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Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has tested positive for coronavirus and will miss this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain.
The British driver’s Mercedes team said he had three negative test results last week but woke up Monday morning with “mild symptoms.”
A statement said that the 35-year-old Hamilton was informed at the same time that someone he had been in contact with prior to his arrival in Bahrain had tested positive.
Mercedes’ statement continued: “Lewis is now isolating himself in accordance with Covid-19 protocols and public health guidelines in Bahrain.
“Other than mild symptoms, he is otherwise fit and well and the entire team sends him their best wishes for a speedy recovery.”
Mercedes will announce Hamilton’s replacement later: its reserve drivers are former F1 drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and Esteban Gutiérrez.
Hamilton, who finished his seventh world championship in Turkey last month, is the third driver to contract the disease.
Sergio Pérez missed the British Grand Prix and the 70th Anniversary at Silverstone in August, while his Racing Point teammate Lance Stroll also tested positive following the October Eifel Grand Prix in Germany.
Hamilton appeared to be exhausted after winning the first Grand Prix in Bahrain on Sunday.
“It’s physical, this track has always been physical. We have a lot of high-speed corners so I was definitely feeling it,” he said shortly after the race.
“I was slipping a lot and I wasn’t really sure how it would play out in the end.”
Hamilton became a seven-time champion in Turkey last month
There is another race in Bahrain on Sunday, at the shorter Sakhir outdoor circuit, before the 17-race season in Abu Dhabi concludes.
