Lance Stroll fights through wrist injury to race at home Grand Prix in Montreal
Global News
Aston Martin said the issue dated back to 2023, when Stroll famously broke both his wrists in a bike accident but returned to the track ahead of schedule for the season-opening.
Lance Stroll is gaining a reputation for fighting through pain.
The lone Canadian driver in Formula One will race for Aston Martin at this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, two weeks after missing the Spanish GP and undergoing surgery on his right wrist.
“It gives me a lot of confidence that I’ve done it before, and I was in much worse shape,” he said. “I had both wrists that were broken, one was not fixated. My toe was broken. I was in a lot more pain.”
Citing medical privacy, the 26-year-old from Montreal wouldn’t disclose much about his most recent injury during a defensive press conference Thursday at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, but later revealed some details to a small group of local reporters.
“This was much more simple just to get it sorted. It’s not like a whole broken bone again,” he said with his right wrist wrapped in a bandage at the Aston Martin hospitality. “It was just fixing what was already aggravating me.”
Reserve drivers Felipe Drugovich and Stoffel Vandoorne were considered as possible fill-ins if Stroll wasn’t fit, but Aston Martin chief executive officer and team principal Andy Cowell said the team never expected to use its Plan B.
“Plan A’s been strong all the way through, and Lance is here,” he said. “He was the most upset that he wasn’t driving Sunday in Barcelona, and has been the most determined person in the whole team to make sure that he’s here this weekend.”
Stroll took part in practice sessions and qualifying in Barcelona before pulling out of the race late, leaving Aston Martin without a second driver.
