Sakhir Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton to miss GP after testing COVID-19 postivie

The seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will be missing the coming weekend's Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain after tested positive for coronavirus. Mercedes, in a statement, said he woke up on Monday with 'mild symptoms'.

"The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team regrets to announce that Lewis Hamilton has tested positive for COVID-19 and will be unable to take part in this weekend's Sakhir GP. Lewis was tested three times last week and returned a negative result each time, the last of which was on Sunday afternoon at the Bahrain International Circuit as part of the standard race weekend testing programme," read the statement posted on Twitter.

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— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) December 1, 2020

"However, he woke up on Monday morning with mild symptoms and was informed at the same time that a contact prior to arrival in Bahrain had subsequently tested positive. Lewis, therefore, took a further test and returned a positive result. This has since been confirmed by a retest," it added.

Mercedes also said that Hamilton is now isolating in accordance with COVID-19 protocols and public health authority guidelines. "Apart from mild symptoms, he is otherwise fit and well, and the entire team sends him our very best wishes for a swift recovery," it said. Mercedes said they will announce replacement driver plans for this weekend in due course.