Ricciardo "ready to compete" after Covid recovery

McLaren has confirmed Daniel Ricciardo is "ready to compete" in the Bahrain Grand Prix after recovering from Covid-19.

Ricciardo missed all three days of the pre-season test in Bahrain last week after initially feeling unwell before later testing positive for Covid-19 on Friday evening.

As a result, Lando Norris was left to complete all 200 laps of running for the team across the three-day test.

In a statement, McLaren said: "McLaren F1 Team confirms that after testing positive for covid-19 during last week, Daniel has now returned a number of negative tests and will therefore return to the paddock on Thursday ready to compete in this weekend’s Bahrain GP. "Daniel has been feeling better each day as he continued to recover while in isolation following local regulations in Bahrain."

Although McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl maintained his confidence that the Australian would feature in the season-opening race, reserve drivers Stoffel Vandoorne, Nyck de Vries and Paul di Resta were on standby.

Alpine had also offered the services of Oscar Piastri, although this will now not be required.

Update from the team on @DanielRicciardo. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/rDqeYRlf6P

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 16, 2022

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