Lewis Hamilton will miss Sakhir GP after testing positive for COVID-19

Lewis Hamilton has been tested positive for the Coronavirus on Monday, i.e., a day after his Bahrain Grand Prix victory. The 2020 F1 Champion will not participate in the Sakhir Grand Prix on Sunday due to isolation protocols. He was tested positive in the test taken on Monday when he woke up and felt mild symptoms. According to the sources, a contact of his before his arrival to Bahrain has also tested positive. The English driver has already been crowned champion but will probably miss both the remaining races if he does not test negative in some time.

Mercedes issued a statement which said, “The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team regrets to announce that Lewis Hamilton has tested positive for COVID-19 and will be unable to take part in this weekend’s Sakhir GP. Lewis was tested three times last week and returned a negative result each time, the last of which was on Sunday afternoon at the Bahrain International Circuit as part of the standard race weekend testing programme.”

“However, he woke up on Monday morning with mild symptoms and was informed at the same time that a contact prior to arrival in Bahrain had subsequently tested positive.”

“Lewis therefore took a further test and returned a positive result. This has since been confirmed by a retest.”

“Lewis is now isolating in accordance with COVID-19 protocols and public health authority 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.”

“We will announce our replacement driver plans for this weekend in due course.”

Hamilton is the third driver to be infected with the virus in this year’s championship and could miss the remaining races.