---
title: "Vettel declared fit to return for Australian GP"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2022/03/31/vettel-declared-fit-to-return-for-australian-gp/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Hamilton Lyndon-Griffiths"
section: "F1 News"
published: "2022-03-31T10:28:05Z"
modified: "2022-03-31T10:28:07Z"
---

# Vettel declared fit to return for Australian GP

Sebastian Vettel will return to action for Aston Martin at next week’s Australian Grand Prix after missing the opening two Formula 1 races due to COVID-19.

The four-time world champion tested positive on the eve of the season opener in Bahrain, which led to Aston Martin reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg deputising in his place.

The team gave Vettel an extended window to return a negative test for the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia, but his failure to recover in time meant Hulkenberg stood in once again.

It marked Vettel’s first absences from a grand prix weekend since 2007, the year he made his F1 debut, but on Thursday Aston Martin confirmed Vettel would be back driving in Melbourne after being declared fit.

Next week’s race will be Vettel’s first outing in the AMR22 since pre-season testing, with the German tasked with trying to help the Silverstone-based outfit turn around a difficult start to 2022.

Aston Martin is only one of two teams that have failed to score points in the first two rounds of the year, with a 12th place finish its best result so far.

Vettel’s return to the cockpit coincides with F1’s first visit to Melbourne since before the global pandemic, which resulted in both the 2020 and 2021 events to be called off.

The Albert Park circuit has undergone a major revamp in a bid to improve overtaking opportunities, with various corners modified and the previous Turn 9/10 chicane scrapped in favour on a long straight.