Mexico’s Sergio Perez will miss the British Grand Prix after testing positive for COVID-19.
Racing Point driver Perez missed his scheduled Thursday news conference appearance because of the inconclusive test. He remained in isolation until a retest came back positive, sidelining him for Sunday’s race at Silverstone.
Racing Point has yet to confirm who will replace Perez this weekend, but a statement released after news of Perez’s positive test said it does plan to run two cars as usual.
F1 insists the status of Sunday’s race is not in doubt.
A statement said: “With assistance of the local organiser of the British Grand Prix, local health authorities and the FIA COVID-19 delegate, a full track and trace initiative has been undertaken and all close contacts have been quarantined.
“The procedures set out by the FIA and Formula 1 have provided for swift containment of an incident that will have no wider impact on this weekend’s event.”
The most logical replacements for Perez would be one of Mercedes’ reserve drivers, Stoffel Vandoorne or Esteban Gutierrez, both of whom Racing Point has access to through its engine deal with the German manufacturer. Vandoorne last raced in F1 in 2018 for McLaren, and Gutierrez has not raced in the series since leaving Haas at the end of 2016.
However, this is an unprecedented situation and Racing Point is not bound to Vandoorne or Gutierrez.
Nico Hulkenberg is another potential replacement for Perez. His raced for Renault last year and drove for Racing Point as recently as 2016, when the team was named Force India.