News Analysis India

Tag: Formula

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

    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. It is not yet clear who will replace Hamilton at Mercedes, which has won 11 of this year’s 15 races.

    Stoffel Vandoorne is listed as the team’s official reserve driver and is currently testing for Mercedes’ Formula E team in Valencia. He last raced in F1 for McLaren in 2018, and he will travel to Bahrain later this week to join the Mercedes F1 team. Hamilton is currently isolating in accordance with public health authority guidelines in Bahrain, and his contacts have been declared to the FIA.

    “I’m devastated that I won’t be racing this weekend,” Hamilton wrote in an Instagram post. “Since we started the season in June, my team and I have been taking all the precautions we possibly can and following the regulations everywhere we’ve been in order to stay safe.

  • Daniel Ricciardo ‘Disgusted and Disappointed’ with F1

    Bahrain Grand Prix witnessed one of the most horrifying accidents of this century. Romain Grosjean’s car turned into a fireball as he lost control and darted straight into the barriers. The car broke into two halves, but Grosjean miraculously leapt out of the fire with minor burns on his hands and ankle.

    This incident happened at turn 3 of the first lap, and the session was immediately red-flagged. The barriers had to be rebuilt as the fire from the crash had melted them down.  As the drivers were back at the pit stop, Formula 1 continuously replayed the crash on every screen.

    According to Ricciardo, the coverage was handled very poorly. He felt like the incident was being treated like a game when it was so far away from it. Formula 1 drivers risk their lives every time they get into their cars, and to see an unfortunate incident so widely covered did not sit well with Ricciardo.