Juan Manuel Correa has been taken out of an induced coma, but faces a "race against time" to gain enough strength to undergo crucial surgery on the injuries sustained in a crash in Belgium.
Correa collided with Anthoine Hubert in Formula 2's feature race at Spa-Francorchamps. The incident killed Hubert and left Correa with spinal injuries and fractures to both legs.
The American's right leg requires particular attention, according to a statement released by his family, which confirmed his condition is no longer classed as "critical".
The statement read: "Juan Manuel Correa has been removed from the ECMO machine, life support and taken out of induced coma. While this is great news and a major step in the right direction, he is still in a race against time.
"Juan Manuel is conscious, but not fully yet awake.
"Doctors report that this will take a few days due to being in induced coma for more than two weeks. They have also stated that Juan Manuel is fragile and still vulnerable medically speaking and that he remains in the Intensive Care Unit. His condition has been upgraded from critical to serious.
"The medical priority for Juan Manuel now shifts from the lungs to the leg injuries that were sustained more than two weeks ago and have not been addressed since the initial emergency intervention the day of the incident.
"Doctors are in a race against time to perform a pending major surgery in order to minimize risk of irreversible injuries to his right lower extremity but can't proceed until lungs are ready to withstand a lengthy operation."
Related