Vettel gets green light for F1 return in Australia

Sebastian Vettel will return to the F1 grid in Australia next week after being declared "fit to race" by his Aston Martin team.

The four-time world champion missed the first two rounds of the 2022 F1 World Championship after testing positive for Covid-19 on the run-up to the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The German was replaced at Sakhir and at Jeddah by Nico Hulkenberg who will remain in the wings for Aston Martin for the remainder of this season.

“TEAM UPDATE: We are pleased to confirm that Sebastian Vettel is now fit to race and will therefore line up alongside @lance_stroll in Melbourne to kick off his 2022 @F1 season at the @ausgrandprix,” tweeted Aston Martin on Thursday.

Along with Williams, Aston Martin is the only outfit to have not score a point in the first two races of the season.

Before he was sidelined by Covid, Vettel admitted that the Silverstone-based outfit's new-generation car was a very different proposition compared with its predecessor.

• Read also: Hulkenberg 'very, very pleased' with clean Jeddah race

"The car wants to be driven in a different way," said Vettel after pre-season testing. "I am playing with driving styles and what I can do.

"Equally we are playing with the car, we are trying to sort some problems that we have, some of the challenges that we’ve faced, find solutions.

"There is still a lot to do, everybody is flat-out and there is still a very, very steep and high mountain to climb… but it's fun, I think the challenge is fun and the belief is there that one day we will reach that peak."

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