The Canadian-owned outfit said the 30-year-old, who is the first driver to test positive since the pandemic-hit season started this month, was “physically well and in good spirits”.

They said they planned to replace the Mexican for the race at Silverstone.

With Britain extending the virus isolation period to 10 days from seven on Thursday, Perez also looks set to miss the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at the same circuit on the following weekend.

A decision on who will jump in to the drivers’ seat will have to be made before practice starts on Friday.

Perez, who is sixth in the championship, and a small group of teammates who had come into contact with him had already gone into self-isolation after an initial test came back as inconclusive.

“The FIA and Formula One can now confirm that the result of his re-test is positive,” Formula One and the governing body said in a joint statement.

“Perez has entered self-quarantine in accordance with the instructions of the relevant public health authorities, and will continue to follow the procedure mandated by those authorities.”

Formula One chairman Chase Carey said before the start of the season that the sport would not cancel a race even if a driver tested positive.

Mexico has been hard hit by the virus, with the fourth-highest number of fatalities in the world, but a Racing Point spokesman said Perez had not been back to his country since he last raced in Hungary on July 19.

-AAP