Six pilots have already been infected with covid-19 in 2020 and 2021
Multiple candidates are running for a substitution if positive
Sergio Pérez was the first to catch the coronavirus in July of last year. He was followed by Lance Stroll in October, Lewis Hamilton in December and Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly last January. The French pilot announced his positive only a few days ago through his social networks.
In this way, Valtteri Bottas, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Räikkönen, Antonio Giovinazzi, Mick Schumacher, Nikita Mazepin, George Russell and Nicholas Latifi are those who by the At the moment they have not been infected.
The list of possible substitutes is long and varies by team. Mercedes can turn to Stoffel Vandoorne or even Russell as has already happened in Sakhir. Red Bull and AlphaTauri feature Alexander Albon or Sebastien Buemi. For its part, Ferrari could put Callum Ilott and even Antonio Fuoco, who rode in the Abu Dhabi young drivers test, into his car.
Alpine, Renault in 2020, had Sergey Sirotkin as a reserve driver, so he would be a candidate to replace Ocon or Alonso. Alfa Romeo has Robert Kubica in its ranks, while Haas would go to Pietro Fittipaldi and Williams, Jack Aitken or Roy Nissany. In addition to these test or reserve drivers, there are others who are no longer linked to any team, but who could return. This is the case of Nico Hülkenberg, who took the place of Pérez and Stroll at Racing Point, Romain Grosjean or Kevin Magnussen.
Factors to take into account
Despite everything, there have already been many cases in which coronavirus patients recount the disease months after their first positive. It is for this reason that Pérez, Stroll, Hamilton, Norris, Leclerc and Gasly are still in danger of missing a race due to covid-19 despite having already had it. What happened to Antonio García can also happen to them, who gave a ‘marginal’ positive in a test after having already passed the covid-19 in December of last year.
Therefore, they will have to exercise extreme caution like the 14 remaining pilots, especially those who had it before. Another factor to take into account is that there are different strains, some more contagious than others, so the risk of reinfection may be higher.
However, the vaccine has already reached countries such as Spain, Israel or Germany, among others. Each country has its own vaccination plan, but it is possible that pilots can receive this vaccine before the 2021 season comes to an end. In case this happens, the possibility of contracting the coronavirus will be much lower, although they should continue to use precautionary measures such as a mask, hydroalcoholic gel or interpersonal distance.
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