Ex-F1 driver Niki Lauda discharged from Vienna hospital

Lauda, 69, was released in good general condition and is to start several week-long intensive rehabilitation programmes, according to the Vienna AKH hospital, reports Efe.

Former Austrian Formula One driver Niki Lauda was discharged from a Vienna hospital on Wednesday after undergoing a lung transplant.

Lauda, 69, was released in good general condition and is to start several week-long intensive rehabilitation programmes, according to the Vienna AKH hospital, reports Efe.

The three-time F1 champion was hospitalised in Vienna on August 2 as his condition deteriorated after contracting the flu while on vacation on the Spanish island of Ibiza.

In 1976, Lauda was involved in a serious accident at the German circuit of Nürburgring, sustaining severe burns.

He underwent two kidney transplants in 1997 and 2005.

Apart from his decorated Formula One career, Lauda later became a businessman, founding several airlines.