Racing Point driver Lance Stroll will miss this weekend’s Eifel Grand Prix due to an upset stomach, but has not been tested for coronavirus since Tuesday.
Stroll will be replaced by Nico Hulkenberg at the Nurburgring after Racing Point took a decision 30 minutes ahead of Saturday’s final practice session to substitute its driver.
Team principal Otmar Szafnauer said Stroll had been unwell since he left the last race in Russia two weeks ago with “flu-like symptoms”, but had returned “three or four” negative COVID-19 tests since then.
He was last tested for the virus on Tuesday at his mandatory pre-event test to gain access to the paddock at the Nurburgring, and Szafnauer said a bout of diarrhoea on Friday night ultimately led to the decision to miss the race weekend.
“He hasn’t been feeling great since Russia,” Szafnauer said. “I think he had a bit of a cold.
“At first, we thought he’d better get tested for the virus, but we have tested him multiple times, including the pre-event test for this race, and he has come back negative three or four times.
“He doesn’t have the classic COVID-19 symptoms, he just doesn’t feel well in himself and last night he had a bit of an upset stomach, so he was on the toilet the whole time.
“He said he lost a lot of fluid and couldn’t get off the toilet for long enough to get in the race car. I don’t know if it’s something he ate or a tummy bug or what. He just said he didn’t feel up to it.
“So I talked to him and said, ‘look, we are going to have a double-header coming up soon [at Portimao and Imola]’ and I’d rather he rest and get ready for that.
“So it was close call and we were hoping he would get better.”
Asked when Stroll was last tested for coronavirus, Szafnauer said: “The pre-event test was Tuesday. We got the results on Wednesday and he hasn’t been tested since.
“We are following the FIA protocol, but I think his next was Sunday or Monday. I think it’s five days and you get another test. I think it’s the same for all of us.”
It was not clear from the interview, which was provided by F1’s governing body the FIA due to limited media access, if Stroll would be tested again before leaving Germany.
“He’s being monitored by doctors and when he feels well enough to leave the room and he doesn’t have to be 10 feet [away from a toilet], he’ll fly home,” Szafnauer added.
Hulkenberg also stood in for Stroll’s teammate Sergio Perez when the Mexican tested positive for coronavirus ahead of the British Grand Prix and the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix earlier this year.
The German will line up last on the grid at the Nurburgring after missing Saturday morning’s practice session.