2014 World Drivers’ Champion Lewis Hamilton was been forced to pull out of the first day of the second pre-season test at the Circuit de Catalunya due to illness.
The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS driver completed eleven laps of the Spanish circuit early on Thursday morning, setting a best time of 1m30.429s that at the time of his stoppage saw him sitting sixth fastest.
A tweet from Mercedes revealed the news to the public, with reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein set to take over testing duties for the afternoon session. The German has already been on track on Thursday as part of his deal to run a few testing sessions with the Sahara Force India team.
“An unplanned stoppage is keeping us off track,” said the Mercedes tweet. “Lewis is feeling unwell and not able to continue driving today.”
A follow up tweet read: “… so we’re just adjusting the car for Pascal #Wehrlein to take to the track this afternoon. #MusicalChairs”
Hamilton is set to return to the car on Saturday, with Nico Rosberg set to test on Friday.
