F1 have announced two people have tested positive for coronavirus ahead of Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix. The positive results come after almost 5000 tests were carried out on drivers, teams and personnel between Friday July 10 and Thursday July 16.
The infected personnel were not present in Austria for the Austrian and Styrian Grands Prix, which were staged at the Red Bull Ring over the past two weekends.
Their identities and affiliations to F1, the FIA or any of the 10 teams in the paddock will not be revealed.
A statement released on Friday afternoon said said: “The FIA and Formula 1 can today confirm that between Friday 10th July and Thursday 16th July, 4,997 tests for COVID-19 have been performed on drivers, teams and personnel.
“Of these, two people have tested positive. The individuals were not present in Austria, with the affected people removed from operations and isolated. Tracing of close contacts completed and isolated.
“The FIA and Formula 1 are providing this aggregated information for the purposes of competition integrity and transparency.
“No specific details as to teams or individuals will be provided by the FIA or Formula 1 and results will be made public every 7 days.”
The news of the positive test results comes after a rainy day of practice at the Hungaroring, which is located 13 miles north-east of Budapest.
Reigning F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, who won last week’s race in Austria, came out on top in Free Practice 1 on Friday morning.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel then went quickest on Friday afternoon after conditions had worsened at the Mogyorod circuit.
Qualifying is due to take place on Saturday and Hamilton will be desperate to secure his second pole on the bounce.
The Hungarian Grand Prix is set to be the third race of an F1 season which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
The campaign was due to start in Australia on March 15 but the Melbourne meet was cancelled after the deadly COVID-19 virus reached the paddock.
The subsequent nine Grands Prix were all called off, leaving Chase Carey and co. scrambling to piece together a new schedule.
Two Grands Prix in Austria have since been held, with this weekend’s trip to Hungary set to be followed up by visits to the UK, Spain, Belgium and Italy.
Last week it was revealed Mugello and Sochi will host F1 meets, with F1 chiefs hoping to add more Grands Prix to the calendar soon.