Kovalainen undergoes successful open-heart surgery

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

“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 as the VLN) season opener at the Nordschleife.

Bryan Herta Autosport, the team running Wickens in his first race on the Nordschleife, confirmed that their driver was “conscious and alert” after being involved in a crash midway through the endurance race and had been taken to a nearby hospital for “precautionary checks”. A subsequent update from the team stated he would remain in hospital overnight, but that “scans are complete and clear”.

Wickens later took to social media to thanks fans for their messages and the hospital staff for their care. “I’m feeling good and will get some rest here under their supervision this weekend,” he said. “I’m eager to get to the track and get back to work with BHA.”

Wickens suffered paralysis when his IndyCar was launched into a fence during the Pocono 500 in 2018.

F1 return is possible – Mazepin

Former Haas F1 driver Nikita Mazepin insists that he has a chance of returning to the grid following an EU court’s decision to overturn sanctions against him put in place following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“After the court’s decision, the chances increased sharply,” he said. “But returning to Formula 1 is not so easy.

“It’s hard to get there, and even harder to get back. But when we first started suing, almost no one believed in success. Therefore, no matter how absurd and funny it may sound now, I believe that my return to Formula 1 is possible. But first we need to achieve the implementation of the court decision.”

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

'I lived my Ferrari F1 dream - here's what Hamilton can expect after move' (Mirror)

Giancarlo Fisichella: ''Lewis is a seven-time champion and a great driver but, without a good car, like Mercedes over the last couple of years, he couldn't win a single race. He has a lot of experience and will be a good thing for Ferrari. But he will need a good car and he will need to learn how the car behaves. He will need to get into the Ferrari family which will take time. Obviously, there is pressure - Lewis knows how to manage it. It's no excuse to move to a new team and say, 'I need time to learn'. But I'm sure it won't be a problem for him.''

Komatsu: I have to play to my strengths as team principal (Sky)

''Guenther is Guenther. I'm me. Guenther has his strengths and weaknesses, I've got my strengths and weaknesses. I've got to play to my strengths. I can only try to be the best version of myself - that's, for me, the best strategy.

Verstappen returns to power, but are Mercedes blossoming? (BBC)

'This was the first time F1 has managed to convince Honda, which owns Suzuka, to move the race, and the sakura did not disappoint. As Max Verstappen said: ''It looks nicer with the cherry blossoms and it's nice for the pictures.'''

Australian GP not considering dumping ‘Supercars day’ (Speedcafe)

Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO Travis Auld: ''The people at F1, no one is suggesting that we should push (Supercars) aside. The overwhelming feedback I’ve had is that Supercars is a feature of the event, so we would push back hard on not having them here. But in saying that, no one had suggested that anyway.''

Michael Cotton: 1938-2024 (Daily Sportscar)

'This all was what made Mike’s reports, articles, interviews and books so enjoyable to read: they were written at a time when journalists still had, well, time. There was no need for speed in spreading a half-baked rumour this very second just to beat your media competition for those were the days when any news hadn’t really happened before the magazine or paper actually rolled off the press.'

The Williams Warm-Up (Williams via YouTube)

Logan Sargeant's race engineer Gaetan Jego describes how after his driver was made to sit out the Australian Grand Prix he spent every lap of the race taking photographs of Alexander Albon's tyres.

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Social media

Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:

Oh my God, that was close! Feels good to be back on the front row. Great job by the whole team @redbullracing
There is still some work to do on our race pace, but for sure we will make the best of it tomorrow.

¡Oh Dios, eso estuvo cerca! Es fantástico volver a estar en primera… pic.twitter.com/XvYn2VpTkP

— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) April 6, 2024

Proposal on the podium at Suzuka!#F1 #JapaneseGP #RaceFans pic.twitter.com/UpRl0sFqrr

— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) April 6, 2024

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• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

With Carlos Sainz Jnr once again out-qualifying Ferrari team mate Charles Leclerc, An Sionnach expects more from car number 16:

Sainz is looking good. He seems to be able to adapt, which isn’t a skill many in the current grid have displayed. Not enough data to say he’s a Lauda or a Prost, but then you don’t have to be that good to get a result on a grid with so many inconsistent performers.

Surely Leclerc can do better than this? If the poor form continues, Lewis definitely has to beat him next year… and I expect he will.
An Sionnach

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Macleod, Josie Maunders, Bob and Rohnjaymiller!

On this day in motorsport

• 40 years ago today Niki Lauda led a McLaren one-two at Kyalami ahead of team mate Alain Prost, with Derek Warwick third for Renault