Coronavirus: Lewis Hamilton tests positive for COVID-19 and will miss Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain
Written by News on 01/12/2020
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 on Monday morning with “mild symptoms”.
A statement said that Hamilton, 35, was informed at the same time that someone he had been in contact with before his arrival in Bahrain had tested positive.
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The Mercedes statement continued: “Lewis is now isolating in accordance with Covid-19 protocols and public health guidelines in Bahrain.
“Apart from mild symptoms, he is otherwise fit and well, and the entire team sends him its very best wishes for a swift recovery.”
Mercedes will announce Hamilton’s replacement later – their reserve drivers are former F1 pilots Stoffel Vandoorne and Esteban Gutierrez.
Hamilton, who wrapped up his record-equalling seventh world championship in Turkey last month, is the third driver to have contracted the illness.
Sergio Perez missed the British and 70th Anniversary Grands Prix at Silverstone in August, while his Racing Point team-mate Lance Stroll also tested positive following October’s Eifel Grand Prix in Germany.
Hamilton appeared to be drained after winning the first Grand Prix in Bahrain on Sunday.
“It’s physical, this track has always been physical. We’ve got lots of high-speed corners so I was definitely feeling it,” he said soon after the race.
“I was sliding around a lot out there and I wasn’t really quite sure how it would play out at the end.”
There is another race in Bahrain on Sunday – on Sakhir’s shorter outer circuit – before the 17-race season concludes in Abu Dhabi.
(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Lewis Hamilton tests positive for COVID-19 and will miss Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain
