Lewis Hamilton Replacement: Who will replace the World Champion ahead of the Sakhir GP In Bahrain as he got diagnosed with COVID-19.
Lewis Hamilton was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Tuesday morning and will not be participating anyhow in the Sakhir Grand Prix, with doubts over the last race in Dubai is also looming.
BREAKING: Lewis Hamilton will miss this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain after a positive test for Covid-19 pic.twitter.com/c0XCfyDmWZ
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 1, 2020
Though, Hamilton doesn’t technically need to race in this season anymore, as he has already sealed his championship title and could relax in ease while others can fill in his shoes for formality.
But Mercedes have limited options to replace him and would have to opt one out of them. So, the Sportsrush will try to number possible replacements that Mercedes can make for the second race in Bahrain this season.
Lewis Hamilton Replacement
Nico Hulkenberg
The German racer has the been the go-to replacement for Formula 1 this season, with Racing Point already using him in three different Grand Prix this season.
It was also revealed that when Hulkenberg came to replace Lance Stroll at Eifel GP, it was Red Bull who contacted him initially to be in town as a day prior to it Alex Albon was not feeling well and could have been replaced.
Hulkenberg is one of the only drivers to still have a valid super license with a valid experience on the track, hence making him a safe resort for every team to rely upon.
Interestingly, Hulkenberg in his decade long spell at Formula 1 has not even once stood on the podium, often marred with tragic luck in several cases. Can he with the greatest Formula 1 car of all time end his curse?
Stoffle Vandoorne
Racing Point has an agreement that whenever in a need of a replacement, they can bank on the Mercedes’ reserve drivers, and that’s what supposed to happen during the British Grand Prix.
Until it was known that the two reserve drivers wouldn’t be able to fill in for Racing Point as Stoffle Vandoorne was engaged with his responsibilities in Formula E, meanwhile Esteban Gutierrez‘s license isn’t valid this season.
So in the end, they had to go with Hulkenberg. But this time Vandoorne is already supposed to be in Bahrain this week upon completing his Formula E test in Valencia.
Last raced for McLaren in 2018, he might not get the preference with no relevant run time in Formula 1 this season.