Mercedes has isolated a further six members of its Formula 1 team after a case of Covid-19 was detected yesterday.
The entire team was retested yesterday at the Nurburgring after the initial positive case was identified. As a result of those retests a second positive case was discovered. One other test returned an inconclusive result, requiring a retest, the outcome of which is not yet known.These two staff members have been isolated, along with four others who returned negative tests, and will not participate in the race weekend.
Mercedes flew six replacement staff from the UK yesterday to fill the roles for this weekend’s Eifel Grand Prix.
The team says it has worked closely with the FIA and Formula 1 in response to the positive Covid-19 test.
Yesterday Lewis Hamilton said the discovery of a Covid-19 case within the team was “definitely a concern”.
“It’s sad to hear, for the guys that work so hard. We obviously had this week in between [races] and those guys work so hard to stay safe and be here on the weekends.”
Two teams have previously experienced positive Covid-19 tests during race weekends. McLaren did at the Australian Grand Prix, before the race was cancelled, and Racing Point driver Sergio Perez missed two races at Silverstone this year following positive tests.
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Jere (@jerejj)
9th October 2020, 11:54
Hopefully, these types of things won’t have an impact on the championsip.
Adrian (@adrian-lomezzo)
9th October 2020, 12:05
Something new one I’ve seen now.
PaulK (@paulk)
9th October 2020, 12:32
Likely there is more to come as it takes a few days from infection to a positive test.
Aiii (@)
9th October 2020, 12:33
Let’s hope all involved can have a speedy recovery.
bookgrub (@bookgrub)
9th October 2020, 12:51
So far this seems like an excellent response. Quick identification, quick follow up testing, prompt results, isolation. If this does work out and there’s no impact on the race weekend, that will be a real justification of the F1 protocols.