Silverstone (United Kingdom) (AFP)

Formula 1 was confronted Thursday with its first case of a driver positive for the coronavirus when the fourth Grand Prix of the season is to be contested at Silverstone in Great Britain on Sunday.

Mexican Sergio Pérez (Racing Point) tested positive on Thursday and will therefore not be able to participate in practice on Friday, or in qualifying on Saturday, or in the race on Sunday. His participation in the other race scheduled at Silverstone on August 9 is also now impossible.

The name of his replacement is not yet known although Racing Point has indicated that it intends to race two cars this weekend, the other being entrusted to Canadian Lance Stroll.

The first Grand Prix of the year scheduled in Australia in early March had been canceled because Covid-19s had been detected among members of several teams but this is the first time that a driver has been affected.

This should not however jeopardize the holding of the Grand Prix of Great Britain, the officials of F1 having put in place a very strict protocol of separation between the teams.

"With the help of the local organizer of the British Grand Prix, local health authorities and the FIA ​​delegate in charge of Covid-19, a tracing process was undertaken and all those who were in contact (with Pérez editor's note) were placed in quarantine. The procedures decreed by the FIA ​​and Formula One allowed the incident to be brought under control which will not have a wider impact on the weekend's event, "said the Federation international automobile festival on Thursday evening.

The public is not allowed to attend the F1 events organized since the resumption of the world championship in early July with already two races in Austria and one in Hungary.

According to his team, Sergio Pérez, 30, has not returned to his country since the Hungarian Grand Prix ten days ago.

This case illustrates the uncertainties hanging over the organization of the F1 World Championship, the calendar of which has been disrupted by the pandemic. A large number of events have been canceled and the promoter Formula One has had to set up replacement races, organized mainly in Europe.

- Behind closed doors -

Of the 22 Grand Prix initially planned, Formula One still hopes to be able to organize between 15 and 18 by December, only a few with spectators.

Their absence was deplored Thursday by the six-time world champion and defending champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).

"I would like to see fans. It will be weird not to see anyone in the stands, (...) not to see any flag. It will be a somewhat lonely weekend without their energy," said the British driver.

Winner of the last two races, he is 5 points ahead of his teammate, the Finnish Valtteri Bottas, and seems well on the way to the conquest of a 7th world title which would make him the equal of Michael Schumacher.

The start of the championship was also marked by the setbacks of Ferrari whose car lined up this year "is not competitive", in the words of John Elkann, president of the Fiat Chrysler group, which owns the prancing horse brand.

"You have to be honest in difficult times and it is not easy, it will take a lot of work to get back to where we want to be but we are not there for the moment", conceded the driver of the Scuderia Charles Leclerc Thursday.

His team-mate, German Sebastian Vettel, already knows that his contract will not be renewed next year and rumors are rife about his next team, which could be none other than Racing Point, the team of Sergio Pérez.

"I have nothing to say at the moment. I would tell you if I knew but I don't. It could take another two weeks, maybe more ... I'm in no rush," he said at a press conference on Thursday.

Racing Points are on the rise right now after excellent qualifying and a good result in Hungary.

Powered by a Mercedes engine, they draw heavily on the single-seater that led Lewis Hamilton to the world title last year.

A little too much according to their rival Renault, who accuses the team owned by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, Lance's father, of having simply copied certain parts. The complaint filed by the French team is still "under investigation" with the FIA.

© 2020 AFP