Niki Lauda 'in kidney transplant'

Austrian former Formula One champion Niki Lauda has received a kidney from his girlfriend in a transplant operation, it was reported today.

Lauda, 56, said he needed the new kidney after a kidney donated by his brother in 1997 had stopped functioning well, the Austria Press gency reported.

The surgery was performed in Vienna’s General Hospital, the report said. Lauda and his girlfriend, Birgit Wetzinger, had been released from the hospital and were doing well, the APA quoted Dr. Ferdinand Muehlbacher as saying.

Niki Lauda, a three-times Formula One champion, now runs a discount airline called NIKI.