{"id":623408,"date":"2026-04-22T11:27:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T11:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/623408\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T11:27:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T11:27:14","slug":"martin-brundle-sends-message-to-former-lewis-hamilton-teammate-after-open-heart-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/623408\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Brundle sends message to former Lewis Hamilton teammate after open heart surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle says Heikki Kovalainen has \u201cmy utmost respect\u201d after the former Renault and McLaren driver marked two years since his open heart surgery.<\/p>\n

Kovalainen made 111 F1 starts between 2007 and 2013, spending two years as Lewis Hamilton\u2019s teammate at McLaren across 2008\/09.<\/p>\n

Heikki Kovalainen posts images of scar as Martin Brundle sends well wishes<\/p>\n

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The Finnish driver\u2019s only victory came at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2008, the year of Hamilton\u2019s first title triumph.<\/p>\n

His final F1 appearance came at the end of the 2013 season when he deputised for Kimi Raikkonen at Lotus, with Kovalainen turning his attention to Super GT and rallying in the years since.<\/p>\n

Kovalainen underwent open heart surgery in March 2024 after being diagnosed with an ascending aortic aneurysm, putting him at risk of a life-threatening rupture.<\/p>\n

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With doctors forcing him to avoid all strenuous activity, Kovalainen put his career on hold and spent nine days in hospital after the operation, returning to the cockpit around three months later.<\/p>\n

In a post to social media to mark the second anniversary of his health scare, Kovalainen said he is \u201cforever grateful to the doctors and nurses who looked after me.\u201d<\/p>\n

He wrote: \u201cHard to believe it\u2019s over two years since my open heart surgery for an aortic aneurysm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was something that was discovered in a medical check-up, without any symptoms.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m forever grateful to the doctors and nurses who looked after me, and to be able to live my life without limitations is truly a blessing.<\/p>\n

\u201cA fading scar is reminding me of that event everyday when I\u2019m looking at the mirror.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kovalainen\u2019s post was accompanied by then-and-now images of the scar running down the middle of his upper chest (below).<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Then: Heikki Kovalainen’s scar after open heart surgery in March 2024<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Now: Kovalainen\u2019s scar has healed significantly over the last two years<\/p>\n

In a reply to the post, Brundle wrote: \u201cWell done Heikki. You\u2019re a true professional and have my utmost respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion, added: \u201cGreat to have you back Heikki!\u201d<\/p>\n

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You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n

Read next: \u2018Hatred and division\u2019 \u2013 Damon Hill makes feelings clear on former FIA president<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle says Heikki Kovalainen has \u201cmy utmost respect\u201d after the former Renault and McLaren…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,818,22298,44,17165,85],"class_list":["post-623408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-home-page","tag-martin-brundle","tag-news","tag-popular","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}