Sergio Perez is "happy to be back" on the Formula 1 grid this weekend after missing two races due to Covid-19.
The Racing Point driver's return was confirmed when he tested negative for the coronavirus early on Thursday but was still able to travel to Barcelona prior after completing his mandatory period in isolation.
In the meantime, Nico Hulkenberg had done an admirable job across the fortnight at Silverstone, but now Checo can't wait to get back in "my pink car".
“I’m very happy to be back to finally be rid of the virus and be back with my team,” he said via Formula1.com. “It’s been tough days for me. I’m very happy to be back and be doing what I love.
“I was extremely lucky not to have any big symptoms other than a little bit of headache and one or two days I felt very tired but at the same time, you feel like that when you spend so much of your time on your own.
“I couldn’t leave the room, so I was basically on lockdown for 10 days. That was the only feeling. I was actually training in the apartment where I was. I was trying to keep fit.
“There was a chance I could’ve raced in the second Silverstone race. if I tested negative. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Now finally I’m free to race again.”
It is thought Perez caught Covid-19 during a trip back to Mexico to see his mother after she had been in hospital following the Hungarian Grand Prix.
That, perhaps unsurprisingly, led to a flurry of speculation about exactly the 30-year-old had been doing and he says some of the things reported were pretty upsetting.
"I found it very unprofessional, those things," he stated.
"It's a total lie. I went to Mexico for two days to see my mum, with all the precautions in place. I took care of everything, followed all the guidelines.
"When I was in quarantine I saw everything, I saw people saying I was taking with selfies with people, I saw that I made up the story about my mum, so much bullshit. So disrespectful."
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Instead, he believes his situation should just prove as an example of how at risk everyone is despite the measures in place.
"People here in Formula 1 think we are bulletproof to the virus, and that's not the case," he said.
"We're all very vulnerable to this. I've done nothing differently to anyone else in this paddock. It just happened to me. It happened to another friend in another team, when I was in quarantine he called me and said 'look, I tested positive too'. It can just happen to anyone.
"What cannot happen is that if tomorrow someone else infected that people make up stories instead of being worried about their health."
