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It was announced that Hamilton tested positive last Tuesday, giving George Russell the opportunity to enjoy a sensational weekend with the Mercedes team at the Sakhir GP.
While Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll were able to quickly recover and come back after missing races due to positive tests, Hamilton’s case is further complicated by the strict regulations enforced in both Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.
He remains under strict quarantine in Bahrain, and has currently only been in it for seven days.
The biggest challenge, however, is that Abu Dhabi has applied especially strict restrictions, with all regular arrivals to the country facing a 14-day quarantine.
An exception has been made for F1, and the entire paddock is required to circulate under controlled conditions on Monday, before entering a closed “biosphere” around the track and neighboring hotels.
Hamilton has the flexibility of traveling in a private jet, but will have to obtain a special waiver from the Abu Dhabi authorities if he is to travel later this week.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has made it clear that Hamilton’s car will be waiting for him if he can travel.
“I think if Lewis recovers, and is getting better every day, and has been deemed negative, COVID-free, then he will be in the car,” he said after Sunday’s Sakhir GP.
FIA Race Director Michael Masi said Hamilton’s fate was in the hands of the two governments involved.
“Obviously, the main part of all of this has always been to comply with the respective governments, laws and regulations,” Masi said.
“It is therefore a fundamental decision for the Bahraini health authorities to determine whether Lewis is fit and compliant with their regulations, and then for the Abu Dhabi authorities to determine their criteria.
“So it is effectively two government entities that need to determine the entry criteria. If you meet the entry criteria of the respective governments and then meet the testing protocol from the FIA perspective, by testing negative before entering the paddock, then there are no problems from our perspective. “
In theory, Hamilton has to be in Abu Dhabi by Saturday afternoon at the latest in order to participate in the qualifying session.
“Within the current framework of regulations, similar to what was used at the Nurburgring, as long as the driver participates in a practice or qualifying session, he is allowed to race,” Masi said.
“Technically, here and now, a driver only has to meet one of those criteria.
“So they couldn’t just show up and compete, as the only thing they could do, they would have to do one of the practice sessions, be it free practice or qualifying practice beforehand.”
The problem for both Mercedes and Williams is that they both need to know as soon as possible whether Hamilton can travel and commit on Friday to let Russell drive the car or not, to avoid the possibility that he will have to switch back midway. weekend.
If it becomes apparent that Hamilton’s car will only be vacant on Friday, one option might be to allow reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne to drive it until the world champion arrives, rather than interrupting Russell’s preparations with Williams.
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