Ricciardo explains his false COVID test between Italy and Russia

Up to now, three drivers have tested positive for COVID-19. Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll and Lewis Hamilton have had to miss at least one race as a result. For a moment Daniel Ricciardo thought he too was infected.

False-positive

Between the races in Italy and Russia Ricciardo got a positive test result for Covid. That was a scare for the Australian. "I woke up at six o'clock in the morning with that news. There was a bit of panic and I realised I had to get tested again," he said on Racer.com.

Fortunately, it turned out to be a false alarm and another test was negative. Nevertheless, it did concern the Renault driver. "And then you start kind of like playing games in your head like, ‘Oh, do I feel a little… maybe I do have it…’ but that was just a bit of panic one morning.”

More and more caution

As the season progressed Ricciardo became more and more cautious. "I became more and more disciplined with isolating and just taking care of myself. Especially after Checo [Sergio Perez] got it and it was like, ‘OK, this isn’t a joke.’ I was being very careful, so I was quite surprised.”