Well, that did not take long. Mercedes announced that Lewis Hamilton will indeed be back in the driver’s seat of his own car and will take part in this weekend’s 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after testing negative for the Covid-19 coronavirus.
The seven-time defending Formula One world champion missed the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain last weekend after contracting the coronavirus, then had to sit and watch as backmarker Williams driver George Russell landed on the first row of the race with Hamilton’s car and might have won had it not been for an array of Mercedes pit crew errors.
Hamilton arrived in Abu Dhabi on Thursday after completing 10 days of quarantine in Bahrain and will take part in the practice sessions and qualifying session while Russell will now return to Williams.
Formula 1’s governing body the FIA confirmed that Hamilton had returned a “number of negative Covid-19 tests” before travelling for the final race of the season.