Hamilton spent 10 days in isolation in Bahrain after testing positive for COVID-19 soon after the first of the two races there, and he was forced to miss last weekend’s Sakhir GP.

After testing negative he was allowed to travel from Bahrain to Abu Dhabi on Thursday, and was cleared to enter the paddock on Friday. He set the pace for much of qualifying on Saturday, topping both Q1 and Q2. However, he had to settle for third in Q3’s top-10 shootout, behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.

After qualifying, Hamilton admitted he didn’t feel fully fit but said he was determined to do his best in Sunday’s race.

“I can really feel for those who are and have suffered from it, those who have lost ones from it and I can understand how because it’s a nasty virus

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