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McLaren Formula 1 boss Zak Brown says Racing Point should have tested an unwell Lance Stroll prior to his positive COVID-19 test and took a swipe at the team’s justification not to from a doctor’s phone call.
Stroll withdrew from the Eifel Grand Prix weekend after developing an upset stomach on Saturday morning, while Racing Point said he had “flu-like symptoms” and had been suffering to some extent since the Russian GP.
However, Racing Point did not carry out another coronavirus test for Stroll on the basis he had returned a negative test earlier in the week, was not required to take another one until Sunday in Germany, and had spoken to his personal physician over the phone who had advised his symptoms were not COVID-19 symptoms.
Stroll left Germany to return home to Switzerland on Sunday and took a COVID-19 test that returned positive.
It means Stroll was likely in the F1 paddock earlier in the Eifel GP event while carrying the virus.
The FIA has issued Racing Point a reminder of its responsibilities to disclose positive tests sooner after the governing body only learned of Stroll’s test this week, but the team has not been ruled to have otherwise breached the championship’s COVID-19 protocols.
McLaren Racing CEO Brown, whose team was the first to suffer a COVID case back in March and triggered the cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix with its subsequent withdrawal from the event, said he is happy with the FIA’s protocols but said they only work if teams all buy into them.
“It requires a lot of trust, transparency, communication and responsibility from all the teams to make sure we have not only safety within our own teams, but within the whole racing community,” said Brown at the Portuguese Grand Prix on Sunday.
“For McLaren we put our people first and foremost, we won’t take any risks, we won’t gamble.
“We recognise how dangerous this is, and we want to make sure that everyone stays healthy, we can continue to put on grands prix. I think that the sport’s done a good job.
“I don’t know who the doctor was, I don’t know if it was Dr Mallya, Dr Seuss, maybe it was Dr Dre” :: Zak Brown
“There has been more cases. Obviously Racing Point as you mentioned being most visible recently, and we do a tremendous amount of testing.
“We think we take full precaution, and we’ll do an immense amount of testing. I think we all just need to look after each other’s back.
“If I look at the Racing Point incidents, I would probably test anyone that isn’t feeling well daily.
“When in Australia, we had someone that didn’t feel well, Andreas [Seidl, McLaren team principal] and I aren’t doctors but we took the very quick decision to isolate.
“And then once the test came back positive isolate the team and ultimately we knew that shut us down for the race.”
Racing Point team boss Otmar Szanfauer said on Thursday that Stroll had spoken to his doctor over the phone and been told he was not suffering COVID symptoms, so the team felt a COVID test was not necessary.
“Maybe in hindsight, that should be different,” Brown said.
“I don’t know who the doctor was, I don’t know if it was Dr Mallya, Dr Seuss, maybe it was Dr Dre.
“But maybe next time around we should be testing when anyone has any sorts of symptoms because we know how dangerous this is.”
This is not the first time Brown and Szafnauer have clashed this year. McLaren and Racing Point were embroiled in a row over the validity Racing Point’s Mercedes-inspired car concept for months, which led Szafnauer to claim Brown knows more about historic racing than F1.
Brown later responded that Szafnauer knew a lot about historic racing as he is running an old Mercedes in F1 this year.
Szafnauer had staunchly defended his team’s COVID test practices on Thursday, claiming Racing Point tests more people than “any other business on the planet”.
He repeated the claim alongside Brown in the FIA press conference on Friday, when he denied the team suffered a positive test among its engineering staff after the Russian GP but admitted there have been positive cases at the factory.
After his dig at the doctor misdiagnosis, Brown also seemed to poke fun at Szafnauer’s claim regarding the frequency of Racing Point’s testing and reiterated his view that Racing Point did not act as sensibly as it could have.
“I don’t know what everyone’s testing protocols are,” said Brown.
“I know how much we test. I don’t know how much Franz [Tost, AlphaTauri team boss, also in the press conference] tests.
“I’ve just heard Racing Point test more than any company in the planet. Not sure how you substantiate that.
“All I know is when we had our issue in Australia we communicated it very quickly to everyone, because I think we have a moral obligation to people’s health, the need to have a high level of awareness, that’s, I think that’s exactly what Mercedes did when they had their incidents [in Germany as well].
“I don’t know all the details I just know what I read and see. Looks like there wasn’t immediate transparency.
“And for an entity that tests as much as they do…all I know is we would be testing at McLaren anyone who doesn’t feel well daily to make sure that that person is healthy, and that they’re not transmitting, and then would isolate anyone that was around them immediately.”
Stroll returned a negative COVID-19 test on Monday this week and is racing in Portugal.
Szafnauer said on Thursday there was no reason for Racing Point to change its processes in light of Stroll’s positive case, which meant both race drivers have now contracted the virus this year – Sergio Perez missed the two Silverstone races because of it.
On Friday, Szafnauer the team had taken note of the FIA’s “reminder that we have an obligation to inform the FIA in a short period of time after, and we’ve learned from that”.
He said it was not a “warning” as has previously been described.
“If it happens again of course we will do it [tell the FIA] immediately,” he said.
“When Lance tested on Sunday, he was isolating in Switzerland after he got the result and our concern was first and foremost for his health, but also making sure that we contacted all of his close contacts to let them know.
“But by the time we had word, all of his close contacts had already tested negative for the virus.”
