The announcement was published on the social media of the Aston Martin team, overwhelmed by the cold shower of Sebastian Vettel's COVID-19 positivity on the eve of the first race weekend in Bahrain. The German was promptly replaced by his compatriot Nico Hulkenberg who had just enough time to pack up before leaving and driving these new single-seaters that he had only been able to test in simulators.
Although they were hectic days, Nico's debut was a pleasant surprise, despite having touched a Formula 1 only 3 times in 3 years, moreover a single-seater completely different from that of the last "era" of Formula 1. Nico paid the lack of knowledge of these cars only in the race, even if in qualifying gave a hard time to his teammate, as well as the young heir of the team owner.
The communication on the further replacement of Sebastian arrived in the morning although yesterday the possibility of this scenario had already been communicated given the still positive outcome of Sebastian's swab. The decision had in fact been postponed until today. The team did not specify the reasons for the substitution, or rather, it limited itself to saying that Sebastian is not in good shape and that Nico will take his place for the entire race weekend in Saudi Arabia, hoping to see Sebastian again in Melbourne . It must be said, however, that Sebastian is not the only one who needs to get back in shape. In fact, even Aston Martin itself today seems to be in difficulty and could not offer Seb a car with which to really compete.
In Jeddah, however, Hulkenberg will be called upon to make an even greater effort as, in addition to the handicap of the car that he still doesn't know well, he will have to compete with a new, exciting but also, and above all, particularly demanding circuit. Sebastian Vettel was forced to retire here last year due to damage caused by a collision, let's hope it goes better for him.
