Breaking news
Formula 1 Abu Dhabi GP
Hamilton in race to be fit for Abu Dhabi GP
Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton is in a race to get fit and test negative for COVID-19 in order to participate in the Abu Dhabi GP.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Dec 7, 2020, 9:10 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Hamilton was announced as having tested positive last Tuesday, handing George Russell the chance to enjoy a sensational weekend with the Mercedes team in the Sakhir GP.
While Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll were both quickly able to recover and return after missing races due to positive tests, Hamilton’s case is made more complicated by the strict regulations applied in both Bahrain and in Abu Dhabi.
He remains under a strict quarantine in Bahrain, and is currently just seven days into it.
However, the biggest challenge is that Abu Dhabi has applied especially tight restrictions, where all regular arrivals in the country face a 14-day quarantine.
An exception has been made for F1, and the entire paddock is obliged to travel on Monday under controlled conditions, before entering a closed “biosphere” around the track and the neighbouring hotels.
Hamilton has the flexibility of travelling in a private jet, but he will have to gain special dispensation from the Abu Dhabi authorities if he is to travel later this week.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has made it clear that Hamilton's car will be waiting for him if he is able to travel.
“I think if Lewis recovers, and is getting better every day, and he’s been considered COVID free, negative, then he will be in the car,” he said after Sunday’s Sakhir GP.
FIA race director Michael Masi said Hamilton’s fate was in the hands of the two governments involved.
“Obviously the main part with all of this has always been complying with the respective governments, laws and regulations,” said Masi.
“So it's very much a decision for the Bahraini health authorities to determine if Lewis is fit and complies with their regulations, and then further for the Abu Dhabi authorities to determine their criteria.
“So it's effectively two government entities that need to determine entry criteria. If he meets the entry criteria of the respective governments and then further complies with the testing protocol from an FIA perspective, in being tested negative prior to entering the paddock, then there's no problems from our perspective."
Read Also:
- Mercedes reveals radio failure led to Russell tyre mix-up
- Hamilton "not feeling great" with mild COVID-19 symptoms
In theory, Hamilton has to be in Abu Dhabi at the latest by Saturday afternoon in order to participate in the qualifying session.
“Within the current framework of the regulations, similar to what was used in Nurburgring, as long as the driver participates in a practice session, or qualifying, they're permitted to race,” said Masi.
“So technically here and now a driver only has to fulfil one of those criteria.
“So they couldn't just turn up and race, as their only thing, they would have to do one of the practice sessions, be it free practice or qualifying practice beforehand.”
The problem for both Mercedes and Williams is that both need to know as soon as possible if Hamilton is able to travel, and commit by Friday to Russell driving the car or not, to avoid the possibility of him having to swap back in the middle of the weekend.
Should it become apparent that Hamilton’s car will only be vacant on Friday, one option could be to allow reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne to drive it until the world champion arrives, rather than disrupt Russell’s preparations with Williams.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Leclerc gets grid penalty for Abu Dhabi GP
Next article Mercedes explains cause of radio glitch in Sakhir GP
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
Lewis Hamilton
Oscar Piastri on his Singapore puncture: “Ironically, it probably helped”
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Oscar Piastri on his Singapore puncture: “Ironically, it probably helped”
Why Ferrari caved in to Lewis Hamilton’s failed Singapore F1 gamble
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Why Ferrari caved in to Lewis Hamilton’s failed Singapore F1 gamble
More from
Mercedes
‘I’ll put a pillow under his butt’ – How Toto Wolff wants to solve Kimi Antonelli’s track limits problem
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
‘I’ll put a pillow under his butt’ – How Toto Wolff wants to solve Kimi Antonelli’s track limits problem
George Russell calls Red Bull "the team to beat" in F1, but Kimi Antonelli adds a key caveat
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
George Russell calls Red Bull "the team to beat" in F1, but Kimi Antonelli adds a key caveat
Latest news
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
1 min
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
3 h
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 5 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
6 h
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe