Norbert Haug Had Thyroid Surgery

It has emerged that Mercedes' motorsport director Norbert Haug has recently underwent thyroid surgery. The news was unveiled by Germany's Bild newspaper, during the last day of testing at the Valencia's Ricardo Tormo Circuit, as several media representatives were wondering why the German boss' voice was so weak when talking to the reporters.

According to the same publication, the 57-year old official confirmed his thyroid problems and admitted he had surgery a few days ago. Additionally, he said it will take some time for his voice to sound as normal as it did prior to the medical intervention.

The first questions about Haug's medical state appeared in the media shortly after the Mercedes official missed the McLaren Mercedes official presentation of their MP4-25 single-seater, last Friday. Following the Mercedes – McLaren split at the end of 2009, Haug and Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren's CEO and team principal) promised they will attend their each other's team presentations prior to the 2010 season.

Consequently, the British boss was present at the Mercedes GP presentation event in Stuttgart last week, when the German outfit unveiled their drivers and livery for the new campaign. Haug, on the other hand, failed to make it to Newbury for the Vodafone McLaren media event, with the official explanations being that he had “voice problems.”

Replacing Norbert Haug at the aforementioned event was Mercedes spokesman Wolfgang Schattling, as the German company wanted to keep its promise towards McLaren.

Despite his voice problems, Haug attended all the 3 days of testing at the Ricardo Tormo track this week, being a constant figure inside Mercedes GP's garage from Monday thru Wednesday.