The 30-year-old Racing Point pilot had to wait for another test on Thursday because the results of previous tests were mixed.
“Following the announcement that Serhio has a positive Covid-19 test on the Silverstone track ahead of the UK Grand Prix, the team regrets that he will not be able to compete this weekend,” the Racing Point team said in a statement.
The 30-year-old Mexican is the first F-1 pilot to have tested positive for coronavirus since the late start of the World Championships in July in Austria with rigorous testing protocols.
“Serhio is feeling well physically and in a good mood, but he will continue to isolate himself according to the guidelines of the relevant public health authorities, and the top priority will be the safety of the team and the sport,” the team added.
The family in Sunday’s race is likely to be replaced by either Mexican Esteven Gutjerress or Belgian Stofel Vandorn.
Peress did not participate in Thursday’s official media activities as he awaited the results of the second test.
The F-1 has a rigorous protocol for all Grand Prix participants and staff are checked before each event and every five days.
There have been more than 15,000 tests in the F-1 season so far.
By Thursday, there were only two positive results, both for local staff.
Racing Point says Peres has not returned to Mexico since the Hungarian Grand Prix ten days ago.
Speaking before the start of the Covid-19 delayed season in Austria, F-1 chairman and CEO Chays Carrey said the event would not be canceled if the pilot had a positive test.
“We encourage teams to establish procedures to be followed if someone needs to be quarantined, we have the option to quarantine them in a hotel and then replace that person with another,” he said.
All three races in the World Cup so far – two in a row in Austria, followed by the Hungarian Grand Prix – have taken place behind closed doors.
To date, there have been no positive cases of coronavirus among pilots or crew in the first three races of the F-1 season.
After three stages, the leader with 63 points is Lewis Hamilton, followed by Valter Botass with 58 points. Max Verstapen has 33 points, Lendo Noris has 26 points, and Alexander Albon and Serhio Peress, who made their F-1 debut in 2011, scored 22 points each.
The next stage of the British “Grand Prix” will take place on August 2 at the Silverstone track in Great Britain.
A record number of races were planned this season (22), but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the organizers are now approving 13 stages.
Last season, Hamilton was crowned world champion, triumphing for the sixth time in his career and for the third time in a row.
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