Formula 1: Racing Point driver Lance Stroll tests positive for coronavirus

Lance Stroll of Racing Point has revealed he tested positive for coronavirus after the Eifel Grand Prix weekend.

The Canadian – who did not race – was unwell and displayed a number of Covid-19 symptoms at the Nurburgring race but was not tested over the weekend.

Stroll claimed his symptoms were “pretty mild” and he proceeded to take a test after heading home on the morning of the 11 October race.

However, Lance Stroll has returned a negative result from his recent test, which he had on Monday, before this weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix.

“I feel in great shape and I can’t wait to be back with the team and to race in Portugal,” he adds on social media.

Racing Point said in a statement on Wednesday that they did not report the situation with Stroll to the FIA because “a doctor did not believe his symptoms indicated Covid-19 and did not advise a test was necessary“.

“Based on this clinical assessment, at the time there was no requirement to inform the FIA as to the nature of the illness,” the statement adds.

A spokesman for the FIA said it would not be taking any further action because “we don’t feel that there has been any breach of the (Covid) code.”

The FIA’s code of protocols for dealing with Covid-19 says participants must “comply with the instructions of his/her Stakeholder (team) and the Covid-19 Delegate” if “he/she tests positive for the Covid-19 virus or he/she starts to suffer from any Covid-19 symptoms“.

Reports also claim that Stroll’s father Lawrence, who owns the team, has also contracted coronavirus.

Lawrence Stroll returned a positive result after he was tested at his Swiss home on the Sunday of the Eifel Grand Prix. The team said that he has been isolating since but has had no symptoms.

He had not travelled to the Russian Grand Prix or the Eifel GP.

Stroll first developed a stomach upset over the Russian Grand Prix weekend according to a statement by Racing Point.

He tested negative for Covid-19 “several times” over the two weeks before the Nurburgring race, the team said, and again before travelling to Germany.

The upset returned on Saturday morning at the Nurburgring, “which forced Lance to withdraw from the race and stay in his motorhome away from the paddock“.

“Lance then flew home to Switzerland on a private plane on Sunday morning,” the team adds.

“In line with Racing Point’s enhanced testing protocol, under which all team members are tested on return from a Grand Prix, Lance took a Covid-19 test at home and received a positive result the next day.

“He continued to isolate for 10 days from the date of the test, in line with local regulations. He returned a negative test on Monday this week and will travel to the Portuguese Grand Prix.

“All members of the Racing Point team at the Eifel Grand Prix returned to the UK via a private charter flight and all tested negative upon their arrival, and again in their pre-event test for the Portuguese Grand Prix.”

Otmar Szafnauer, the team principal said at the Eifel Grand Prix that he was “confident” Stroll did not have coronavirus, despite having “flu-like symptoms”, an upset stomach and was “just not well in himself and couldn’t exercise”.

This was despite those being listed as possible coronavirus symptoms on the websites of both the World Health Organisation and the US’s Centre for Disease Control.

Stroll’s team-mate Sergio Perez was the first person on the team to test positive for the virus this season and was forced to miss the two races at Silverstone in the summer after catching the virus following a trip home to Mexico to see his mother.