German Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) has tested positive for Covid-19 and will not participate in the first Grand Prix of the Formula 1 season in 2022, in Bahrain, between Friday (18) and Sunday (20). He will be replaced by his compatriot Nico Hülkenberg, the team announced.
Since last week’s practice in Bahrain, Vettel is the second driver to test positive for the coronavirus, after Australian Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), who has recovered and will be able to compete in the race.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, Mexican Sergio Pérez, Canadian Lance Stroll, Briton Lewis Hamilton, Finnish Kimi Raikkonen and Russian Nikita Mazepin, as well as team leaders, have tested positive for covid and lost races.
Other drivers, including Frenchman Pierre Gasly, Monegasque Charles Leclerc and Briton Lando Norris, were also infected by the coronavirus, but out of season.
The Bahrain GP is the first of a 23-race season.
Classification training takes place on Saturday and the race on Sunday, starting at 18:00 local time (12:00 GMT).
RED BULL STANDS OUT
Drivers and teams had two test sessions, with three days in Barcelona in February and a further three in Bahrain in March. In the first round, what caught the attention was the completely redesigned design of the cars.
In the second session, the performance of the cars was highlighted, especially the performance of Red Bull and the difficulty of Mercedes with a curious aerodynamic solution designed by the German team.
More than recording the best times of the day, which do not always reflect the reliability of the cars, the cars of Verstappen and Sergio Pérez proved to be consistent and with a performance superior to the other competitors, with the exception of Ferrari, which walked very close to Red. Bull.
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