Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley will not attend this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix after testing positive for COVID-19.
In the build up to the upcoming race in Sakhir, Wheatley conducted the mandatory pre-event screening where Red Bull confirmed his result had returned positive.
Under the government guidelines, Wheatley will self-isolate for the required 10-day period, meaning he will not travel to Bahrain with the team.
A statement released by Red Bull on Thursday morning said: “We can confirm that during mandatory pre-race testing in the UK, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley tested positive for COVID-19.
“In accordance with official protocols he will continue to isolate for the 10 day period and not attend the Bahrain GP.
“Jonathan’s duties will be shared by a number of team personnel at this weekend’s Bahrain GP. The positive test has not resulted in any other team members needing to isolate following contact tracing and will not affect the team’s trackside operations.”
Wheatley’s positive test follows two other high profile cases in recent weeks, with Williams deputy team principal Simon Roberts and Pirelli boss Mario Isola also contracting the virus.
All Formula 1 personnel are permitted to undergo a COVID-19 test every five days across an event as part of the FIA’s strict healthy and safety protocols.
Across the latest results, F1 and the FIA reported there was three positive cases from 746 tests between November 13 and November 20.
Comments.
Loading comments…