F1 News: Lewis Hamilton 'praying' for McLaren rival following serious operation

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Australia, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Hamilton 'praying' for F1 rival following serious operation

Lewis Hamilton praying for former F1 team-mate to have swift recovery

Shay Rogers

Wednesday 10 April 2024 12:58 Updated: 22:47

Lewis Hamilton is praying for the recovery of a former Formula 1 rival and team-mate after urgent heart surgery.

The Brit raced for McLaren between 2007-2012, winning one drivers’ championship and taking 21 victories with the Woking-based squad.

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In 2008 and 2009, he was paired with Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen, who he comprehensively beat across their two seasons as team-mates.

Kovalainen went on to drive for Lotus and Caterham, before he lost his full-time seat in the sport at the end of 2012.

Heikki Kovalainen was Lewis Hamilton's team-mate for two seasons

Heikki Kovalainen won one Formula 1 race

What happened to Heikki Kovalainen?

Finnish driver Kovalainen did return for two more races to replace fellow countryman Kimi Raikkonen at Lotus Renault in 2013, but that was the last of him that was ever seen in F1.

Recently, he underwent surgery to fix an ascending aortic aneurysm, and has been resting up since he was released from hospital.

He had no symptoms at the time and the problem was discovered in a check-up, which prevented him from competing in any more rounds of the Japanese Rally Championship due to the risk of a rupture.

"So we got the diseased part of the ascending aorta out and put an artificial graft in place," Kovalainen said in a video on his social media. "Everything went well, it was obviously a big operation.

"I was a couple of days after the operation feeling a bit rough, but things have improved a lot since then. I’m actually back at home now already recovering."

Now, seven-time champion Hamilton has shared his positive wishes with Kovalainen, saying: “Get well soon Heikki, praying for you.”