Lewis Hamilton tests positive for COVID-19 and will miss Sakhir GP

[AbsolutSurgen]

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Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton will miss this weekend's Sakhir Grand Prix after testing positive for COVID-19.

Hamilton tested positive on Monday, the day after his victory at Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, in a mandatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for the upcoming Sakhir Grand Prix at the same circuit this weekend.

Hamilton tested negative three times the previous week, including Sunday afternoon ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, but he woke up Monday morning with mild symptoms and subsequently tested positive. He was informed Monday that a contact prior to his arrival in Bahrain also had tested positive.

The 35-year-old has already secured this year's drivers' title, but he will miss this weekend's Sakhir Grand Prix and could miss the season finale the week after in Abu Dhabi if he fails to return a negative test following ten days in isolation.

 

[TwinIon]

I kind of hope that George Russell can move from Williams for the week, because I'd love to see him in a fast car, but I also kind of worry that with only race week to prepare he wouldn't fair very well. It does make sense for Merc to try and see what their likely "driver of the future" can do. Still, it makes sense that Williams might want to keep their best driver when they might have a chance to score some points for once.

 

Probably for the best that this happened once the championships had been decided.

 

On a side note, I'm pretty sure that Hamilton was taking his covid bubble pretty seriously. Everyone he regularly comes into contact with is tested regularly. Still, the realities of traveling and what not make it hard for anything to be foolproof.

[AbsolutSurgen]

21 hours ago, TwinIon said:

I kind of hope that George Russell can move from Williams for the week, because I'd love to see him in a fast car, but I also kind of worry that with only race week to prepare he wouldn't fair very well. It does make sense for Merc to try and see what their likely "driver of the future" can do. Still, it makes sense that Williams might want to keep their best driver when they might have a chance to score some points for once.

 

Probably for the best that this happened once the championships had been decided.

 

On a side note, I'm pretty sure that Hamilton was taking his covid bubble pretty seriously. Everyone he regularly comes into contact with is tested regularly. Still, the realities of traveling and what not make it hard for anything to be foolproof.

 

It's nice that George is getting  a chance to race the Mercedes -- but it is also risky.  People will be watching closely how he compares with Botas -- and he won't have anywhere near as much time to get accustomed to the car.

 

On a side note, how pissed off is Stoffel Vandorne right now?

[TwinIon]

Yeah, I feel bad for Stoffel. I'm glad he found a decent gig, but I think he's probably a better driver than a couple guys currently on the grid. Getting outperformed by Fernando as a rookie shouldn't be an F1 death sentence. Clearly though, he's not someone Merc is looking to bring back.

 

I'm very nervous for George. No matter what happens, people (possibly including myself) will overreact. He's been suddenly shoved into a position where he has very high expectations and a very low margin for error. For the race, I just hope he can keep it clean to the finish. There's enough inherent pace in that car that a clean drive will be good enough for some points, but I don't think he's automatically going to contend with Verstappen and Bottas.

 

I don't think that Bottas gets sufficient credit for how much he pushes Hamilton. He's no Max or Lewis, but I think I'd put him right behind LeClerc and Riccardo. George might be "Mr Saturday" when compared to his Williams teammates, but Valteri is no slouch, and I'd be shocked if George is particularly close in Q3.

 

 

[AbsolutSurgen]

 

 

[AbsolutSurgen]

@TwinIon Russell deserved the win today. Shame about Mercedes’ fuck-up in the pits. 

[TwinIon]

I'll happily say it: Russell very much overperformed my expectations. He was so close to pole, despite still not knowing where all the buttons were in that car. Putting it in P2 is not nearly as impressive as just how close he was to his teammate. During the race he totally had Bottas' number. He made exactly the kind of bold moves through the field that you want to see a driver in a fast car is capable of. We've seen young drivers fail in fast cars before, and though this was an easy circuit, I was consistently impressed by how he faired. It's a sample size of one race, but that sure doesn't look great for Bottas' future. (of course, it's unlikely that Merc is nearly so dominate by the time Russell gets that drive).

 

It's a shame that Max wasn't in the race to really push the Mercs, because I think he would have had a real shot. I was gutted for Russell as he really lost the race by no fault of his own, but on the other hand I think Perez had an outstanding day. Even before the Mercs imploded he was my easy driver of the day. His teammate stat in his starting position basically the entire race, and Perez was able to not only catch up, but make the overtakes on quick cars that were needed. Some strategy errors went his way, but he deserved the win just for being in a position to take advantage of it. As much as I like Albon and wanted him to succeed, it's clear that Perez is a driver deserving of a fast car.

 

It was always the plan to put Russell in a Merc, and now it feels inevitable. It'll be a shame to see him back in that Williams next year.

 

As a side note, I honestly believe that Hamilton wins that race, if only because he almost certainly would have ignored the calls to box.