Aston Martin has confirmed Sebastian Vettel will return to race in the Australian Grand Prix, after missing the first two races of the season.
Vettel tested positive for Covid-19 prior to the Bahrain Grand Prix, prompting the team’s reserve driver Nico Hülkenberg to replace the four-times champion. Hulkenberg remained in the seat for the second round of the championship one week later in Saudi Arabia.“We are pleased to confirm that Sebastian Vettel is now fit to race and will therefore line up alongside Lance Stroll in Melbourne to kick off his 2022 F1 season,” said the team in a statement on social media.
Aston Martin are yet to score a point so far this season. Stroll finished 12th for the team in Bahrain, a result Hulkenberg repeated in Jeddah.
Notable positive Covid-19 cases in F1
| Date | Individual/s | Team/other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18/3/2020 | One team member | McLaren | Race subsequently cancelled |
| 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 |
| 7/10/2021 | Alan van der Merwe and Dr Ian Roberts | Medical Car team | Missed Turkish Grand Prix |
| 2/11/2021 | Jost Capito | Williams | Missed Saudi Arabian Grand Prix |
| 12/12/2021 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | Missed Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |
| 16/12/2021 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | First driver to have a second positive test |
| 11/03/2022 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | Missed second pre-season test in Bahrain |
| 17/03/2022 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | Missed Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix |
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Jere (@jerejj)
31st March 2022, 10:08
His AusGP participation was effectively never in doubt given lead time. Good thing he’s fully recovered.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
31st March 2022, 10:30
Fantastic news! The 3 year wait is almost over!
Qeki (@qeki)
31st March 2022, 10:39
Just like in 2007 he will start the season in down under
Qeki (@qeki)
31st March 2022, 12:44
2008…
Erik
31st March 2022, 14:44
He and Lewis both missed a great opportunity to retire.
NS Biker (@rekibsn)
31st March 2022, 19:39
As well as us, the unwashed masses.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
1st April 2022, 1:16
I don’t think running away like a coward is a good moment to retire (like rosberg), if there’s a thing hamilton has to prove it’s being able to extract the most from a bad car, like schumacher, alonso or others.
Stan (@)
1st April 2022, 9:46
You seriously think his current Mercedes is a bad car?
André
1st April 2022, 9:51
I don’t think he has anything else to prove. He’s driven poorer cars before 2014, and even the Mercedes cars were difficult at times, for example the first few races of 2021 with the instability at the rear. Schumacher in his stint with Mercedes couldn’t do any miracle. Alonso at McLaren couldn’t do any miracle. If a driver can win with the car he’s driving, the car isn’t that bad. There’s too much hype on the topic.
Broke1984 (@broke1984)
31st March 2022, 19:33
He found a novel way to boycott the first 2 races.
GeeMac (@geemac)
1st April 2022, 17:41
@broke1984 He can’t boycott the fact his team are sponsored by a company which makes up a massive part of the economy of one of those countries those races were held in though…
MacLeod (@macleod)
1st April 2022, 7:43
I just noticed Charles was positive twice….. And i miss Christiaan Horner on the list he had it at christmas (around) according himself or was he talking in royal multiple sense.