McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo was forced to skip the second test of the 2022 Formula 1 preseason, held in Bahrain, after testing positive for COVID-19. Separately, Aston Martin announced that Sebastian Vettel will miss the opening race of the season after contracting the illness.
The FIA’s COVID-19 protocols have been relaxed in some respects for the new season. Staff are no longer required to take a PCR test within 24 hours of entering the paddock, although it is still recommended, and local guidelines still need to be followed. Likewise, vaccination is mandatory, except for those who cannot receive it for medical reasons.
Several teams have returned to holding in-person press sessions for the new season, having primarily used online platforms such as Zoom for the past two years, while driver autograph sessions also return in Bahrain.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc said “it’s good that things are slowly getting back to normal” but stressed the need to remain vigilant.
“We have to be careful, also among the drivers and all these things, because COVID has not disappeared overnight,” Leclerc said. “You still can’t run if you have COVID, it’s very expensive. We need to continue to be very careful.”
Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz said he was “trying to remain as disciplined as two years ago”, even though some restrictions have been relaxed.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s tiring and it’s hard to keep doing the same things after two years,” Sainz said.
“Some things I’ve gotten used to, with others I still have some problems, like all of you, to wear the mask at all times and all that. I just hope we can get back to normal as soon as possible.”
Sainz acknowledged that if he had the chance to “fight for bigger things” this year, there would be pressure to take extra precautions for fear of losing a race. In fact, in the last two years, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Pérez, Lance Stroll, Nikita Mazepin and Kimi Raikkonen have not been able to take part in some races after having tested positive.
Teams remain responsible for their own COVID-19 testing procedures outside of the F1 paddock. Leclerc, for his part, added that Ferrari performs them regularly, especially at the factory, and that common sense always came into play if someone felt unwell.
Leclerc has contracted COVID-19 twice, most recently at the end of the 2021 season, and said his experiences were “very different”.
“The first one wasn’t too bad, the second one I felt quite worse, just a headache and I didn’t feel very, very good,” Leclerc said.
“But it didn’t last me very long, like a week, a week and a half, either way. It depends a lot. I have some friends who are in perfect health and they had it in a much worse way. So yeah, it’s very hard to predict”.
