More clear about Zanardi: "Was clear that something had to be done quickly"

Last Friday the news came out that Alex Zanardi had an accident, which forced him to be taken to the hospital in a worrying condition. In the hospital he immediately had to undergo surgery and since then he is in intensive care in the Santa Maria Alle Scotte hospital, in Siena.

This morning was the last time that an update was given on Zanardi's situation, stating that his condition is still serious. He was already a bit more stable than before his operation, but his situation was still critical. The former F1 driver took part in a friendly race with a number of friends, to raise money for the people affected in Italy by the coronavirus. In the descent of that race things went wrong for the Italian, and after two overturns he ended up on the wrong side of the road, after which he collided with an oncoming truck.

Operation went well

It soon became apparent that the situation was extremely critical, as he had to be picked up by trauma helicopter and was operated on immediately upon arrival at the hospital. He has been lying there since Friday evening and now the doctor who performed his operation, Giuseppe Oliveri, has explained more about Zanardi's current situation.

"The operation went as expected. It was clear that something had to be done quickly, since his situation was not good". Whether his situation has improved and what will be the recovery path of the Italian was still unclear, according to Oliveri. "What the prognosis will be tomorrow, next week or two weeks from now I really can't predict".

Condition stabilizes slowly

"Critical means he's in a situation where he could die. In this situation, improvements can be very small and relapse can happen very quickly," Oliveri tells Reuters press agency. The head of Intensive Care at the hospital, Sabino Scolletta, indicates that the situation is slowly improving. "His condition is slowly stabilizing". Zanardi has experienced many setbacks in his career. In Germany, he was involved in a severe crash on the Lusatia Ring, which resulted in both legs having to be amputated.