Serious heart problem for Heikki Kovalainen

Serious heart problem for Heikki Kovalainen

Heikki Kovalainen, through a statement from Toyota’s Team Aicello, for which he was preparing to race in the Japanese rally championship, revealed that he has an’aneurysm in his aorta. He is fine but will almost certainly have to undergo surgery to prevent the artery from rupturing. Here are his words.

"I’ve been diagnosed with an aneurysm during a medical checkup and was told I could not participate in rallies because of the increased risk of rupture of the aorta. I have no symptoms and currently feel fine, we are trying to figure out how to solve the problem".

"Open heart surgery è the best solution at the moment and we are preparing for it. We hope to perform the’operation and start recovery as soon as possible".

Heikki Kovalainen, 42, è a product of the fertile Finnish school and raced in Formula 1 from 2007 to 2013 with Renault, McLaren, Lotus and Caterham, winning one Grand Prix, in Hungary in 2008 with McLaren, and finishing on the podium four other times.

Also in 2008, the year in which he replaced Fernando Alonso alongside Lewis Hamilton at the sprint of the Woking manufacturer’s cars, è started from pole position at Silverstone. Two of his fastest laps in macaw, in Australia and Bahrain in the same year.