"Doctors weren't sure if I'd walk again": Juan Manuel Correa shares emotional journey from near-fatal crash to IndyCar dream

Juan Manuel Correa suffered a huge crash at the 2019 F2 Belgian Feature race with Anthoine Hubert after the iconic Eau Rouge-Raidillon section. While it unfortunately saw the demise of the Frenchman, Correa had a tough road back to racing as the 25-year-old revealed that even the doctors weren't sure that he would walk again.

Racing has claimed multiple lives, and at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in 2019, he crashed with a near-stationary car of Hubert at the top of the crest at a speed of about 170 mph. This resulted in the death of Hubert, shaking the motorsport world down to its core.

But, on the other hand, Correa received a host of injuries after the crash. With multiple fractures in his lower limbs alongside a minor spinal injury, his road back to racing wasn't easy.

The Ecuadorian-American driver was in an induced coma and went through multiple complex surgeries to reverse some of the damage. Following this, he had to spend almost a year in rehabilitation to regain control of his legs.

This essentially took away two years of racing from him and stripped him away from his F1 ambitions. Though he returned to the F2 paddock in late 2022 and stayed on the grid till 2024, his time was cut short in the series as he parted ways with the DAMS team after the Azerbaijan round.

However, the 25-year-old was not ready to give up on his racing dream and moved over to Indy NXT earlier this year to chase a possible seat in IndyCar, as he said:

"Most people don't come back to racing after something like this. I almost didn't either. In 2019, I crashed at Spa; multiple leg fractures, induced coma, doctors weren't sure if I'd walk again, let alone race. I went from signing with Alfa Romeo and testing an F1 car to fighting to walk again." "The hardest part wasn't physical; it was watching everything that I had built disappear. My F1 shot was gone; I missed two full seasons, but I stayed in Europe. I trained, I rehabbed, I came back to Formula 2 just to prove that I still had it in me. And now I'm in Indy NXT, chasing my dream of IndyCar. This comeback isn't over."

Juan Manuel Correa joined HMD Motorsports mid-way through the 2025 season, making his debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

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How has Juan Manuel Correa's debut season in Indy NXT been panning out?

Juan Manuel Correa at the 2025 Indy NXT round in Monterey - Source: Getty

Juan Manuel Correa's journey has just begun in the Indy NXT series. Though his debut race weekend didn't yield any strong results as he was adapting to the new car, he showcased his prowess at the next round in Detroit, where he scored his maiden podium:

The Ecuadorian-American driver has since then scored two more top-10 finishes in his next two appearances. Though he didn't participate in the Road America race, the 25-year-old climbed in the car at Mid-Ohio.

Juan Manuel Correa claimed subpar results at the Laguna Seca doubleheader but would be hoping for a comeback in the following three race weekends in a bid to improve his position in the championship standings. He sits 18th currently, behind Hailie Deegan.

Edited by pranavsethii