McLaren F1 driver Norris to return to the UK after recovering from COVID-19
McLaren Formula 1 driver Lando Norris is set to return home to the UK in the next few days after completing his quarantine period in Dubai, Crash.net understands.
The 21-year-old tested positive for COVID-19 while on holiday in Dubai after noticing that he had lost his sense of taste and smell.
Norris, who finished ninth in the 2020 F1 world championship standings, said he was feeling well and reported no other symptoms, but subsequently missed his planned training camp in Dubai due to having to self-isolate at his hotel in line with government guidelines.
With that mandatory quarantine period elapsing on Monday, a McLaren spokesperson confirmed to Crash.net that its driver has fully recovered and is scheduled to travel back to the UK later this week.
The Briton must return a negative test before he can get on a flight back to the UK, and once he is home he will need to undergo a further period of self-isolation.
It is a setback to Norris’ winter training plans ahead of the upcoming 2021 F1 season, though the delayed start to the campaign will give him an extra week to prepare before pre-season testing gets underway on 12-14 March, ahead of the season opener in Bahrain two weeks later.
Norris will have a new teammate for his third season in F1 in the shape of Daniel Ricciardo, who joins McLaren from Renault to replace Ferrari-bound Carlos Sainz.
He is one of five F1 drivers to have publicly confirmed they have contracted coronavirus in the last six months.
After Sergio Perez was ruled out of both Silverstone rounds following a positive test in July, his former Racing Point teammate Lance Stroll also had the virus when he missed October’s Eifel Grand Prix.
Newly-crowned seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was forced to miss an F1 race for the first time in his career when he contracted COVID-19 ahead of the Sakhir Grand Prix in November.
Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc have both since tested positive this month following trips to Dubai.
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
