Lauda discharged from hospital in Austria

Three-time Formula 1 world champion Niki Lauda has been discharged from hospital in Vienna after being admitted earlier this month with flu.

Lauda underwent a double-lung transplant last summer before being released from hospital and returning home in October, but returned to Vienna General Hospital in early January after contracting flu.

The hospital confirmed via the Austria Presse Agentur newswire late on Wednesday that Lauda had been discharged from hospital, returning home.

While Lauda was admitted to intensive care, the hospital confirmed this was only as a precaution to aid his immune system, and that he did not require respiratory assistance while in hospital.

Lauda sent a congratulatory message to the Mercedes team of which he is the non-executive chairman following its fifth championship win last year, and said he hoped to return to the F1 paddock soon.