Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel has recovered from COVID-19 and will make his season debut at the Australian Grand Prix on April 10, the Formula One team said Thursday.

“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,” the British team said.  

The 34-year-old four-time world champion missed the Bahrain Grand Prix after testing positive for coronavirus.

“Sebastian Vettel has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not therefore be taking part in the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix. Replacing him in the AMR22 will be Reserve Driver Nico Hulkenberg, who will be in the car from FP1 onwards,” the Aston Martin F1 team had said on Twitter before the Bahrain race.

He then missed the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix that took place on March 27.

“Sebastian Vettel has not yet returned the required negative COVID test to fly to the Saudi Arabia GP. Nico Hulkenberg will be in Jeddah to deputise for Seb if necessary. We will delay our final decision until Friday to provide Seb every opportunity to race,” the team said. 

Nico Hulkenberg finished 17th in Bahrain and then 12th in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen overtook Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari three laps from the end of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix for the defending champion’s first win of the Formula One season and 21st of his career. 

“Really happy we finally kick-started the season,” Verstappen said. “It was a really tough race but a good race. We were both battling hard at the front.”