The 2022 season of Formula 1 will kick off this Friday, however, the preview of this new campaign has been shaken today by a positive in COVID-19 of Sebastian Vettel, who will miss the first appointment of the season and will be replaced by Nico Hulkenberg at Aston Martin.
Vettel ‘s positive is the second in less than a week for a top-flight driver, after Daniel Ricciardo also contracted COVID-19 last week, forcing him to miss pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Although Aston Martin did not report on how Vettel is doing, Sergio Pérez opened the debate by saying that it would be good to allow a driver to compete in a grand prix even if he has been infected with coronavirus, as long as his physical condition is adequate.
“Going forward it is something we should discuss, if we allow drivers to race with COVID-19, if the symptoms are mild,” Perez told Britain’s Sky F1 .
“If you feel bad, obviously the drivers can be the ones to make their own decision, but I think it makes sense to have a conversation about it.”
The Red Bull driver believes that contracting COVID-19 “depends on luck” and that “it is difficult to do something about it”.
“We’ve learned a lot about COVID-19 and it’s hard to do much about it. If you want to take care of yourself (completely), you have to stay home for 24 hours, cook for yourself and do everything yourself.”
“But there really isn’t much you can do, so I guess it’s down to luck. It’s hard to do nothing. I’m really sorry for Seb and for Daniel, but it’s something that can happen to anyone.”
In any case, Pérez wanted to clarify that he continues to undergo regular tests for COVID-19.
“Yes. At the same time, we need to take care of the people around you and make sure that we don’t affect anyone around us.”
“Checo” Pérez was the first F1 driver to test positive for COVID-19 in August 2020, forcing him to miss two races. Since then Lewis Hamilton, Lance Stroll, Kimi Raikkonen and Nikita Mazepin have missed races in the last two years due to positive COVID-19, while Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly have tested positive during breaks or during the holidays.
