Being one of the greatest performers in the history of your sport might afford you plenty of privileges, but at the end of the day, Formula One superstar Lewis Hamilton has learned that while he can run circles around just about anyone, he’s no match for the coronavirus.
On Tuesday, the seven-time champ took to Twitter to unveil his diagnosis.
“Hi guys,” he wrote in a statement. “I’m devastated that I won’t be racing this weekend. Since we started the season in June, my team and I have been taking all the precautions we possibly can and following the regulations everywhere we’ve been in order to stay safe. Unfortunately, even though I returned three negative results this past week, I woke up yesterday morning with mild symptoms and requested another test which came back positive.”
Damn, homie.
CBS News reports that the 35-year-old has been put in isolation in accordance with Bahrain protocols, and I regret to inform you that yes, he’ll miss the Sakhir Grand Prix this upcoming weekend.
Fans of Hamilton noted that he appeared to be a bit drained following Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, in which he beat out Alex Albon and Max Verstappen for his 11th win of the 2020 season.
“It’s physical, this track has always been physical,” he said after Sunday’s race. “We’ve got lots of high-speed corners so I was definitely feeling it. I was sliding around a lot out there and I wasn’t really quite sure how it would play out at the end.”
Thankfully, Hamilton’s symptoms are mild, though the possibility remains that he could miss the rest of the 2020 season.
“Apart from mild symptoms, he is otherwise fit and well, and the entire team sends him its very best wishes for a swift recovery,” his Mercedes team told CBS News.
Aside from dominating the race track, Hamilton has been vigilant in his pursuit of racial equality both in and outside of his sport. In July, he called out Formula One and the FIA for what he perceived as a “lack of leadership” in addressing the lack of diversity in racing.
“We haven’t made any progress,” Hamilton fumed at the time, per Racer Magazine. “We’ve said things and there’s been statements released, and we’ve made gestures such as kneeling but we’ve not changed anything, except for perhaps some of our awareness. I’m definitely encouraged by our team; those in Formula 1 who are ‘What else can we do? Can we do more? Can we do it better?’ so I think it’s about communication.”
We wish Hamilton a speedy recovery and look forward to him returning to the race track in the near future.