McLaren has three reserves of Daniel Ricciardo, including Alpine’s Oscar Piastri, as a reserve
McLaren can choose from at least three drivers to replace COVID-stricken Daniel Ricciardo at the Bahrain Grand Prix, captain Andreas Seidl said on Saturday, although he hopes the Australian driver will be fit for the match. opening Formula One next weekend.
The 32-year-old missed the opening two days of his final pre-season test in Bahrain after feeling unwell and then tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday nightexclude him from the final action day of Saturday.
Seidl, who was quoted by German publication Auto, Motor und Sport as saying Ricciardo will have to be in quarantine until the evening of March 17, said he is confident the Australian driver will return to the wheel in time for the Grand prix from March 18 to 20.
But he said McLaren has Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries, backup drivers for electrical equipment supplier Mercedes, and Scot Paul di Resta as backup.
“Regarding the reserve driver, similar to previous years, we have an agreement with Mercedes to share the reserve driver,” Seidl told reporters at the Sakhir circuit on Saturday.
“We also have Paul di Resta, similar to last year, on standby in case of need, but again, I hope Daniel is back in good form next week.”
Vandoorne, who raced for McLaren in 2017 and 2018 and now drives for Mercedes in the Formula E series, is expected to compete in the 1000 Mile Sebring endurance race on the same weekend as the Bahrain Grand Prix.
De Vries, Vandoorne’s Formula E teammate, won the Formula Two championship in 2019 but has never raced in Formula One.
Di Resta, who raced for Force India from 2011 to 2013, last competed in Formula 1 as a substitute for Felipe Massa at Williams at the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Even if he was fit, Ricciardo would have headed the opener for Bahrain with his back foot.
He has just a day and a half of experience, culminated in his first pre-season test in Barcelona, in a car designed for the most radical rule overhaul in decades.
“It definitely puts us and Daniel on the back foot,” Seidl said. “But in the end it’s something Daniel can’t control, we simply have to accept it as it is.”
