Lance Stroll out of Spanish GP, to undergo procedure after hand and wrist pain

New York Times

2 days ago

Lance Stroll will not compete in the Spanish Grand Prix because of 'pain in his hand and wrist, which his medical consultant believes is in relation to the procedure he underwent in 2023,' Aston Martin announced late Saturday evening.
According to the team, the 26-year-old has been suffering for six weeks, and Stroll 'will undergo a procedure to rectify these issues before focusing on his recovery.' The 2023 incident referenced is a cycling accident that required surgery.
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No one can replace the Canadian driver because they did not compete in qualifying. Stroll qualified P14, while teammate Fernando Alonso is set to line up 10th for tomorrow's Spanish GP.
Stroll was summoned to see the stewards after qualifying because he was delayed for the driver weigh-in. Drivers are required to be weighed immediately after completely qualifying, and according to FIA Formula One technical delegate Jo Bauer, Stroll 'stayed 5 minutes in the teams garage before proceeding to the scales and secondly he did not proceed through the pit-lane.' There was no outcome from the summons, as of the news breaking that the Aston Martin driver will not compete on Sunday.
'It's been a tough weekend for us so far – the car hasn't been easy to handle all weekend and it's been challenging to put clean laps together,' Stroll said in the team's post-qualifying recap, prior to Saturday evening's announcement.
'Nevertheless, we made it through to Q2 and we take any small wins we can get at the moment. We have lots of areas of the car that we need to look into and improve, but we'll see what we can do tomorrow starting from P14.'
By Luke Smith
This injury for Stroll dates back to preseason in 2023 when he crashed while cycling at a training camp, which put his participation in the opening races of that season in doubt.
Stroll and his medical team completed a rapid turnaround to get him ready for the start of the season, including surgery overseen by Dr. Javier Mir, a specialist in the field who also deals with MotoGP riders' arm and hand injuries. He also oversaw Daniel Ricciardo's surgery when he broke his wrist at Zandvoort in 2023.
Stroll raced through the pain in the early part of that season, albeit still struggling at points — even when he scored points in Bahrain in his first race back, he told reporters that 'broken bones still hurt.' But it's clear the issues have now got to a point that further action is required. His next steps and recovery will be crucial to ensure he is able to race pain-free in the future.
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Because Stroll qualified the car, Aston Martin is not able to name a replacement driver for the race, meaning we'll be down to a 19-car field for Sunday's race.
If Stroll is unable to race next time out in Canada in two weeks' time, Aston Martin would be able to call on the services of reserve driver Felipe Drugovich, who won the Formula Two title in 2022, and is the most likely replacement if required.
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