Formula 1 has changed its Medical Car team for this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix after its regular pair tested positive for Covid-19.
Medical Car driver Alan van der Merwe and FIA F1 medical rescue co-ordinator and deputy medical delegate Dr Ian Roberts tested positive for Covid-19 prior to travelling to Turkey, the FIA confirmed to RaceFans. The pair are self-isolating and will not attend this weekend’s grand prix at Istanbul Park.Formula E Safety Car driver Bruno Correia will take over driving duties in the F1 Medical Car this weekend. Formula E medical delegate Dr Bruno Franceschini will stand in for Roberts.
Correia, 43, has been Formula E’s Safety Car driver since the series began in 2014. He drove the BMW i8 Safety Car and later the Mini Electric Pacesetter which replaced it this year.
Prior to that Correia was the Safety Car driver for the World Touring Car Championship and European Touring Car Cup. During his racing career he competed in the Portuguese Formula Ford series and Spanish Formula Renault.
Bernd Maylander will continue to drive the Safety Car as usual at the Turkish Grand Prix.
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Notable positive Covid-19 cases in F1
| Date | Individual/s | Team/other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18/03/2020 | One team member | McLaren | |
| 30/07/2020 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | Missed British and 70th Anniversary grands prix |
| 08/10/2020 | Six team members | Mercedes | |
| 13/10/2020 | Two team members | Renault | |
| 21/10/2020 | Lawrence Stroll | Racing Point | |
| 21/10/2020 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | Missed Eifel Grand Prix |
| 30/10/2020 | Four team members | Racing Point | |
| 11/11/2020 | Simon Roberts | Williams | |
| 16/11/2020 | Mario Isola | Pirelli | |
| 26/11/2020 | Jonathan Wheatley | Red Bull | |
| 1/12/2020 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Missed Sakhir Grand Prix |
| 5/1/2021 | Lando Norris | McLaren | |
| 13/1/2021 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | |
| 25/1/2021 | Toto Wolff | Mercedes | |
| 31/1/2021 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | |
| 11/3/2021 | Frederic Vasseur | Alfa Romeo | |
| 25/3/2021 | Two team members | Aston Martin | |
| 15/7/2021 | Three team members | McLaren | Including McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown |
| 4/9/2021 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | Missed two races |
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Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
7th October 2021, 10:09
You’re missing one Kimi-Matias Räikkönen on that list of notable cases.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
7th October 2021, 10:10
Correia got the chance to take over as the Safety Car driver for the World Touring Car Championship in 2009 after a local course car driver caused a crash which took out race leader Franz Engstler at Pau.
sumedh
7th October 2021, 10:32
That. Is something!
Safety car joining the race track in an unsafe manner and causing a collision. Oh, the irony.
Anonymous
7th October 2021, 10:29
You missed Channel 4’s Billy Monger who tested positive ahead of the Styrian round:
Jere (@jerejj)
7th October 2021, 10:51
Surprisingly FE rather than F2, even though the latter is closer to F1 and doesn’t race this weekend.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
7th October 2021, 12:23
It’s almost as if F1 and F2 run on the same weekend and have the same medical car and team between them.