Covid Sidelines Hamilton

We woke up to the news this morning that Lewis Hamilton had tested positive for Covid and as such this has ruled him out of this weekend's second Bahrain Grand Prix on the Outer Loop circuit. He's reported he has only mild symptoms and is self-isolating as per the protocols.

Whilst Lewis being out of contention for the race is unfortunate this does open up the very interesting prospect of who is going to replace him this weekend, and potentially in Abu Dhabi as well if Lewis doesn't return a negative Covid test in time.

Mercedes find themselves in a strong place as they have some truly excellent talent that they can draw on.

Realistic options on the table for them are Stoffel Van Dorne who's their test driver this season, Esteban Gutierez who most recently drove for Haas, Nico Hulkenberg who's subbed in for both Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll and did a sterling job on each occasion. Of the currently active drivers they could also call on George Russell.

So who will they choose?

Van Dorne and Gutierez are probably strong candidates as Mercedes current reserve drivers, so will know the car and all the systems and procedures. However their previous showings in F1 have been somewhat laclustre with Vandorne's stint at McLaren partnered with Alonso and Gutierez at Haas did show that they're quite a long way off being a top-line drivers so this might be a factor.

I think Nico Hulkenberg is a bit of an outside chance as he's not affiliated with Mercedes other than he's subbed in for the Racing Point team which use Mercedes engines a few times this year. It would be truly brilliant though to be able to see him in a race winning car. Maybe if Mercedes do go with him not only could his podium duck be broken but maybe, just maybe he could be fighting for the win.

I think though that the most likely candidate for the vacant Mercedes seat is going to be Mr. Saturday himself George Russell. Weekend in, weekend out Russell has hugely outperformed his machinery dragging his Williams into Q2 on multiple occasions. He's also part of the Mercedes Young Driver program so it would be the perfect opportunity for Mercedes to be able to evaluate him and see what he can do given a truly competitive car. I think if Mercedes do choose Russell he may be adding 25 points to the 0 he's managed so far with Williams.

My preference if I'm thinking with my head would be George Russell. He has more than earned the chance with what he's been able to do in the Williams and it would be great to see what he can do when put against Bottas who is no slouch as his baseline. I think he's probably cream him.

If I'm thinking with my heart though then the only name that I'm thinking of is Hulkenberg. How amazing would it be to see him in a truly competitive and thus far reliable car. After being dropped, rather stupidly by Renault in favor of Ocon (who's been shown to be an also-ran this season by Ricciardo) and some brilliant substitute showings for Racing Point this season I can think of nobody better to go in that seat.

Here's hoping Mercedes don't keep us in suspense too long.........