F1 race directors BOTH test covid positive ahead of Miami GP

Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas — Photo: © LAT Images

Miami Grand Prix

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F1 race directors BOTH test covid positive ahead of Miami GP

Both Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich have tested positive

GPFans Staff

Thursday 28 April 2022 10:37 Updated: 12:25

F1 race directors Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich have both tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of the Miami Grand Prix and may be forced to miss the event.

Although many of the countries visited by F1 have relaxed the strict entry requirements that were enforced during the height of the pandemic, the USA requires a negative test to be returned within the previous 24 hours before entering.

Freitas was not scheduled to be on-site in Miami after committing to a World Endurance Championship event at Spa Francorchamps.

It is understood the teams were informed of the situation at Tuesday's F1 Commission meeting.

At present, it is unclear how the FIA would proceed should Wittich be unable to return a negative test in time to travel to Miami but one replacement option is Herbie Blash.

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The 73-year-old returned to F1 this year as part of the new FIA race management team as a permanent senior advisor.

Having served as the deputy race director alongside Charlie Whiting until 2014, Blash has the experience needed and was on-site for the first three races of the year before missing Imola due to a World Superbike commitment.

Formula E race director Scot Elkins has also served as the F1 deputy race director before and could also be called up, just a week on from his own duties at the Monaco E-Prix.

Ousted race director Michael Masi is another option, although this is unlikely given the events of last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the subsequent fallout from it.