Canadian Driver for Aston Martin, Lance Stroll missed the Formula 1 pre-season testing at Bahrain due to injuries during a minor cycling accident in Spain. Canadian Billionaire Lawrence Stroll’s son. He will be “assessed daily” until the Bahrain GP. Stroll will be replaced by young Brazilian Felipe Drugovich for the Bahrain GP.
Stroll finished the 2022 season with 18 points in 15th place, three places, and 19 points behind his teammate 2X WDC champion Sebastian Vettel.
— Lance Stroll (@lance_stroll) February 20, 2023
Aston Martin affirmed that the accident occurred while he was riding his bicycle in Spain. He sustained an injury “which will result in him sitting out the pre-season test in Bahrain“, though the team added Stroll is “expecting a quick recovery and return to driving duties“.
Details of the accident have not been revealed, the only detail we were exposed to was that it was a cycling incident and that Stroll sustained minor injuries.
Replacement for Lance Stroll
Drugovich, 22, is a relatively new Aston Martin reserve after only being signed last September but comes into his first pre-season test off the back of an impressive Formula 2 championship win. He drove Aston Martin’s previous car at November’s post-season test in Abu Dhabi.
Stroll was supposed to partner up with 2X WDC champion Fernando Alonso after the departure of 4X WDC champion Sebastian Vettel. However, Lance is expected to recover quickly and resume driving duties, according to the team. His fitness to return to the cockpit will be evaluated daily, and the team will provide an update before the Bahrain Grand Prix.
UPDATE: @FelipeDrugovich will attend the Bahrain test to share driving duties with Fernando Alonso. Felipe is scheduled to drive AMR23 on Thursday morning with Fernando taking over in the afternoon.
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) February 21, 2023
Schedule for Friday and Saturday to be confirmed. pic.twitter.com/RQK1sREbuo
The news of Stroll’s injury came just hours after Aston Martin announced that Vandoorne and Drugovich would both be available to McLaren for the first 15 races of the season, should the need arise. The agreement expands McLaren’s pool of reserve options, with Mercedes’ Mick Schumacher already made available to them in a similar agreement.
Fans react to Stroll’s injury.
Fans have reacted quite sympathetically to the driver’s injury especially because of Aston Martin’s wish to be more aggressive with the 2023 season with Fernando Alonso as the successor to Sebastian Vettel as Lance’s partner. One fan even commented, mocking the fact that F1 drivers drive high-speed vehicles but Stroll got injured in a cycling incident. They said, “Bicycles are just too dangerous for F1 drivers” paired with an emoji.
Rest up and see you soon
— Arran Spake (@haloofthoughts) February 20, 2023
Get better fast King ❤️ pic.twitter.com/VNfBUJqXY6
— PeekPerformance | #DankeSeb (@PeekPerfomance) February 20, 2023
Bicycles are just too dangerous for F1 drivers 🙄
— Sharon 🏴🇺🇦 (@shazxraz) February 20, 2023
A closer look at Lance’s accident pic.twitter.com/Lko1psBjYD
— F1 MEMES (@f1trolls_) February 21, 2023
Very Unfortunate. Get well soon Lance. But, the team should use Alonso’s services for all 3 days now, his feedback will be very helpful for setups.
— Writing Engineer (@writing_engg) February 20, 2023
Some fans on the other hand, have antagonized Lance Stroll because he allegedly does not deserve the seat and is just “daddy’s money“.
However, fans are excited and hope to see Stroll come back with the new AMR23 car alongside Fernando Alonso at the Bahrain GP that will be held on the weekend from 3 to 5 March 2023.