Lewis Hamilton will sit out the penultimate round of the 2020 F1 season in Bahrain after testing positive for COVID-19. Having already secured the championship, missing the race has no immediate impact on the championship table.
Like the other drivers in the paddock, Hamilton received multiple standard COVID-19 tests throughout the course of last week in the run up to the Bahrain Grand Prix. He tested negative as recently as Sunday afternoon.
He started to experience mild symptoms on Monday morning and was notified that someone he had been in contact with prior to arriving in Bahrain had subsequently tested positive for the virus.
The now seven-time World Drivers’ Champion is in isolation and his previous contacts have been traced to prevent an outbreak in the paddock. He will not be participating in the Sakhir Grand Prix this weekend.
Although Mercedes have no yet confirmed who will be filling the vacant seat on the team, some of the potential candidates include Stoffel Vandoorne (who is reportedly flying to Bahrain) and Esteban Gutierrez, both of which are the team’s official reserve drivers. Nico Hulkenberg also has a good chance at filling the seat, having raced for Racing Point three times this season as a substitute. George Russell is also rumoured to be on the shortlist of drivers.
A lineup announcement is expected from Mercedes tomorrow.
The latest reports suggest that Russell could be behind the wheel of the Mercedes this weekend, leaving Vandoorne to fill his role at Williams. The young Brit has shown strong potential in the underperforming Williams car. A temporary seat behind the strongest car on the 2020 grid could give the 22-year-old an opportunity to showcase his ability in a stronger car.
