Paris (AFP)
Monegasque Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc has tested positive for Covid-19 and placed in isolation at his home in Monaco, his Ferrari team announced Thursday.
"Charles is tested regularly and yesterday (Wednesday), the result of his last test was positive", indicated the Scuderia Ferrari, specifying that Leclerc "(felt) currently well with slight symptoms".
The F1 season not starting until March 28 with the Bahrain Grand Prix, the contamination of the young 23-year-old driver has no immediate sporting consequences.
"Unfortunately, I learned that I had been in contact with a positive case and immediately isolated myself, warning everyone I had contact with. A subsequent test I performed came out positive." , Leclerc said on his Twitter account.
Leclerc is the 5th F1 driver infected with Covid, after Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll and Lando Norris.
After a year at Sauber, Leclerc arrived at Ferrari in 2019, finishing close to the podium (4th) in the drivers' standings.
The year 2020 was much more complicated with, in the end, a disappointing 8th place.
In 2021, he will team up at Scuderia with Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr., who replaces Sebastian Vettel, who left for Aston Martin.
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