Just 24 hours before practice begins for the F1 season opener, Aston Martin announced that Vettel would not be able to take part.
It means that Hulkenberg will be making his fourth appearance for the Aston Martin team having been drafted in previously when its drivers were taken ill.
Sergio Perez had to miss both Silverstone races in 2020, while Lance Stroll was forced out of that year’s Eifel Grand Prix at the Nurbugring.
Vettel is the ninth F1 driver to test positive and his absence comes just one week after McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo had to miss last week’s pre-season test with COVID.
Prior to being taken unwell, the Australian had mixed with drivers ahead of the event for a Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) photoshoot on the Bahrain grid to show their solidarity with Ukraine following the Russian invasion.
F1 has relaxed its COVID protocols for this year, with its previously strict regime of regular mandatory PCR testing having been wound back.
Now, PCR tests are…
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