
He suffered extensive scarring from the burns to his head, losing most of his right ear as well as the hair on the right side of his head. He returned the next season to win his second world title with Ferrari. He is currently the only driver to have been the drivers' world champion for both Ferrari and McLaren.
