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George Russell will conduct media duties for the Mercedes Formula 1 team on Thursday ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton’s return remains subject to question marks.
Russell will be with Mercedes and his Sakhir GP replacement Jack Aitken with Williams for Thursday’s media activities at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
It does not mean Hamilton is ruled out of a return but is to fulfil the usual obligations in his absence.
Mercedes is still waiting to learn if he will be allowed to travel from Bahrain and take part in the rest of the weekend.
“There are still some question marks over who will be in the car this weekend in Abu Dhabi,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
“Lewis’s condition is improving, but we won’t know until closer to the time if he will be driving.
“We’ll do everything we can to get him in the car and we know he’s determined to be back as soon as possible.
“But his health is our main priority, so we will see what the situation is and then make the call.”
Hamilton missed the Sakhir Grand Prix after testing positive for COVID-19 last Monday but he is nearing the end of a mandatory 10-day isolation period in Bahrain, and said earlier this week he is feeling better and has started training again ahead of a hoped-for return.
Hamilton had to miss the F1 chartered flights on Monday and a subsequent private travel arrangement for other personnel on Wednesday because of his isolation but will travel separately if permission is granted to belatedly enter the F1 bubble that has been created.
Given others have travelled independently of the charter, getting that permission is considered likely if a private flight is arranged on his behalf.
All Hamilton needs to do from a driving perspective to be allowed to take part in the Abu Dhabi GP is participate in a practice session or qualifying.
That means he must clear a negative test in Bahrain, travel to Abu Dhabi and isolate until another COVID test comes back negative before Saturday evening.
NEW PITSTOP MEASURES AFTER SAKHIR HEARTBREAK
If Russell deputises for Hamilton once more it will give him a second chance at scoring the podium, and potentially victory, that he lost in Bahrain last week.
Russell qualified second on his Mercedes debut and led most of the race after passing team-mate Valtteri Bottas at the start, but a pitstop blunder and then a puncture wrecked his chance of an upset.
The pitstop disaster was the result of a failed radio transmission that ended with Mercedes not having Russell’s tyres ready and erroneously fitting Bottas’s front tyres to Russell’s car.
Bottas then had to be sent back out with his old tyres still on the car, and both drivers’ races were compromised.
Mercedes has made process changes to prevent a repeat of the problem, which occurred because the message to Russell mechanics was issued at the same time Russell radioed to the team and that was prioritised by the intercom.
“We head into the final race of the season looking for redemption after a disappointing race in Sakhir, where both George and Valtteri lost the opportunity to win,” said Wolff.
“The pitstop problem has uncovered an underlying problem with our intercom, and we’ve put measures in place, both technically and in the way we operate, to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The Abu Dhabi GP is the final race in another record-breaking season for Mercedes, which secured its seventh consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ titles in 2020.
Wolff said there is a “very special surprise” planned for its team members this weekend in the form of a slightly revised car design.
“We’ll be running a slightly different livery on Saturday and Sunday featuring everyone’s name on the car to honour the huge commitment and determination from everybody in Brixworth and Brackley,” said Wolff.
“Everyone has pushed hard this year, raising the bar through this massively intense season, and we hope this gesture goes some way in showing the appreciation we have for everyone involved.”
