Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel is back to full health after his recent bout of Covid-19 and will compete at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend.
This will mark the German driver’s first battle of the season after testing positive ahead of the season opener in Bahrain – ruling him out of contention.
According to reports, the virus really knocked the four-time world champion, but he is back in full health and ready to race.
Nico Hulkenberg was drafted in by the team in his absence but didn’t manage to score any vital season-opening points for the UK-based team.
Hulkenberg has said he will remain close by should the team need his services at any point this weekend.
Speaking to Motorsport.com, he said: “I might go in closer proximity to Australia so that I’m kind of on standby, and if there is a situation then I’m at least not in Europe, but a bit closer.”
In a statement this week, Aston Martin confirmed: “We are pleased to confirm that Sebastian Vettel is now fit to race and will therefore line up alongside Lance Stroll in Melbourne to kick off his 2022 season at the Australian Grand Prix.”
Fans have been posting messages on Twitter in delight about his return and one person said: “Please don’t hold back the Seb content, admin, we’ve been quite deprived.”
Another wrote: “Definitely not complaining about the return of Seb content admin,” while a third said, “Delighted to have Seb back on the grid this week.”
It’ll be a tough weekend for Vettel, who hasn’t driven the AMR 22 since pre-season testing in Bahrain in early March, but he will jump back behind the wheel this Friday for Free Practice kicking off at 4:00 am Irish time.
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