Nico Hülkenberg has travelled with the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, as Sebastian Vettel’s participation in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix remains unknown, with the German yet to return a negative Covid-19 test.
After replacing Vettel at the last minute at last weekend’s season opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Hülkenberg is preparing once again to replace Vettel this weekend. Aston Martin made an announcement Thursday morning that Vettel still hadn’t returned a negative test, and that a final decision would be made on Friday.
Should Hülkenberg replace his German compatriot again this weekend, he will be hoping to progress further up the field than he did at the Bahrain International Circuit, after having minimal running time in the AMR22.
UPDATE: Sebastian Vettel has not yet returned the required negative COVID test to fly to the #SaudiArabiaGP. Nico Hülkenberg will be in Jeddah to deputise for Seb if necessary. We will delay our final decision until Friday to provide Seb every opportunity to race.
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) March 24, 2022