Heikki Kovalainen miraculously alive: "Thank you doctors"

Former Formula 1 driver Heikki Kovalainen two years after the heart surgery that saved his life has updated on his condition by posting a photo of his chest still showing signs of the surgery.

“Hard to believe that it has been more than 2 years since my open-heart surgery for an aortic aneurysm,” Kovalainen wrote. “It was something that was discovered in a doctor’s visit, in an asymptomatic form. I forever thank the doctors and nurses who took care of me, and being able to live my life without limitations is truly a blessing. A fading scar reminds me of that event every day when I look in the mirror.”

Kovalainen drove 111 races in Formula 1 between 2007 and 2013, winning a Grand Prix in Hungary in 2008. He had undergone open-heart surgery in 2024 after being diagnosed with an ascending aortic aneurysm, which put him at risk of a potentially fatal rupture. Three months later, he was already back behind the wheel in rallies.

The Finnish driver was Lewis Hamilton’s teammate at McLaren for a few years. “Lewis never perceived me as a threat,” he confessed in an interview with Talksport. “I used up all my energy, I could never replicate his times or races. You need commitment and concentration. Not everyone can maintain such high levels.”