F1’s Leclerc tests positive for Covid-19

PARIS: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc announced on Thursday that he had tested positive for Covid-19, two days after Formula One was forced to postpone two of next season’s Grands Prix.

“I want to let you know that I have tested positive for Covid-19,” the Monegasque driver said on Twitter.

“I learned that I have been in contact with a positive case and immediately went into self-isolation... A subsequent test I took has come back positive.”

Leclerc, 23, added that he had “mild symptoms” and was isolating at his home in his native Monaco.

He finished eighth last season after making just two podium finishes in a dreadful 17-race campaign for Ferrari in which four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel slumped to 13th in the drivers’ standings.

The positive test shouldn’t have any immediate impact on Leclerc’s prospects for the coming season, which doesn’t start until the Bahrain GP on March 28.

On Tuesday this year’s Australian GP, the traditional season opener, was pushed back until November as the coronavirus pandemic forced a 2021 calendar rejig. The Chinese GP was also shelved with no new date for that race yet scheduled.