Former F1 driver issues update from hospital bed after surgery

Former F1 driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen has posted an update from his hospital bed after recently undergoing back surgery in his native Germany.

Frentzen made 156 F1 starts between 1994 and 2003, representing the Sauber, Williams, Jordan, Prost and Arrows teams.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen posts from hospital after back surgery

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He collected a total of three victories, enjoying his most successful season in 1997 when he finished second to Williams teammate Jacques Villeneuve in the drivers’ standings.

In a post to mark his 59th birthday on Monday, Frentzen revealed that he recently underwent surgery on his back in his hometown of Mönchengladbach.

The former F1 star quipped that he received a “brand new disc” as a birthday gift.

Frentzen’s post was accompanied by a selfie of him lying on his back in a hospital bed and holding a thumbs up to the camera (top).

He wrote: “Happy Birthday to me!

“Woke up after back surgery to hundreds of birthday wishes – thanks so much!

“Got myself a brand new disc as a birthday present this year. Feeling very blessed.

“Greetings from Mönchengladbach.”

Frentzen regularly offers his opinions on modern F1 via his social media channels, retaining an interest in the sport more than two decades after his retirement.

After Max Verstappen warned in March that he could quit over his unhappiness with the F1 2026 rules, Frentzen advised the four-time world champion to walk away if he feels he is losing his focus.

Frentzen wrote: “If you lose your motivation in F1, it’s better to quit, or at least take a break.

“That’s what I did. The sport is too dangerous if you lose your focus.”

Following the news that F1 will revise the current 50:50 split between internal combustion and electrical power for 2027, he added: “I’m not against additional electrical power in general.

“But deliberately slowing down on straights just to charge the battery by sacrificing combustion engine acceleration makes no sense – neither ecologically nor in terms of efficiency.

“It would be far more logical to recharge the battery during normal braking or manually while in a slipstream.

“That way you could carry less fuel from the start (lighter car more speed) and use it more efficiently during the race.”

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