---
title: "Wolff: Hamilton ‘not great’ but COVID-19 symptoms only ‘relatively mild’"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2020/12/04/wolff-hamilton-not-great-but-covid-19-symptoms-only-relatively-mild/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Hamilton Lyndon-Griffiths"
section: "F1 News"
published: "2020-12-04T17:53:25Z"
modified: "2020-12-04T18:10:10Z"
---

# Wolff: Hamilton ‘not great’ but COVID-19 symptoms only ‘relatively mild’

Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton is “not great” after testing positive for COVID-19 but his symptoms are only “relatively mild”, says Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.

Hamilton is not participating in this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix following his positive test earlier this week, marking the first race the Briton will miss since his debut in 2007.

Speaking after the opening practice session at the Bahrain International Circuit, Wolff revealed Hamilton’s current condition.

“He’s not great,” Wolff told Sky F1. “I mean, Covid-19 is something that you mustn’t take lightly and he’s in safe hands, that’s most important, but it’s those early days that are always not so nice.”

Wolff later expanded on his comments in Friday’s press conference, saying Hamilton has “symptoms but they are relatively mild”.

Mercedes was forced to find a replacement for Hamilton, who due to isolation protocols could be a doubt for next week’s season finale in Abu Dhabi, loaning junior driver George Russell from Williams.

Russell quickly settled in and topped the first practice session in Bahrain, lapping four-tenths quicker than Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, but Wolff called for calm on the Briton’s performance.

“P1 was a good session but we need to calm everybody down,” Wolff said. “He delivered a really solid job in what we expect from him on a single lap.

“It’s difficult to establish a benchmark because Valtteri broke his car early on and it was difficult for him to stop it properly.

“It was like for like but Valtteri broke his car pretty early on in the session on the lap and you could see that towards his runs at the end there was severe blocking on the left-right..

“He even stopped running so we didn’t see Valtteri in the right car but this is not to diminish George’s performance for the first time in the car, it’s good.”

Although Wolff says it is “perfectly feasible” for Hamilton to return for the final race of 2020, he remained cautious on the situation.

“It would be a very positive development \[for Hamilton to return\],” Wolff said, as quoted by Motorsport.com.

“Nevertheless, you need to look at the situation anyway, because there are many athletes in sports, people out there that have tested positive for a long time after any symptoms and after they’ve been in any way infectious.

“This is something the FIA needs to look into anyway.”