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VIENNA (AP) — Three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda has undergone a lung transplant.
The Vienna General Hospital says the operation was performed Thursday because of a "serious lung illness." It didn't give more specific details in a brief statement and said the 69-year-old Austrian's family would make no public comment.
Lauda won the Formula One title in 1975, 1977 and 1984.
He suffered serious burns in a fiery crash at the German Grand Prix in 1976. Lauda has twice undergone kidney transplants, in 1997 and 2005.
Lauda was appointed as Mercedes' non-executive chairman in 2012 and was involved in the signing of Lewis Hamilton to the F1 team.
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