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Niki Lauda leaves hospital after lung transplant surgery

Formula One legend Niki Lauda has left hospital after undergoing a lung transplant in the summer, his doctors said Wednesday.

The three-time world champion, 69, is described as in a good general condition after the six-hour surgery at the Vienna General Hospital but will require intensive rehabilitation for several weeks, the hospital said in a statement.

Lauda, who was badly burned in a near-fatal Formula One crash in 1976, was taken ill at the beginning of August with a condition described as "extremely critical" at the time of the surgery.

His doctors will hold a further news conference on Thursday.