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• Lewis Hamilton had tested positive for Covid-19.
• Hamilton’s replacement on the Mercedes team has yet to be named.
• Hamilton has already closed the 2020 championship.
• For more motorsports stories, visit www.Wheels24.co.za
World champion Lewis Hamilton has tested positive for coronavirus and will miss this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain, Formula 1’s governing body the FIA announced today.
An FIA statement read: “In accordance with Covid-19 protocols and the guidelines of the public health authority in Bahrain, he (Hamilton) is now isolated. Procedures set out by the FIA and F1 will ensure a greater impact on this weekend’s event. “
Hamilton, who on Sunday won the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first of consecutive races in the Gulf state, has already secured a record seventh world championship this season.
A statement from Hamilton’s Mercedes team said: “He woke up Monday morning with mild symptoms and at the same time was informed that a contact prior to arrival in Bahrain had subsequently tested positive. Lewis therefore conducted a test. additional and tested positive. This has since been confirmed by a new test. Lewis is now isolating himself according to COVID-19 protocols and guidelines from the public health authority in Bahrain. Aside from mild symptoms, otherwise he is fit and well, and the whole team sends him their best wishes for a speedy recovery. “
Mercedes added that Hamilton had been tested three times in the past week and returned a negative result each time as part of the sport’s strict antivirus protocols, the last of which was Sunday afternoon at the Bahrain circuit.
Grosjean accident
Hamilton sealed his seventh title in Turkey two races ago to equal Michael Schumacher’s all-time record.
He then took his 11th win this year and his 95th record win on Sunday in a race overshadowed by Romain Grosjean’s terrible accident, which left the Frenchman receiving hospital treatment for burns after his car exploded in flames after crashing into a barrier.
Hamilton, who like all drivers waited nearly 90 minutes for the restart after the accident on the first lap, said: “It was such a shocking image to see.”
Hamilton and his teammate Valtteri Bottas had to “live like hermits” earlier this season to avoid Covid-19, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff revealed after the team recorded two positive cases at the Eifel Grand Prix. in Germany in October.
Wolff said both drivers were confined to their rooms.
He commented: “They are the most restricted of the whole group, of the whole team. It is certainly not a great situation for them because you almost need to live like a hermit, and that is what they are doing. They are at home, they are not going to dinner. nor do they know other people. When we do briefings, through Zoom or Microsoft Teams, they are not sitting with their engineers in the room. “
