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NURBURGRING, GERMANY (AFP) – Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will have to “live like hermits” to avoid Covid-19, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said on Friday (October 9) after the team logged a second. positive case in 24 hours.
Speaking to reporters at the Eifel Grand Prix, Wolff said both drivers were confined to their rooms after rain and fog forced opening practice to be canceled.
“They are the most restricted of the whole group, of the whole team,” said Wolff, who confirmed that Mercedes had transferred six replacement staff members to Germany on Thursday after the team was retested, resulting in six team members will be isolated.
“It’s certainly not a great situation for them because you almost need to live like a hermit, and that’s what they are doing.
“They are at home, they don’t go out to dinner and they don’t meet other people. When we do reports, by Zoom or Microsoft Teams, they are not sitting their engineers in the room.
“They are in their own rooms and we are all avoiding any personal contact as much as possible. It’s literally getting into the car and then driving the car and keeping your distance. ”Wolff said he believed Mercedes had the outbreak under control.
“Every loss of an important member in the garage affects the race, but I think we have it under control,” he said.
The team had announced on Thursday that a person from its traveling racing team had recorded a positive test prior to this weekend’s race at the Nurburgring.
As a result, the team retested everyone on the circuit, an exercise that resulted in another positive test and one that was inconclusive.
Both team members were immediately placed in isolation along with four others.
The team brought six reserve staff to Germany on Thursday, a decision that kept the numbers on track but has complicated preparations for the champions’ race.
Six-time world champion Hamilton, who is making a second attempt to equal Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 Grand Prix wins, described the events as “a concern.”
Speaking Thursday, he said: “It’s sad to hear, for the guys who work so hard. Obviously we had this week between races and those guys work really hard to stay safe and be here on the weekends. ”
Mercedes said they are strictly following all the protocols established by the sport’s governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), adding that they are not giving any further information.
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