On the morning before the start of the 2022 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, the Aston Martin team announced the positive for COVID-19 of its main driver Sebastian Vettel.
The German will be absent in the first round of the year due to his contagion, and his replacement will be an old acquaintance of the Great Circus, his compatriot Nico Hulkenberg.
The German will get behind the wheel of the AMR22 in the opening test in Sakhir, as the team itself announced through its social networks.
"UPDATE: Sebastian Vettel has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be part of the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix," the team posted on Twitter.
Replacing him in the AMR22 will be reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg, who will get into the car from Free Practice 1.
The German has already participated in three other grands prix in the 2020 season when the regular drivers of the Silverstone team, then called Racing Point, tested positive for COVID-19.
Hulkenberg took the controls of the pink single-seater in the Great Britain, 70th Anniversary and Eifel events, being the replacement in the first two of Sergio Pérez and in the last of Lance Stroll.
The German has the experience of several courses in Formula 1, in addition to having managed to win the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans test with Porsche in 2015, and now he returns after a season of absence in the paddock.
