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World champion Lewis Hamilton will miss this weekend’s Sakhir Formula 1 Grand Prix in Bahrain after testing positive for coronavirus.
His team, Mercedes, said the Briton woke up with mild symptoms on Monday and tested positive on a subsequent test and again on a new test.
Hamilton, who now isolates himself, won the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday at the same circuit.
Mercedes says a replacement will be named in due course.
“Other than mild symptoms, he is otherwise fit and well and the entire team sends him our best wishes for a speedy recovery,” said a statement.
Hamilton, 35 years old, achieved his seventh world title that equals the record at the Turkish Grand Prix on November 15.
Sunday’s race will be the first Hamilton has missed since his F1 debut in the inaugural race of the 2007 season in Australia.
You must return a negative test before returning to the paddock and therefore it is a doubt for the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi on December 13.
Mercedes said Hamilton was tested three times last week, including Sunday at the Bahrain International Circuit, with a negative result each time.
However, in addition to waking up with mild symptoms on Monday, he was also informed that a contact “prior to arrival in Bahrain” had tested positive.
Hamilton is the third F1 driver to test positive for coronavirus this season after Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll.
Who will replace Hamilton?
Mercedes has not said who will replace him, but Belgian reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne, the former McLaren F1 driver, will travel to Bahrain as scheduled after Tuesday’s Formula E test in Valencia.
Vandoorne, who raced for McLaren in 2017 and 2018, is the obvious choice for Mercedes, but the team is also expected to explore the possibility of using Williams driver George Russell.
The 22-year-old Briton is a protégé of Mercedes and is preparing for a possible switch to the factory team in F1 at some point in the future.
As a result, Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff could be tempted by the idea of giving Russell a single unit, which could be extended to two races if Hamilton is not Covid-free ahead of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. the following weekend.
However, Russell is under contract with Williams until the end of next season and the British team would have to agree to temporarily release him before Mercedes could put him in Hamilton’s car.
When Mercedes was exploring their contract options for 2021 earlier this year, Williams was asked if they would be prepared to release Russell for next season, to see where they were before confirming Valtteri Bottas. Williams said at the time they weren’t prepared to release him from his contract a year earlier.
Williams is last in the constructors’ championship, but only three points behind Haas and, as Russell is their lead driver who has vastly outscored his teammate Nicholas Latifi this season, they may not be interested in releasing him.
