'Ferrari and Mercedes get vaccine; Sainz and Leclerc make other choice'

Bahrain hinted last week that they would be willing to vaccinate the entire Formula 1 circus with Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine, but Liberty Media said it would not do so. According to them, the pinnacle of motorsport must 'wait their turn' and there are plenty of other people who have been in line for longer or need it more.

Ferrari and Mercedes, however, have indicated that they are happy to take up Bahrain's offer. "This means that, strictly on a voluntary basis, the staff of the Ferrari team who are already in Bahrain for the pre-season test will have the time to receive the double dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Mercedes has given its staff the same opportunity."

Ferrari, before saying a definitive 'yes', first contacted the health authorities of Emilia Romagna. "And in the absence of any objection, a total of around a hundred team members have already been vaccinated," says the Italian sports newspaper, which goes on to report that Charles Leclerc is unlikely to take the vaccine due to his fairly recent corona infection. Carlos Sainz will 'almost certainly' opt to receive the vaccine.