Lewis Hamilton says he has no symptoms of the Coronavirus despite coming into contact with two celebrities who later tested positive for it.

The six-times world champion’s condition had been the subject of widespread speculation after two people he met in London two weeks ago revealed they had tested positive for the virus. He met Sophie Trudeau, wife of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, and actor Idris Elba on March 4th.

In a statement on Saturday, Hamilton said he has no symptoms of the virus at present but has not been tested for it.

“There’s been some speculation about my health, after I was at an event where two people later tested positive for Coronavirus,” Hamilton wrote.

“I wanted to let you know that I’m doing well, feeling healthy and working out twice a day. I have zero symptoms, and it’s now been 17 days since I saw Sophie and Idris. I have been in touch with Idris and happy to hear he is OK.”

Hamilton said he has not been tested for the virus due to high demand on the availability of testing kits:

“I did speak to my doctor and double checked if I needed to take a test but the truth is, there is a limited amount of tests available and there are people who need it more than I do, especially when I wasn’t showing any symptoms at all.

“So what I’ve done is keep myself isolated this past week, actually since practice was cancelled last Friday and kept my distance from people.”

Hamilton came into contact with Elba and Trudeau at the WE UK Day charity event in London. WE is an international charity which partners with impoverished communities around the world to help with anything from clean water to developing schools.

The organisation holds several ‘WE Days’ around the globe to boost their fundraising efforts. Events similar to the one that Hamilton attended, which were due to take place in three cities across the United States, have since been cancelled.

Trudeau revealed her positive test on the 12th and Elba did the same four days later. Elba said he was able to quickly arrange his test after the news of Trudeau’s positive test broke as he was set to begin a film shoot.

“On Friday last week I was told that someone I had been in contact with had tested positive,” he said on Tuesday. “This person who’s also in the public eye had tested positive so it was definitely something that I had to do as I had to start filming and I was around a lot of people.”

“We were really lucky to test very quickly because of the shortages of tests,” he added. “But in my perspective it was the best thing to do immediately to test because I was going to be around a lot of people starting this new film.”

Elba said he “wasn’t showing any symptoms” at the time of his test “but I’m very glad I made that decision because I’ve been out of contact with anyone since.”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Coronavirus testing equipment is under high demand due to the pandemic, which Elba believes needs to be urgently addressed.

“Obviously the early testing is the way we need to approach this,” he added. “Now I know this is not something I really am qualified to get into, I understand that getting a test is really, really hard. Should I have been at home and not at work it would have been really hard for me to get a test also, which is disappointing.”

Mercedes required its staff who were in Melbourne to isolate for two weeks as a precaution. A McLaren team member tested positive for the Coronavirus during the weekend. A group of McLaren staff who came into contact with the original case were also isolated, but only half were tested. They also remain in isolation.

“The most important thing everyone can do is stay positive, social distance yourself as best you can, self isolate if you need to, and regularly wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds,” said Hamilton. “Thank you for all the messages. I’m sending you positivity and love from afar. Keep safe.”

Hamilton has attended several public events since his contact with Elba and Trudeau. He opened the new Silverstone museum on March 6th with the Duke of Sussex, formerly known as Prince Harry, then travelled to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix. He posted a picture of himself wearing a mask during the flight on social media.

In Australia, Hamilton strongly criticised efforts to carry on with the race in spite of the spread of the Coronavirus. The event was cancelled on the Friday morning when practice was due to begin.

Carlos Sainz Jnr is the only Formula 1 driver so far to have revealed he has been tested for the Coronavirus. The McLaren driver tested negative.

Additional reporting by Josh Holland.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2020 F1 season